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HOME AND SCHOOL
UNITED IX
WIDENING CIRCLES OF INSPIRATION AND SERVICE
HOME— SCHOOL— COMMUNITY— NATION
BY
MARY VAN METER GRICE
PRESIDENT OF THE PHILADELPHIA LEAGUE OF HOME AND SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS
TlClttb prefatory Hlotes
BY ELMER ELLSWORTH BROWN
UNITKD STATES COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
MARTIN GROVE BRUMBAUGH
SUPERINTENDENT OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
PHILADELPHIA CHRISTOPHER SOWER COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1909
BY CHRISTOPHER SOWER COMPANY
A man's reach must exceed his grasp, else what's a heaven for."
TO THE GREAT ARMY OF WORKING-DREAMERS IN HOME AND IN SCHOOL
WHO VISION
A WIDENING CIRCLE OF SOCIAL FORCES THE CENTER OF WHICH SHALL
BE THE WELFARE OF THE CHILD
" 'Tis something to have dreamed."
"The common school is the principal means for the civilization, development, and progress of our republic. It was born of the people, and it is sup- ported by the people, and its successes and failures spring from the people. Its future depends upon public opinion. Other nations have centralized systems through which education is guided and controlled, shaped, and moulded. We have not a shadow of a school system. Each school district has its own destiny in its hands. It can make the school good or bad according to the influence of public opinion."
COL. FRANCIS W. PARKER.
"Among the greatest obstacles facing our public schools today is the ignorance of the public con- cerning the inner working of the schools, the indif- ference of the parents to the educational welfare of their children and the want of sympathetic coopera- tion between the home and the school, between parent and teacher."
HON. CHARLES SKINNER.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION 13
PREFATORY NOTES 17
THE SETTING OF THE PROBLEM .... 19
IN EARLY DAYS 23
FIRST RIPPLES 30
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR CITY SCHOOLS . 41 PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR COUNTRY
SCHOOLS 48
PLAN OF PROCEDURE FOR LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS 60
THE WIDENING CIRCLE 76
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 83
Child Study 83
Children's Day 87
The Nursery Hour 88
Nature Study— Children's Gardens . . 89
Gathering Field Flowers .... 90
Thimble Clubs and Cooking Classes . . 93
Mothers' Outings 96
The Story Hour 97
(ix)
x CONTENTS
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES :
Current Events Clubs 101
Social Gatherings 106
Civic Clubs Ill
Social Centers 116
GOVERNOR HUGHES ON SOCIAL CENTERS . . 126
HOME AND SCHOOL SONGS 131
SUMMARY 135
NOTES . 153
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Common Cause for a Common Good Frontispiece Kindergarten "Mothers' Hour" in Colored
School 31
Play Means Something 37
Getting Ready for a Field Day in the District
School ' . 51
Everything Should be Done Informally — The Road-bed Serves the Purpose of a Run- ning Track 57
Home and School Evening 63
Officers of a Home and School Association . 71 Community Interest — Shall we Have a Play- ground? 79
Thimble Club 91
About the Door-step of a Summer's Evening . 99 The Buildings Belong to the People — A Wo- man's Club Meeting in a Public School
House 103
The Social Hour 107
Men's Civic Club 113
Game Room 119
Junior Members — Boys' Club 139
Junior Members — Health for the Girls . . 145
Junior Members— Basket Ball Team . . . 149
( xi )
INTEODUCTION.
IN one of her inimitable short stories, Ruth McEnery Stuart makes an embryo eight- year-old teacher rebuke a class of "grown- ups/' who are teasingly asking questions, with this remark, "Now you-alls be still! Questions is for teachers, and answers is for scholars." Today there is a question sweep- ing the country that is for both "teachers" and "scholars." It will not down by any setting aside or unwillingness to recognize it. It faces the educational world. It is here to stay and it is here to be answered. "How can the home and school be brought into closer relation?"
This little book is written with the hope that some of the suggestions in it may prove helpful to the growing army of earnest men and women who are striving in one way and another to answer the foregoing question. It claims no finality of method. Its sug- gestions are born of some fifteen years'
( xiii )
xiv INTRODUCTION
experience on the part of the writer, during which she has served as school trustee or as a member of school boards and has had the opportunity to observe the growing separation between the home and school. The first effort to bridge the gulf took on the form of the old-time "Mothers' Meet- ings," which gradually grew more inclusive, having two or three evening meetings each year when the fathers of the children were given an opportunity to attend. Within the last few years the movement has become wider in its scope. It stands today as a citizens' movement, and as such should claim the thoughtful consideration of citizens everywhere.
