River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-06-20
Concerning Domestic Science

Mr.. EDIToR-Will You permit me
little space on subject of inter
est to the community?
Last weeks Journal contained q
suggestion that the time has come
when the city schools may well con-
slider the taking up of work in Do
n1estic Science and Manual Train
ing. A very large number of the
patrons of our Public School favor
such work in the school. One need
talk with them but few minutes to
know it.
AT practically every school meet
ing for several years the matter has
been suggested by some citizen.
So it may be well to give it some
definite attention.
In considering these subjects in
connection with our city schools, it
seems to me that there are just two
| questions to consider and answer:
First, Is the work in Domestic Sci
ence and Manual Training neces-
sary, desirable and valuable for the
pupils who attend our city schools i?
And, second: Can the city afford to
put the work into the schools?
To my mind, the answer to the
first question must be in the af-
! firmative. | coald not live in the
present century and know the trend
of education everywhere and an
swer it otherwise. The schools are
to so train the children as to lay a
foundation for their future lives, to
fit them to enter the world in COM
petition with other pupils and pu-
| pills from other schools. If not, then
what are the schools for? To pre-
pare the child properly for life calls
for training of the hand as we'll as
of the mind. Every step in training
| the hand trains also the mind, but
one may train the mind to the end of
time without appreciable affect on
the hand. One might be told or
might read forever how to play the
piauo, to use the hand, but only by
using the hand, playing the piano,
can he learn to do it. The life of
the people of today and of tomorrow
calls for trained hands, and every
day that the training is delayed is
time lost. Moreover, the hand, like
the mind yields to training more
readily in childhood than in later
years. Again, other communities,
at present one in four in Wisconsin,
and the number is rapidly increas-
ing, are doing this work of training
the hand, and pupils from commun-
tiles where the work is not done,
from our community, are at a dis
advantage when meeting them in
competition at the end of the school
life. And again, work in these
branches not only trains the hand
and mind, but it also gives a differ
ent view of life and life's work.
| Only small percentage of the chill
dren of to-day can enter the profess
sions, yet the schools tend to edu-
cate toward the professions or clerk
ships, and leave the great world of
hand labor where the majority must
live u n h e d. Putting these
branches in the schools changes
the viewpoint of pupils concern
ing them and better fits the
pupils to meet conditions as they
meet them when they leave school.
/ have said nothing about the
better attendance, the greater
interest, the better attention to
work, etc., all of which are an
outcome of work in these branches.
| And lastly, that such work is neces-
sary, desirable and valuable in the
schools is attested by the fact that
so many and so rapidly an increas-
| ing number of communities are
introducing the work, that without
exception they are enthusiastic
about it after introduction, chat
such communities as Platteville
and Whitewater in this state, both
Normal school towns, find the
work so valuable that they have it
in both Public and Normal schools,