The Lamar register., 1915-09-01

Dtell dWdFuGu q plaSS III liz oShoSi
curriculums in all parts of the world
for a number of years, 1 find that a
number of Lamar's inhabitants are
still wondering what it is all about.
Such questions as the following are
typical of the kind have been asked
to make clear:
what is meant by manual train
ing?"
"what do you teach in manual
training ?"
"Do you intend to make carpenters
of those boys ?"
as it worth while? ?"
isn't it taking too much time from
the other academic studies"
rs it worth while?"
"Do you make any attempt at cor
relation between the subjects of the
classroom and some of the manual
arts ?"
SIS manual training influenced by
modern industries and the community
at large ?"
Can a boy make a living in the
world after he has taken course in
manual training"
A historical study of manual train
ing, some times spoken of as the man
ual arts or the handicrafts, shows
that it has passed through a process
of evolution in attaining its present
status in the United States. In the
beginning it was frankly undertaken
as a means by which the pupils were
to be fitted for the life Of a trades
man, and it was expected to lead to
material prosperity. Consequently it
looked for immediate results in hand
skill.
The first school established in Amer
lea was in Reedfield, Ne, in 1925. The
branches taught were cabinet making,
chair making, shoe making, woodturn-
ing and tool making. In 1927 an
other school was established in Onei-
da, N. Y, and three hours a day were
devoted to manual labor, in garden
work and in the tool shop. In 1882
eight more schools were established
in the United States, comprising some
of the New England states and states
of the middle west, that added manual
labor to their other school branches.
From 1888 to 1888 we find that 101
cities adopted manual training in their
high school, 118 cities had introduced
it in the grammar schools, and "a
cities in the primary schools.
On June IA, 1894, the Massachusetts
Legislature passed an act TO provide
for manual training in all cities and
towns whose population was more
than 10000. The same was also
adopted by twenty-three other states.
This idea of industrial handiwork has
developed and progressed so until at
the present time manual training has
found a foothold in almost all of our
city schools throughout the state and
country.
The world of today demands the cul-
tivated man, the practical man, one
who can do things that have never
been done before. And the question
arises, what has made him thus, and
what can the schools do to make such
a man? What steps should the schools
take to make such man? Is manual
training the stepping stone toward
making the boy such an actor in his
future career which the world is con-
tinually looking for? This is the
problem that faces our present sys-
tenn Of education. The world is no
longer content with the three "R's".
1t demands a broader and more thor
ough knowledge of conditions in the
industrial pursuits and the needs Of
the community. Hence a greater
amount of training and preparation is
exacted from the child to meet these
requirements and to be better able to
face the problems of life. Manual
training comes to the rescue by bring
ing forth its three 'Hs." They are the
head, heart and the hand, the trinity
that makes for the broader life: 1t
is not matter of the hand only, but
of the head and heart as well.
Educators are generally agreed that
one of the prime objects of education
is to fit the pupil for Independent, in