The underlying principle, the consciously bringing together into closer, more intelli- gent relationship the home and the school, is of as potent force in the private as in the public school. This force is felt in the schools of country places as well as in those of cities. Indeed, in no place is the bene- ficial effect of this cooperation felt more vividly than in country districts.
Whether it be in country or city, it is within the walls of the school that the child
INTRODUCTION xv
for the first time finds himself in contact with his civic relations. His understanding of these must grow with his growth, not as a result of precepts formally taught, but as the outcome of a school life lived so closely in touch with home and the community inter- ests that these three shall blend in one.
When fathers, mothers, teachers, and children make common cause for a great common good, what can withstand them? This is the end toward which all real edu- cation tends — the betterment of our common life.
PREFATORY NOTE
A PECULIAR interest attaches to this account of one of the social movements of our time because of the fact that it has been prepared by one who, for a number of years, has had a leading part in that movement. Mrs. Grice knows at first hand the senti- ments, plans, and purposes of the Home and School Associations. She has, in fact, had much to do with shaping the newer tenden- cies of these organizations, particularly in her home city, and with bringing them into popular regard.
It would be hard to resist the conviction that, in these organizations and others of a similar character, there is arising a new force which will mightily influence our edu- cation and our community life within the next generation. This conviction is in no way dulled by the fact that these societies appeal to the most ordinary wants and inter- ests and in some of their aspects are warmly
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xviii PREFATORY NOTE
sentimental. It is a genuinely human appeal that they make, and the fact that they are finding ways to meet real human needs and aspirations strengthens our confidence that they will render a lasting service.
Those who enter freely into-the democratic and humanitarian strivings of our time will read this little book with lively interest; and the suggestions which it offers regarding things to be done will, I doubt not, be found helpful in many communities, in town and country alike, but particularly in our larger cities, with their crowded and varied popu- lations.
ELMER ELLSWORTH BROWN.
WASHINGTON, June 30, 1909,
THE SETTING OF THE PROBLEM
EDUCATION is designed to prepare the individual to live with his kind; and the education that does this best is, of course, the best education. The keynote of our civili- zation is participation and not competition. This is true in our industrial progress as well as in our social progress. Applying this to our educational progress, there arises this general principle: educational progress of the best sort is conditioned upon harmonious participation of all the forces that work upon the growing child. We are beginning to understand that there must be no conflict either in thought or action between the work of the home and x the work of the school; that here unity and sympathy must underlie the activities of both for the sake of the proper education of the child.
In the working out of this fundamental thought a new group of activities must appear
xx THE SETTING OF THE PROBLEM
in our educational system. This group of activities will have for its purpose a more intimate participation on the part of the school, and on the part of the home in the broad social, and moral, as well as intellec- tual, development of the child.
We have already recognized the impor- tance of social centers, educational mass meetings, illustrated lectures, closer super- vision of health and morality both in the home and in the school, and now we are taking into these growing activities Play- grounds and Home and School Associations. The purpose all along the line is to bring into harmony and into active participation all the forces that make for the progress of society through education in school.
It has been a long but fairly well defined movement in society that has made possible the realization in a practical way of this edu- cational principle. There was a time when the parent was not wanted in the school; in fact, it was not uncommon to regard the coming of a parent to the school as an inter- ference with the work of the school, and no doubt in some cases this was true, because parents came only to criticise and not to
THE SETTING OF THE PROBLEM xxi
cooperate, and the child felt instinctively that there was in some way an antagonism between the home and the school. This led to severe forms of discipline and to inade- quate intellectual results.
The purpose of the Home and School Association is to bring about harmony and unity between all the forces that have to do with the building of a citizen for the Republic. The more the school understands of the home life of the child, and the better the home comes to realize the purpose and possibilities of the school, the happier will be the fate of the child in school.
Whatever lack of appreciation of school conditions is found to exist on the part of the community is in a large measure due to improper and inadequate understanding of the things which the school can accomplish and should accomplish. If, then, an agency can be created which will bring together parents and teachers for a discussion of the ••problems that lie partly in the school and partly in the home, there will result great gain to the child. There will also arise a better understanding of precisely what belongs exclusively to the school and what
xxii THE SETTING OF THE PROBLEM
belongs exclusively to the home, and each can impress upon the other the importance of performing its separate function.
