Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-16
YOUR CHILD
in SCHOOL
By DR.. Frank ". 'BaLIou,
Superintendent of Schools. Washington.
d. c.

No. 18--Parent.T Teacher Associations.
Proper coordination of the home
and the school as the two most i'm
portant agencies in the education of
our children has always been prob
lem of vital Importance. 1t is of great
moment to the parent and teacher, as
we shall see after an analysis of the
movement which is contributing so
constructively to the drawing to-
gether of home and school
OF all professions, that of teaching
is the most closely related to the home.
Other professions come into close con-
tact with home life at various times,
and render service of a highly per-
sonal character Their relation with
the home, however, If one considers
them closely, is vastly different than
that of the teacher, to whom is as
signed the parents responsibility of
providing their children with the men,
tai, moral and physical training neces-
sary to fill valuable place in society.
It would be difficult to imagine a
closer bond than that between per
sons who have a common task of tax
ing the impressionable youth with
seemingly unlimited possibilities of de-
velopment and molding him or her
into an individual who may be the
great statesman, soldier, surgeon,
churchman, jurist or educator of to-
morrow.
Parent and teacher have a common
problem and should work side by side
in purpose. Accordingly, they need a
common knowledge Of each others
problems. We have already consid-
cred how the teacher has had this
necessity emphasized more and more
during training and from experience.
We now shall consider how the home.
has been brought into more intimate
contact with the institution and the
persons that provide formal education
/ In more recent times parents and
teachers have been gaining clearer
understanding of each others tasks
and of the equipment which each has
at his command. Both groups realize
more clearly than ever before what
they can do for the mutual benefit of
themselves and for the children whose
interests must always be paramount.
| This more intimate relationship has
been the outgrowth largely of a
movement designed to foster mutual
knowledge of problems on the part of
parent and teacher. | refer to the
aptly named parent teacher move
ment.
Organization in this direction has
been effected and fostered by the Ma
tional Congress of Parents and Teach
ers, whose national headquarters are
in Washington. This body, In which
membership Is increasing constantly,
with corresponding widening activity
states as the groundwork for it's pro-
gram the following detectives, which,
| believe, succinctly express the pur-
poses of the whole movement:
Il To promote child welfare in home,
school. church and community to
raise the standards of some life; to
secure more adequate laws for the
care and protection of women and
children.
''2. To bring into closer relation the
home and the school, that parents and
teachers may cooperate intelligently
in the training of the child to develop
between educators and the general
public such united effort as will secure
for every child the highest advantages
in physical. mental, moral and spirit.
ual education"
Thus has come about the great
awakening to the fact that education
begins in the home, and that if it
does not start until the child enters
the school, it is just that many years
too late and places children under a
distinct handicap. Education of chill
dren must begin with the parents.
The teachers function, in reality, In