Arizona republican., 1921-07-23
PLAYING THE HEALTH GAME

breakfast plate Many time in | those days, was a child uncermonious- | ly recalled to the table by an irate
 parent and told mot to stir out of l this house for school until al lthat I mush or oatmeal has been eaten up"
 But conditions have vastly altered | Many mothers are becoming absorb | ed in other interests not to say tobs. | Others are so taken with new ideas i of allowing little Algernon to devel- l op his own Individuality that they sigh resignedly when he whines. "Oh, l
 mamma. but I don't want it'' and hurry him off to school The modern 1
 father who sees two-thirds of his
 family at the breakfast table is rare
 individual
 Now, it is teacher, with her much
 talked of sma1 salary and usually
 enjoying the state of single blessed
 ness. to whom falls the additional
 duties of seeing that some 20 or 30 little Algernons and Susies brush their
 teeth, have their lunches in the right
 kind of boxes, comb their hair, sleep with the windows open and do va
 rious other things both at home and at school, that are for their physical good. The Trenton Normal school of
 Trenton, N. J., is among those most active in teaching teacher how to Wheedle Algernon and Susie into such good habits in a way that will get re-
 suits without calling down upon her
 head the wrath of the parents who
 regardless O. their own neglect in such matters. resent what they please to term the unwarranted interference of outsiders
 A Vegetable Race
 The method of teaching the health game is in the teachers own hand . and considerable ingenuity and orig inality have been evinced in the way the work has been handled in the va
 rIous schools. Some teachers en- courage the cutting out of pictures
 illustrating health habits and the
 making of posters. This work and neat printing can be taught during the painting lesson. One teacher de- vised vegetable race on the black | board, all the vegetables good for l children being lined up on Monday, and each vegetable moving a step ahead as child reported eating it. | Health education is finding a way ! to the child mind through almost All l of the courses of study. Arithmetic l problems deal with quantities of milk, | cereal or the proper spacing for good | ventilation: English lessons, written | and oral, may be guided along health | subjects. little rlays and verses are 1 devised by the children themselves
 and presented at parent teachers meetings.
 As far as possible school authori- ! ties secure lie cooperation and in- terest of parent teachers organiza-
 tions and women's clubs The Coun-
 cil of Federated Women's Clubs has | shown great interest in the work. l Many clubs have been of material as- | sistance in furnishing the schools with | scales weigh the children, tooth | brushes and equipment for getting warm lunches for the children, and in numerous other ways. The women's | clubs of Knoxville. Tenn, have help l ed physical education make progress | in their state. The Women's Com munity Council of Minneapolis has
 also done some splendid work, co-op- | erating with the University of Min | nesota. All over the country civic and educational organizations are | combining their forces into teamwork I for playing the health game.
 Our work with physical education l is also interesting foreign countries | Czecho- Slovakia has made inquiries | as to methods pursued along this line l through the medium of the American ! Red Cross. A well known Australian | club women has carried enthusiastic | ideas of the work to her native coun- 1 try. Japan has had compulsory phys | ical education in her schools for more | than 30 years and Japanese students in the United States have shown eagerness in watching our progress. Ambassador Jusse.and of France 1 states that. poor as the French peo- ! pie are after the war the government | has found them eager to have appro- 1 priations set aside for this work in I their schools. At the present time 1t
 is conducted mainly under the super | vision of the military authorities. l England gives national aid to local | communities for providing physical education. Sweden has had universal l physical education in her high schools for many years. Germany and even l Russia are ta, ing progressive meas ures along this line. Evidently, the
 mother who useo to prlde herself on the delicate constitution of her child
 is going out of fashion all over the world.