Whatever reforms in the treatment and care of the children in the public school sys- tem of a city or country may be reasonably wrought will be the more rapidly brought about when the citizens understand fully the problems and needs of the school. It follows that the Home and School Association be- comes an agency that promotes all forms of intellectual activity and reform in the school system* and for that reason these Associa- tions should be established in all schools.
The volume here presented is a practical manual, setting forth the method of proce- dure in establishing and conducting such an agency in the public school building, and is of the utmost significance as a step in advance in the achievement of the ultimate purpose of the school.
MARTIN G. BRUMBAUGH.
PHILADELPHIA, September 1, 1909.
HOME AND SCHOOL
IN EARLY DAYS
ONE who follows the course of educa- tional interest down through the years can readily note the widening of the gulf between the home life and the school life of the child. In the early days of our country, when population was sparse and the home was the center of all the industrial activities that have of late been lifted out from it, it was also the center of the educational life of the child. He was educated either by his parents or by some tutor, who occupied a valued place in the family circle. The home and school were one.
As civilization moved on apace, and dis- tricts became more thickly settled, the schoolhouse appeared; but the "boarding round" of the teacher, and the intimate personal relation with the homes of his pupils into which this plan brought him,
(23)
24 HOME AND SCHOOL
still projected the school into the home and helped to create a unifying influence between the two.
Today we point with a sense of pride to our splendidly organized system of educa- tion; to our buildings and equipment, worth many millions of dollars; to our great army of educators, trained and fitted to their work. Yet the truth remains, we are not satisfied with the product of this plant. We realize that the life forces playing upon "educating" the youth of our country are not to be found alone in the schoolroom, nor to be limited to the five hours of five days of ten or less months each year. We are pausing to take account of the other nineteen hours of seven days of the twelve months. What of them? What force enters into their scope? WTe are compelled to admit that in the large it is the home, it matters not how poor that home may be. And yet very frequently the poorer, the more incompetent the home, the less it is in touch with or shows either comprehen- sion or interest in the purposes of the school. Thousands of parents in all sections of the country have admitted that they did not
IN EARLY DAYS 25
even know the face of the teacher of their child. Is it any wonder that "the product" is not "satisfactory"? Some one has aptly said, "It is as though two men would grow a hedge, one on either side, trimming and shaping, never recognizing one another, nor taking cognizance of the plan each might have in mind." At the end of the trimming and training one can well imagine the inevitable lack of symmetry.
Many and pathetic are the incidents that could be related to prove this lack of com- prehension. In a country town the mem- bers of the school board had struggled long and hard to replace the books of United States history that were being used as readers in the upper grades with some sup- plementary reading. Only the choicest bits of literature were chosen. The mem- bers of the board who had worked to secure this step forward for their school were hardly through congratulating themselves when one of them received an evening visit from an irate mother, the burden of her complaint being, "I ain't goin' to let my girl stay in that readin' class. I don't want my girl to be a-readin' of love stories and
28 HOME AND SCHOOL
ghosts' stories." The conversation ran something like this:
School Trustee: But Mrs. Jones, all the reading matter put into this school was most carefully selected. Mr. T., Mrs. Frank, and myself went over every book. I can think of no ghost stories. And — there are worse things sometimes for young girls to read than sweet, clean, wholesome love stories.
Mother: Well, Mrs. Tolby, I'm surprised at you! I can't help what you say. My girl shan't read such stuff. I'll take her out of school first.
School Trustee (with the hope of finding out the book of offence) : Can you tell me what the story is about?
Mother: No; I'm not much of a reader, but I hear my girl talkin' about it, and its all lovemakin' and ghosts.
School Trustee: Can you tell me who wrote the story?
Mother (with pathetic humility): No, I can't; You see, I've never, had much chance. You see, it's just that I want my girl to have a chance, but I want her to have the best kind of a chance, and this readin' isn't good.
IN EARLY DAYS 27
School Trustee: Can't you tell me the name of any of the persons in the story.
Mother: No, you see, as I told you, I've never read it; but I hear my girl talkin' about it. There was a man in it; a big, powerful coward, with a most ungodly name.
School Trustee (upon whom light is dawning): Was the man's name Ichabod Crane ?
Mother: Yes, yes; that's the name!
And just because the mother was so in earnest, desired so ardently the best good for her "girl," the principal of that school decided to excuse that girl from her reading lesson rather than have her taken out of school, as the mother had threatened.
