The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1921-02-12
COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL GIVING VOCATIONAL COURSE

bone making in our high schools.
Home making as It Is taught now,
involves great deal more than mere
ly cooking and sewing, although
these are two of the important activ-
tiles carried on in the home. A home
maker has a more complex task than
any one else In the world except a
farmer. To be an intelligent and ef-
ficient home maker II Is necessary for
her to know something about SANTA
tion, house planning, decoration and
furnishings, care of the house, se-
lecting, purchasing and making Of
clothes, cleaning, pressing, and mend
ing household fabrics, renovating
and remodeling, laundering. care OF
children. hygiene, home care of the
sick, first aid to the injured. i<eeping
household accounts, budget making,
proper use of leisure time, buying,
preparing, serving Of meals and many
other things.
In the old type Of Domestic Sci
ence, girl was taught to cook a GER
tain number of dishes, but the new
Vocational Home Economics, while
not sighting the preparation offoods,
places the emphasis upon the econ
omical purchasing of foods and upon
study of the foods necessary for
people Of various ages and engaged
in various occupations. Statistics
show that a large number of school
children are undernourished, and
these children are not found only in
the poorer districts. A child may be
4 IL ~ h..k
1t may not be the proper kind of food
for a growing child The case was
observed of boy who was given a
we'll planned diet, and who was
normal as to weight and height for
his age. 1t happened that barrel
of apples was given to the family
and the boy was allowed to eat all of
them he wanted. Apples are a very
healthful food and have a place in
the diet, but too many of them are as
injurious as too much of anything
else. At the end of a week the boy
was found below weight, as he had
eaten so many apples that he had no
appetite for the other food that was
prepared for him. Many other cases
of improper feeding Of school child
rem leads US to feel that a study of
food values and the well balanced
meal are a necessary part of every
girls education.
The woman is the spender of the
family. To her is turned over the
income, she purchases the food and
clothing, pays the rent and the other
household bills, Most women have
had no training In keeping simple
household accounts or been taught
the value of budget system. A lit
tie help along this line would mean
great saving.
The Vocation Home Economics
courses as offered under the Smith
Hughes Act attempt to cover the
whole vocation of home making-to
give the girl a survey of the whole
field. 1t may not be possible to make
her an expert cook, but it is possible
to teach her the comparative food
values of various foodstuffs; how to
plan a balanced diet and what are
the food requirements of the MEM
bers of the family. 1t may not be
possible to teach her to be an expert
seamstress, but 1t Is possible to give
her an understanding of the princi-
Piles of good design as applied to
dress, how to recognize good mater
ial when she sees it, and how to buy
economically. If she is taught how
to apply system and order and busi-
ness methods to her household af-
fairs, 1t will tighten her task, make It
more pleasant and make her very
much more efficient.