Evening star., 1924-09-28

hh knOWn Srdte1ully Dy some
wv hundreds of thousands of
4 Il boys and girls to whom she
has thrown open the doors
of romance, travel, adventure, CIV
ing them an opportunity to know
the worlds heroes. explorers and in
ventors, and to cultivate love for
poetry and the other arts.
Miss Lombard is blessed daily by
hundreds of thousands of wives.
mothers and other home makers. for
whom she is making possible home
education, thus broadening the horizon
of their lives by glimpses into the
past and bringing them into associa-
tfon with the cultured of all ages and
all lands-and most importan of all,
by making it possible for those
whose educational opportunities were
limited in early life to make them
selves better fitted tosdirect the read
ing and education and home culture
of their children.
Just how many are thus benefited
by Miss Lombard's work can never
be known, for she is shooting ar
rows into the sky" but 1t is certain
that generations yet unborn will be
bettered through the zeal of this un-
assuming, self-effacing woman who
sits in a little Office on the sixth floor
of the Interior Department Building,
writer's Of the world into reading
courses for all America.
x X x
Miss Lombard is the director of
home education in the United States
Bureau of Education, but even before
she had taken up this new line OF
work, IL years ago, she had started
thousands of young teachers on the
right road as superintendent of prac-
lice in a Boston training school for
teachers.
The first United States Commits
sioner of Education, DR.. Henry Bar
nard. urged the constant cooperation
of parents in realizing the work of
the schools and the regular attend
ance of the pupils. He called atten-
tion to the fact that an obligation
rests upon parents and guardians not
to allow children to grow up in bar
barism ignorance and vagrancy. He
recommended and then directed the
preparation of official circulars on
self education or hints for self-infor-
nation, with examples of the pursuit
of knowledge under difficulties.
These recommendations were made
more than SO years ago. In 1913 an
other commissioner of education took
active steps to further the education
of meE and women and of boys and
girls at home by establishing di-
vision of home education in the Bu-
reau OF Education, with the co-opera-
ton of the National Congress of
Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associa-
tions.
Two definite lines of work intended
to. benefit the homes and the schools
and eventually to raise the standard
Of intellectual life and citizenship in
each school district have been devel
oped. First, to bring parents and
teachers. into closer relationship, and.
second. to furnish means and incen
tives for the further education of the
family in the home.
4 !:
Miss Lombard, on account of her
exceptional qualifications and espe
cially on account of her zeal for such
a task, was selected to head up this
work. In her Office she bends her
trained efforts toward two ends
u to stimulate activities of parent
teacher associations and (2) to pro-
mote home reading.
Fer 10 years she has been chairman
of home education for the National
Congress of Parent-Teacher Associa-
tions. and in this way has direct con-
tact with 100000 women interested in
carrying forward the crusade.
through these local leaders Miss
Lombard is trying to get the people
in each State to realize the impor-
tance of having books in the home
and the parents reading to the chill
dren in the home. She is recommend
ing daily that parent-teache associa-
tons. should organize circles to slim
ulate home reading so that the boys
and girls will grow up with the habit
Of reading the best literature, and
has prepared 81 reading courses to Of
fer to such circles.
Here is the situation she faces.