The Coolidge examiner., 1938-03-10

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see put through is the sponsoring
of good musical programs. The
/ children need to develop an appre-
citation of fine music. Music is a
necessity, not a fad. If the highest
quality of music is presented, the
children will soon begin to love it.
Children should be encouraged to
indulge in art and craft activities
in their leisure time.
Before | go further, want to tell
you what a splendid thing, l think
your garden club idea is 1t has
given the children something to
think about, and something to do
while not in school. Their enthus
iasm has stretched over into their
class work. 1t is a new subject of
conversation, it furnishes new
outlet for their energies, and the
exhibit in the end has proved to be
a very strong incentive for them to
put forth their best efforts 1t has
increased their civic pride. One of
my eighth grade boys, became so
interested that he pulled up one of
my bulbs to see what made it grow
and why.
This problem of leisure time ac-
tivities is one that you could help
in. Leisure may raise standards
or lower them; depending upon the
use made of it. Hobby clubs could
be formed The garden club idea
fits in excellently here Maeterlinck
said, "The manner in which the
hours of freedom are spent deter
mines no less than labor or war
the moral worth of a nation"
Many community organizations
carry on recreational activities dur
ing the summer, some of which are
for children only, others for all
ages. Those types of opportunity
should be offered which will mean
the raising of the level of mental,
social, and cultural life of the com
munity. The school needs the un
derstanding and backing of all Soci-
al forces in the community in its
efforts to deal with the problem
or marginal time. The other forces
need the help of the school.
The play life of the child will
largely determine the recreational
life of the adult; it needs to be
directed. | once read that free time,
in large amounts around two thous
and five hundred hours per year,
per individual is now being released
for human use. In addition, marg-
ins of surplus human energy come
with the free time. What are we
going 10 DO with II
From the few problems l have |
mentioned here, it is apparent that
what the school is asking for is
nothing more than help; help in
dealing with the child, more parti- /
cularly after his school hours are
over. That is the time when the
school does not have any direct
control over the child, and that is
the period when a child is letting
out his emotions that have been
stored up during the day. All in all
l suppose you could term it Co
operation But whatever you call
it, the child, which is the main
cause of school, must be taken
care of in some manner in his
leisure time. We have to depend
upon your organization to help. If
| may be permitted to say it, the
time from four o'clock each day,
until bedtime, and the summer
months is the time when your child
has the opportunity to learn and
develop ideals that will carry him
through life and put into use those
technical matters that are learned
in the classroom and will, in the
end, be the guiding star, as it were,
to his destiny, and will be far
greater than all the classwork that
was ever performed.
am reminded of the story about
the two men who bought cow. 1t
seems that by mutual agreement,
the one man owned the front half
of the COW, and the other owned the
back half of the COW. Now the man
that owned the front of the COW,
fed the COW and watered the COW