The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1916-06-14
DOMESTIC SCIENCE
IN RURAL SCHOOLS
TERRELL TEACHER URGES ITS
ADOPTION. NOW TAUGHT IN
THREE CITY SCHOOLS.

| full age of science-the age or re-
search, of discovery and invention,
the age in which many vital human
problems are being solved. Domestic
science is a study of cooking and
sewing, of home decoration, of home
making. Domestic science is not a
fad. Thinking men and women
| have realized that the destiny of our
nation is nodded in our homes. If
our homes are to be what they should
be our boys and girls who are to
make these homes must be taught
how to do it. Hence domestic sci
ence has been introduced into our
school curriculums. In the last meet
ing of the National Educational AS
sociation the chief topic of discussion
has been the Importance and Neces-
sity of Practical Education"
And why should we teach home
making to our girls? Because what
ever woman's sphere or calling in life
may be she is first of all home
maker. The natural instinct of wo-
man, her graces, her charm, her pow
ers of creating happiness, fit her for
her particular work. Homemaking is
no longer a matter of intuition, but
it is an art, and requires efficient
training. Our nation needs mothers
who have that training which enables
them to create artistic homes for
their children, to nourish their bod
les with wholesome well-cooked and
daintily served food. tt needs moth
ers who can manage their households
in an economical, business-like man
ner, who can be the helpmeet and in
SEPARATION of their husbands. When
we teach domestic science to our girls
in school we are training them for
their future work as mothers. All
the problems of life-food, shelter,
clothing, etc.-rest in the home and
depend largely on the little woman
of the home. How great are her re-
sponsibilities How great the need
for training When we say teach the
girls cooking and sewing we do not
mean to underestimate the value of
books. Our girls are our future moth
ers, and the true mother will minister
to the Intellectual and spiritual needs
of her children, as well as the phys
ical. In the peaceful calm of the
twilight she will gather them about
her and with the touch of the mother
love will bring them that refinement
and culture which come only from
contact with the treasures of the
the worlds art. literature and music.
| Then we do not wish to sacrifice the
other studies in our curriculum, but
wish this new branch added that our
women may be led into the bigger
and broader life-the life in which
the common place is dignified and the
ideal made practical.
The modern trend of education is
toward practical things. The cry of
the age is efficiency. Our schools and
colleges are reorganizing their cur
ricula so as to develop not society
bellies and leaders, but capable men
and women. Domestic science is but
one of the many practical sciences
added. Manual training, agriculture
and bookkeeping are being taught in
our more progressive schools, and
training in these subjects is prepar-
ing our boys and girls to meet the
actual problems of life. Education
is being humanized and vitalized.
1t is easy to introduce these new
branches into our city systems. But
how can it be done in our rural
schools? We answer-the only way
is by means of consolidation. 1t is
only a matter of time when the one
room rural school will be thing Of
the past. In it's place we shall have
the new consolidated rural high
school. And this new school will
teach the girls cooking and sewing,
will teach the boys manual training,
the making of tables, swings, book
cases, etc, for identifying the home
will teach bookkeeping and practical
agriculture by means of school gar
dens; it will have a we'll equipped
playground with basketball, tennis
and volley ball courts, and will en-
phasize play as part of the child
training and development. 1t will
have only the best trained teachers
There will be some who lament the
change and say these things are rad
ical and unnecessary. But the schools
which have tried the experiment out
proclaim with one accord the success
and "worthwhileness' of the under
taking. Our nation is progressing
Our schools must set the pace for this
progress. Tennyson says:
"The old order changeth, giving
place to new,
And God fulfills Himself in many
ways
Lest one good custom should cor
rupt the world"
One school in Terrell county has
already introduced domestic science.
But the little work that has been done
is but a beginning of what viii be
done if the people of Terrell county
will but let it be done. Is your school
what you would have it be? Is it the
light of your community? Does it
give your boy or girl full preparation
for solving the practical problems of
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