The Washington times., 1920-09-19
TEXTBOOKS NOT ALL
YOUNG GIRL NEEDS
Teach Them at Least Seven
Things Outside School, Says
Headmaster.
~ ROBERT II. ADAMS. A. NJ.
HeadnsAster, Fsirmsst sekssI.

school accomplish miracles for her,
nor that she get all these things in
full measure in a few months or even
a few years; but. regardless OF how
much she learned from her books. un-
less she gained also az least the
fundamentals OF these seven things. 1
should consider that she had failed
OF her education.
First should expect that she be
taught. by precept, example and daily
habit. the fundamental laws OF health.
IL would not be enough that she be
cared for when III; she should be
taught to keep well. Next TO charac-
ter, health is a persons most precious
possession; upon these two are built
success and happiness. III my daugh-
ter made honor marks in all her
studies, yet came back to me nervous,
tired, exhausted, without proper
knowledge of the laws OF her own
body. and without those habits which
insure health. I should consider that
she had received but poor return for
the investment~of her youth.
Second-I should expect that she be
taught. likewise by precept, example
and daily habit, good manners.
Good manners include, of course. the
usages of good society; the customs
and amenities which smooth the path
way of social intercourse. These
things 1 would have my daughter
learn, that she might both rightly es-
timate their worth and adequately
possess their value. But / would
have her learn also that reasonable
self-respect. that poise and self-con-
troll, thmat respect for and thoughtful
Of 81 xxyhir N
inward reality OF good manners and
without which the observance OF ac-
cepted rules and forms is but a sham.
Facetious as his words may at first
sound, the man who, after the death
OF his wife, needing some one to care
for his children. advertised for a
woman with high ideals and a low
voice" had the matter about right"
Third should expect that my
daughter be taught to study.
Learning to study is something
more than learning to acquire knowl-
edge from books or lectures or to per-
form certain assigned intellectual
tasks. 1t involves to some extent the
mastery OF the mind itself: the under
standing, in some measure at least.
of it's powers, and the disciplining of
those powers to wise ends.
he pOOTcst cCOHoHy III INC ~oItu
is a poor teacher. Yet parents who
would scorn to feed their children in
ferior food because. 1t was cheaper,
often for the sake of a temporary
financial saving keep their children
under the instruction-change the
word: under the destruction--of in
ferior teachers. The best teacher is
none too good.
Fourth-ParallelinE and re-enforc-
ing this training in the art of study.
vitalizing and making practical the
knowledge gained from study. I
should expect that the school afford
my daughter the opportunity for a
rich and varied fund of experience.
Such experience should come in
part from the inner life OF the school.
Experience is the great educator.
Education cannot be wholly receptive
nor wholly according to form and
schedule, but must give scope for the
development of individuality through
self-directed activity Neither can
it must be vitality in touch with the
concrete realities OF the present day
world.
Fifth should expect that she be
taught the dignity and-the necessity,
the method and the Joy. Of useful
work.
There are three reasons FOR this:
First, because she might some day
have to earn her own living: she
ought to be able to do so, whether
she should ever have to do so or not.
Census figures show that more than
30 per cent of the women Of the
United States have to earn their Iiv-
Ing at some period OF their lives, and
no parent can say that his own daugh-
ter may not some day be numbered
among this more than 80 per cent.
Second, because, even though It
might not ever be necessary for her
to earn her own living. she should be
sympathy and understanding those
who do; and this sympathy and this
understanding would be impossible
unless she herself knew the mean
ing Of work. Applied generally. we
should fnd hero the solution of most
OF tho difficulties that beset our in
dustrial civilization
Third, because she should have in
her own life the benefits which re-
suit from doing well some useful work.
Too much of our education. as too
much OF our civilization. Is artificial
and breeds parasitism, which is de-
cay. Work 10 at once tho great hu-
manizer and tho inoscapable condition
of permanent progress.
-Sixth--Along with what has Just
been said, / should expect that she be
taught tho value OF money and the
beauty OF simplicity,
Americans are called a nation OF
spenders. Yet the most of us spend
very crudely. Spending is an art.
A girl should be taught not merely
how to earn money if she should need
to do SO, but how to spend IL well.
She may never have to do the former;
she will all her lifo need to do the
latter, I should wish my daughter to
earn how to use money wisely and TO
know that simplicity is happier than
display.
Seventh--I should expect that she
be brought under the influence of the
master spirits Of the ages, in litera-
turs, art, science, philosophy and re-
ligion, and thus be given a fair
chance OF making an intelligent choice
for herself between the great and
abiding values OF life and the shall.
low vaHsries OF the passing moment;
so that she might catch somehow
(the teachers ought to know howl the