Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-09-02

and desirable that the school should
give such work as this, but il should
not be content to stop there. The
traditional subjects of the grades
and of the high school can not he
omitted, as they satisfy the needs
of q good many of our pupils. Our
own school has taken care of this
college preparatory work very well.
At present, our high school belongs
to the North Central Association OF
Colleges and Secondary Schools,
which is composed of the leading
high schools and colleges of the Mis-
sissippi valley Comparatively only
small number of Iowa's high
schools maintain such a standard OF
work as will entitle them to mem
bership in this organization
Manual Activities
Some of the purposes in provid-
ing for manual activities are the fol-
lowing:
l. To give general mental train
ing. For the children who are con
crete minded" rather than book
minded" the results in this way will
be marked.
2. To give general manual skill.
Precision and dexterity in the hand
ling of tools, in the joining and fit
ting, etc., is a form of ability desir-
able for a physician as we'll as for a
worker.
3. To give industrial intelligence.
A boy will be able to learn trade
much more easily.
4. To furnish a vital motive for
school work which in some cases
might otherwise be found uninter-
esting. For instance, better work
in arithmetic would undoubtedly re-
suit.
5. To make stronger and more
lasting the results of Instruction.
Practical application always leads to
better comprehension and remem-
boring
6. To give an intelligent apprecia-
ton of industrial life. This is very
important. and will have to be dis
cussed somewhat more in detail.
z. To help in giving culture.
8. To help in giving vocational
guidance. Experience with manual
tpaining will enable a pupil to select
a vocation more inteiligently.
OF these various aims, the sixth,
namely to help give an intelligent
appreciation of industrial life, is
probably the most important.
Through actual experience with var
ious activities. an appreciation and
realization of them comes Children
of today have to acquire so much
through their eyes and ears, and do
not learn enough by actual doing.
Activity is to great extent the basis
for understanding for children, and
is therefore highly important.
Through actual experience, the boy
learns of the hard and unyielding
nature of various kinds of materials,
and he gains sense of values of the
things in the world round about him.
Because of these facts the manual
activities given in the school should
be as varied as possible.
At least few of the things which
1t would be desirable to provide FOR
are first of all, the handling of tools
in connection with wood work. There
would be large rough work cahinot
making, joining, etc. Work with
iictdlo anu oOIlt lOESllS WOulu also
be desirable. Other activities would
come as the work would ge gradually
developed in the school. A good
deal of the work would be done In
the grades. The high school manual
work could be coordinated very de-
sirably with agricultural work, and
will be mentioned later. The last
legislature of this state provided that
all schools shall have manual train
ing work in their courses by July 1,
1915, so il will be necessary to ar
range for this work.
Agricultural Work
1t is proving very desirable to
have good agricultural courses in all
Of our high schools. With land val
ucs at 100000 and more per acre,
it will become increasingly neces-
sary to farm scientifically. Scientific
farming is after all, to consider
able extent, rendering accurate of
.hings commonly known with the adj
ded advantage of having the best
experience of leading farmers and
eXperimenters at hand The oppor-
tunities for Iowa Children in the
way of agriculture are hardly real
lied even by the people living in ag-
ricultural communities. Concerning
this, Professor Bishop, who is dean
of agriculture and director of the
experiment station of our agricultur-
al college, has the following to say
I'VE have scarcely entered the real
field for vocational and industrial
education in a state like Iowa. There
are possibilities greater than any one
has yet dreamed of. These POSSIBLE
tiles will develop faster than we can
realize. The study of land values,
land ownership. land production
farm tenancy, farm management, and
the problems of rural life in a state
like Iowa has some startling revela-
tons. Some of the most vital prob
lens haven't yet been touched by any
of the agricultural colleges or voca-
tional schools"
Another condition that should be
mentioned in this connection is the
fact that our last census showed a
decrease in the population of the
state as whole, and also in this
county. This decrease is not by any
means explained alone by the fact
that some people were moving to
cheaper lands. A good many of our