But the sequel. Within a month, at the next Mothers' Meeting, the subject of "Imagination" was being discussed. One of the teachers of the school, in happy frame, explained to the mothers what it meant to the child to have his imagination trained, and why, from fairy tales on up, certain kinds of stories were given at the different periods of the child's development. She closed her talk by saying: "Do not fail
28 HOME AND SCHOOL
to train your children's imaginations. Not only will it open to them a world of 'olden, golden splendor/ in which their spirits can revel and be refreshed, but in after life they can better put themselves in other men's places; better weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice."
That very evening the following conver- sation occurred between the school trustee and the mother:
Mother: Mrs. Tolby, I'm going to let my girl go back into that readin' class.
School Trustee: Why, Mrs. Jones, that is fine ! What decided you to do it ?
Mother: The talk this afternoon at school. You see, I told you I never had any chance, and I didn't know what the teachers were .tryin' to do with the readin' and all the other things. But I do want my girl to know the things that the people who know- know.
An involved sentence, you say; but the heart of the matter was there, and the school trustee found herself watching that earnest, ignorant, longing mother down the path, and, through a mist of tears, wishing that there were more mothers in the town like
IN EARLY DAYS 29
her — mothers who cared, even though they made mistakes.
We know there are those who will cry out that the entire school system would be dis- integrated were parents to be listened to so. Yet, on the other hand, we would point them to the principal of the above-men- tioned school, who has told us many times that in after years, with all her other chil- dren as they came to him, he had no one more loyal, no more faithful enforcer of his policies, than just this same mother who objected to the hero with the "most ungodly name."
Sometimes we gain our point by yielding a little. At least, there was one home in that community that forever after worked with the school.
FIRST RIPPLES
The first stirring on the face of the waters was felt in the kindergartens. It seemed such a natural thing for the mother to follow her very little child into his school- room and to meet his teacher in social con- verse. Then the various festivities of the passing seasons claimed her attention as they were emphasized in the school. It all came about as such a matter of course that the mother found herself an expected part of the program on all such occasions. And she lived up to the expectation, for how could she disappoint the baby whose whole world up to the past few months had cen- tered in her smile?
Thus the "Mothers' Meeting" has become almost an accepted part of the kindergarten system. Like all great movements, its vital roots struck deep down into heart fiber. Any one whose mental gallery lacks a pic- ture of such a gathering is poor indeed: The Christmas tree in the midst; the row of proud, beaming mothers around the wall; (30)
FIRST RIPPLES 33
the rush of little feet, hither and thither, as treasures are deposited in mother's lap for safekeeping; the earnest, flush-faced, sweet- souled teacher; and, above and through it all, the sweetest sound in the world— the voices of little children at play.
It was hut a short step from such a meet- ing to the meeting where the teacher received the mothers as her guests, and where for an hour once a month they considered their mutual problems. Never until these meet- ings had they realized how mutual these problems were.
Here was revealed to many a mother for the first time how little she knew of the laws governing her child's physical, as well -as mental, growth. She caught an echo of the large demands the childhood of the age was making upon the women of the age. Her mother-heart throbbed in response to that demand. Through such gatherings a new interpretation of motherhood seems to be slowly dawning upon humanity; a mother- hood with love so far-reaching that it says of its own flesh and blood, — "Our children are part of the world;" and yet with a nurturing care so all-embracing that it
34 HOME AND SCHOOL
claims for every child the best possible opportunities for mental, moral, and spiritual growth.
We know one such gathering composed of mothers connected with a private kinder- garten. These mothers held meetings once a week. While either the teacher or one of their number read from such a book as Elizabeth Harrison's Study of Child Nature, the others were busy with home sewing or fancy work. There were stitched into many a little garment new thoughts, new purposes, new aspirations for the children of those mothers. So fruitful were these mothers' hours that, at the end of the year, these same women went to the teachers of a public school nearby and said: "It has all been so valuable to us, this glimpse that we have had into the meaning of educational methods, we are wishing we could share what we have with the mothers of your school. If you will call them together, we will gladly relieve you of any work that we can. Just because we have more time than many mothers of your school, we will be glad to do this and to furnish a tea-table and pre- side and serve, if you say so." Such a simple
FIRST RIPPLES 35
beginning! Yet that small gathering, some ten years ago, in that public school has resulted in many changes for the good of the community. So naturally do the circles widen in their influence!
