The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1914-04-03
PLANNING THE SUMNER VACA-
TION.

In a recent report on the School
and the Summer Vacation, National
Commissioner of Education Claxton
makes recommendations that will be
read with interest by thousands of
parents who dread the long summer
vacation, who feel that it provides too
many undirected hours of leisure for
their children, and who would well
come some arrangement by which for
a portion of each day instruction in
suitable subjects and supervised play
would be provided for occupying the
minds and energies of their restless
offspring. Without reproducing all OF
Mr.. Claxton's startling statistics, we
can perhaps give clearly the gist OF
what he says.
children who attend all the school
hours of the year are in school 800
hours and are out of school 1900 wax
ing hours. The average is 600 hours
in school and 1910 waking hours out
of school," That is, for every waking
hour which the average child spends
in school, he spends nearly eight
waking hours out of school during the
course of the whole year. Children
spend the time in idleness on the
streets and alleys without guidance
Much that was learned in school at
previous sessions is forgotten; many
of the children become criminals, and
still more form habits of idleness.-
The schools which are established ana
maintained for the purpose of educat-
ing children into manhood and wom-
anhood, of preparing them for society
and citizenship and of giving them
such knowledge and training as VIII
enable them to make an honest Nv
ing should provide some kind OF IN
struction for the great mass OF chill
dren through what is now in most
cities a long and wasteful vacation
| believe no one will claim that the
addition of 400 or 500 hours to the
number now spent in school would be
burden to any child. The addition |
of three school months of five hours
a day would mean only 200 hours TO
the average of child on the basis OF
nresent attendance = Possibly the
school day in the summer session
should not be more than four hours
that is from or o'clock to II or IL
O'Clock in the forenoon
This sounds like very good reason
ing and planning. For a relatively
long time people have been realizing
that the child would receive the same
benefits in health from his vacation
if part of his day were devoted 10
useful occupations. For rather
shorter time, taxpayers have peeh
realizing that it is a sinful waste OF
public properties to allow schooi
building to stand idle three months
of the year. During a fourth OF It's
time. at least, all the money invested
in school property is not bringing any
return on what the taxpayers have
paid. Every year the school buildings
and the equipment represent an in
creasing outlay, and the tendency
should be to use both buildings and
equipment more, not less.
Mr.. Claxton recommends that the
work done during the summer session
should be changed from the regular
school program. Children should be
siven more laboratory and shop work.
ess book work. "They love to work
Until they learn to be idle
In the matter of expense, Mr..
,laxton says that "the cost of adding /
he three months of school would be
comparatively little. There would be
o cost of fuel, the cost of attendance
yould be less. and the additional cost
or teachers would not be in proper
ion to the number of days added"
These matters are well worth the
areful consideration of every tax
aver and parent in Moscow. We
ave an ideal climate here. During
lie summer months the morning
ours are most delightful-the best,
fact, of the year With all of the
indows and doors wide open, with
, artificial heat, with studies that .
quire moving about and the use =
|
the muscles of the body, any child
lght to be much better off for at
nding short session of school in
e morning.
We confess that the idea of summer
hools has always been most attrac- .