Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1913-11-13
County Health Board Issues
Circular to School Trus+ooe

Desks are of sizes: No. g 80,
e1iio5en OF to Z; No. for childrer
u 70 y; No. 4, for ch;larsr
OF ~ to IL; No. 3, for ch;idrer
o. ~ TO IL; No. 2, for children 81
as 10 10; No. l, for adults. 4 rom
from front to rear of the roor,
should be composed of desks of ~"
same size. They are usually arra,aaa
IN rows, the smallest in front. HEINZ
TINS the next larger, and so on end;no
IN the rear with the largest size. This
causes and year old children .e
q. oh seats for and 9 year old chill.
1reh. Ineir feet do not rest on tbs
iloor and the desk is too low. The 20.
SUIT is the child cannot sit upright and
work at his desk. He must lean for
ward, making him round shoulderea
ana hollow chested. Frequently there
Is not seat in the room III 60.
any child to sit in. The remedy is ~
reset the desks. If there are No NJ
desks, they should be supplied
Many school houses have no assLs
Tor children under 10 years of aue
Usually nearly all the children are un.
ger TINS age. The feet of the child do
not rest on the floor when he sits erect.
ne IS quiet little of the time for he
must shift his position to escape dis.
comfort. The desk is too high for h;s
arms. This places his shoulders out of
proper position. Often it causes the
right shoulder to be higher than the
ie1t, due to the fact that he writes with
the right hand upon a desk too bioh
1nese conditions cause the spine and
neck to grow into abnormal shape. cans.
ing rounded back, uneven shoulders
projecting chin, and rounded shoulders
Inc unnatural posture and the dis.
comfort make continuous study i'm.
possible Circular No. IS. Dent. of
Public instruction, Illinois.)
10. The desks should be prouerlv
spaced. 1.-The desks should be so plac.
ed that when the back of the child rests
against the back of his seat, the desk
in front should come within an inch and
a half OF his body. This permits the
forearm to rest on the desk while the
enid sits IN an erect position with his
back against the back of the desk.
TINS is the correct position for work.
ne is comfortable, will not care to
change his position, and his body devel.
ops naturally and symmetricallv.
When the desk is too far away, the
child must lean forward, that his fore
arm may rest on the desk. This causes
the round shoulders and hollow chests.
Or If he moves forward to get close
enough, he must sit on the edge of the
seat and have no rest for his back
He might as well sit on a backless
bench. The remedy is to place the
iesks closer together. The rule is that
he distance from back to edge of desks
should be, for No. 5, 9 inches; for No.
!, 10 inches; for No. 3, IL inches; for
No. 2, IL inches.' Circular No. IS.
Dept. of Public Instruction, nlinois.) ,
Is. Blackboards should have a dull
inish, not shiny or glazed. To diminish
till further the eye strain caused by
eflectiOn of light, the blackboards
mould be placed on the walls opposite
he windows. Whenever the surface of
blackboard begins to wear off and
become rough, it should be re-coated.
Tough spots on the blackboards take an
increased amount of chalk, thus tending
o increase the dust in the room.
II. No blackboard should be more
han 80 feet from the most distant seat.
IS. Light from the left and the back
# the room is the only kind that is
1.-The window area must
lot be less than one-fifth the floor
pace. The sill of the window
hould be feet from the floor and the
window should extend to the ceiling no
natter what the architects say about |
eauty.'' Recent examination of |
yer 1000 children in Massachusetts |
bowed that 22.7 per cent had defects
vision and that 6.3 per cent had i'm
erfect hearing. There is no
oubt that many of the defects of
ision are caused or exaggerated by inn
roper lighting of the schoolroom, copy
,g from blackboards, and night study
4 poorly lighted rooms.'' brewer s
'ural Hygiene.)
10. The majority of school buildings
l this county are lighted equally from
ach side. 1t is recommended that
'henever the interior arrangements of
lese schoolrooms will permit, two or
lore windows be placed in the wall
ack of the seats and the light from
lie right hand windows be excluded so
ar as possible by the use of good roller
,ades, the roller being placed at the
ottom of the casing instead of the top.
20. Heating and ventilation. These
objects are so intimately related that
ley are considered together in this
rcular. 1t is well-established fact
lat the heating apparatus can be so
as to furnish perfect ventila
on. 1t is therefore little short of
iminal for trustees to permit pupils
be seated around hot old-fashioned
owe, breathing and re-breathing the
me stale, superheated air, when for
comparatively small investment the {
eating can be improved and a good {
rculation of fresh air obtained. s
81. The ordinary stove is VIGOROUSLY
for heating a school
ON because the heat is unevenly dis
ibuted; the stove uses up much of the
,ygen from the air in the room; and
e stove usually has to be placed in
g center of the room, wasting con- I
1erable space.
% Ventilation nv ODeninQ doors