It was not more than a year that the mothers met alone, then came the inevitable "Fathers' Evening;" for fathers are inter- ested as well as mothers, and when the question of a kindergarten for the public school arose, it became almost entirely a "fathers' " question, with the exception that the mothers had learned how good a thing a kindergarten was, and through their influence many a vote was cast.
Especially was this true of one woman whose children attended the school and whose opposition at first to the idea of a kindergarten is best expressed in her own words :
"What! Raise our taxes for play? Well, I guess not. When my children want to play they can play in the back yard. If they want to snip paper on a rainy day they can snip it in the kitchen."
Yet it was this same woman who eventu- ally, as property owner and respected neigh-
36 HOME AND SCHOOL
bor, did more than any other person in the community to bring about the desired result.
On one of the " Fathers' Evenings'' the mothers of the town had presented what they innocently termed "A Children's Entertainment," but which was in reality a demonstration of kindergarten games and methods, with an explanation of their ethical import.
The woman, who for three successive years had succeeded in getting out such a large opposing vote that despite the most earnest efforts the proposition to have a kindergarten in the public school was over- whelmingly defeated, followed the whole program with intense interest, not only because her little group of three was repre- sented, but because it revealed to her the deeper meaning of the whole movement. Going home that evening she was heard to say: "Well! Well! I'm ashamed of myself! I never knew before that play meant any- thing."
When at the next town meeting the sub- ject was again brought forward, it was through the efforts of this same woman that a large vote was cast in favor of the kinder-
FIRST RIPPLES 39
garten, and many in that town have learned since to their joy that play does mean something.
So the one-time Mothers' Meeting became a Home and School Association, for many of its members were composed of people in the community who were deeply interested in the school, but who had no children going there. At the last meeting of that Associa- tion we attended, the subject of a play festival was up for discussion, a festival in which it was proposed that all the schools in the county should be represented; a festival attended not only by the children in the schools, but by members of the communities surrounding these schools.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
Incidents showing the false relation, or lack of relation, between the home and the school could be cited until a volume was written. It is not necessary today to prove the existence of the gulf — the problem is to bridge it. The best solution yet found seems to be in the formation of a Home and School Association in every school. The keyword of any such movement must be "together" — the working together of all the forces in a community that make for civic and moral uplift.
Whether it be in a large city, or in country districts, there should be formed a Central Committee of citizens, educators, profes- sional men, prominent women, who are willing to back the movement, as a whole, by personal influence or financial aid. The stronger this central body is made in the beginning the more assured the success of the effort.
On calling the committee together the work should be presented both from the (40)
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 41
professional and from the non-professional side. It is essential for the best interests of the movement to catch both view-points. This is so necessary that we would stop to emphasize it. All the head power in the world cannot take the place of heart warmth, nor will the heart without the head "lead safe along."
This chapter can well be divided into two subchapters — one dealing with the problem presented by the city school, and the other with that presented by the country school.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR CITY SCHOOLS.
The school in the city is much more apt to be forgotten by — or rather unknown to — its community than the country school. It has been the habit for smaller communities to focus their interest more or less on their school buildings, holding town meetings and other activities in them. But the school building in the city has only of late been opened to its patrons or owners, and that in so slight a degree that the movement is still felt to be experimental. We have visited many schools throughout the United States
42 HOME AND SCHOOL
on occasions of "Festivals," "Parents' Meet- ings," "Closing Exercises," and to the question, " Do you know the teacher of your boy or girl?" have invariably, when the school has been in the city, received the
answer, "Her name is , but I've never
met her." To the further inquiry, "Can you point her out among the groups of teachers over there?" "No; to tell the truth, I've never been in the school before, and do not even know her by sight."
In country places the answer is generally modified by the announcement, "I have never met the teacher to talk to, but I often see her passing along the road, or at the post office, or at church." Whatever the difference in the answer may be, the fact still remains that the two people most deeply interested in the formation of a cer- tain "product" fail ever to get "together" to discuss ways and means.
A further problem of the city school inter- est is to relate its parts to the whole. You may have a fine, strong Mothers' Meeting or Home and School Association in one school, but the activity and interest of that community center are in no way related to
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 43.
any other association or center in any other school of the city. To do this it is wise to form a league of all associations — to hold an annual conference at which representa- tives from each school report of the work, and once during the mid-year have a joint entertainment held in the evening, each local association presenting one number on the program. Thus the workers of the whole city get together twice every year, and in listening to a discussion of one another's problems, learn to solve some of their own.
