Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-05-13
VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS
FIT INDIANS FOR LIFE
Course Now Offered Outlined Late
in 1915 by Committee of
Eight Experts.
COVERS PERIOD OF TEN YEARS
Lay Foundation for Work I'm Agri-
culture, Home Economics, Trade
and Industry, Combining Vocation
Courses With Public School Study.

WASHINGTON. May 1.-THE indus
trial training course. recently adopted.
proves notably successful. Those who
have followed the progress OF tho i'm
proved course of study recently
adopted by the Department of the In
terror for use in Indian schools en-
press great satisfaction at the success
the plan has had thus far.
Under this plan the indian school
ing covers a period OF ten years. and
direct connection exists between his
schoolwork and his subsequent life
work. The course OF study WAS nut
lined late in 1915 by a ommi,tc Of
eight experts. who met in Washington
and considered the latest practical
suggestions advanced by American
educators.
AS a result. tho Indian schools are
now models OF practical utility. They
lay a real foundation for future work
in agriculture. home economies. trade
and industry, combining vocation
courses with regular public school
grade study.
Lessons in health begin very carly.
Second grade pupils are given each day
ono hours instruction in sanitation.
gardening and sowing. In the third
grade this hour is increased TO AN hour
and a half. and repair work. cooking
and housekeeping are added. All
pupils OF ten or over who arc still in
the lower grades arc given the work
Of this first industrial course. General
exercises are nductc in current
events. elementary civics, and the
usual primary studies.
At the fourth grade the primary di-
vision ends, and the prcvocationul be-
gins. Three hours daily. are now de-
voted 10 industrial work, thirty
minutes of 1T applied to instruction, the
rest to production. This average is
maintained throughout the fifth and
sixth grades, and affords general
preparation for the courses offered in
the vocational division.
WORK BEGINS TO ASSUME
MORE DEFINITE DIRECTION
When tho pupil reaches tho voca-
tionai division. he has probably decided
upon his future occupation, and his
work begins to assume a more deGni
direction. lie Is taught industrial
geography and agricultural botany and
vocational arithmetic. Each day lie is
given four hours of straight Industrial
work. Each week he is given personal
instruction for one and one-hulf hours:
each week he dcvotcs two hours to
drafting and twenty and one-half hours
t" practical application of the prin-
ciples he has learned.
With the second year, farm and
household accounting Is added to his
vocational a~rithmetic; soil and soil
fertility appear in his list Of studies.
In the next year farm and household
physics alternate with chemistry. while
the fourth and last presents courses in
rural economics. field crops and plant
diseases. 1t has been said that the
first group of three years is the be-
ginning stage of the indian education.
the second period is the finding" stage.
fitting stage.
AS is stated in h last report issued
by Secretary Lane. "thc course has
been planned with tho vocationul aim
very clearly and positively dominant,
with special emphasis on agriculture
and homemaking. The character and
amount Of academic work has been de-
termIned by It's relative value and Inn
portance as a means Of solution OF tho
problems OF the farmer, mechanic and
housewife. All effort is directed to-
ward training Indian boys and girls
for efficient and useful lives under the
conditions which they must meet after
leaving school,"