The Central Committee.
In some places the Central Committee, or those who have acted as a Central Com- mittee, has been formed of members of some one organization whose interest it was to further the closer cooperation between the home and the school. Notably, the Con- gress of Mothers has stimulated the work in many places ever since its inception. We would point to the growing work in Los Angeles. This work has been so splendidly carried by the California State Congress of Mothers that today it stands as an auxiliary
44 ROME AND SCHOOL
to the public schools by act of the Board of Education.
In other places, where no one organiza- tion has been strong enough to carry a whole city's interest, the Central Committee has been formed of representatives from several different organizations; as in Phila- delphia, where the Committee is composed of representatives from the Board of Edu- cation, the Congress of Mothers, the Civic Club, the Woman's Club, Public Education Association, Sectional School Boards, Play- ground Association, and prominent citizens not representing any organization. Again, in other places, the Central Committee has grown out of a call issued to school men and other public-spirited citizens to meet and talk over the movement at a semisocial function given by the Woman's Club of the place. We would point to Orange, N. J., whose fine work is due to this last-named method. It is here that representatives from all the Oranges form the Central Committee, and in this way have created an alliance of all the local associations.
It is taken for granted that in the effort to form the Central Committee, the movement
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 45
has been so strongly presented that the interest of some members of the school board and some of the teachers of the city has been enlisted. One should not be dis- appointed at opposition or, worse yet, indifference at first.
Having formed a Central Committee, and being assured of the sympathy of school board and teachers, the next step is to organize a Bureau of Speakers; men and women of influence in the community, who are willing to give at least one talk a season upon some subject pertaining to the welfare of the child. Every city has its physicians who will gladly talk with parents on topics pertaining to the physical well-being of their children; or clergymen, of all religious bodies, who would count it a privilege and an opportunity to present some line of thought along moral training, leaving out all doctrinal and sectarian teaching, resting their talk upon those things which we all hold in common; or lawyers and judges who are able through their experience to point out helpful ways of dealing with the grave question of the delinquent and dependent child. Then there is the great army of
46 HOME AND SCHOOL
teachers and professors, both in elementary and high schools and in colleges, all of whom would gladly give the service of "one-talk- a-season." Should you be fortunate enough to live in a University town, your circle of educators is much larger. We would not forget, in mentioning the above, the many people in all cities who are not listed as specialists, yet whose presence and thought would prove a benediction. It is well at this point to issue a pamphlet, or folder, setting forth the purposes of the movement, and explaining clearly to all into whose hands it may fall the following items of interest: First, the well-known citizens of whom the Central Committee is formed; second, the men and women composing the Bureau of Speakers (be sure to have the names of speakers and topics properly listed for reference of the local Association); third, make a definite offer of aid to any school desiring to organize a Home and School Association (a) in securing speakers; (b) in furnishing table equipment and light refreshment (it is well for the Central Com- mittee to own its own china and spoons and other necessary articles. These can be
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 47
securely boxed and sent from school to school, thus materially lessening the ex- pense); (c) in providing a suggestive consti- tution and by-laws, and in assisting to organize a local Association.
See that this printed pamphlet is sent to every school in the city, besides being placed in the hands of public-spirited men and women outside the schools.
The work of the Central Committee must be done in the spirit of self-effacement entirely. Its duty is to stimulate, to arouse interest, to assist in whatever way it can in the movement to bring about a condition that will make for a more intelligent coopera- tion between the home and the school. Having done this, it is the duty of the com- mittee to step aside, to "keep hands off," to aid each local association only as such aid is solicited. The bond of a league should rest very lightly upon those Associa- tions that form it. Local problems can best be worked out through local effort. The Central Committee should stand simply as a background and moral force, upon which to draw if need be. The Joint Entertain- ment and the Annual Conference serve as
48 HOME AND SCHOOL
factors of cooperation between the associ- ations.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR COUNTRY SCHOOLS.
Although conditions are different in sub- urban places, the underlying principle in this work remains the same. It is well to have a Central Committee in each town or village; but a Bureau of Speakers could be formed from residents of the county, so that even though there might be but one school in a village, still it would have the interest of the prominent people of the county to draw upon for its public meetings. It is not so necessary for the central committee in country places to own its china and table equipment, as these can be borrowed from the neighborhood. The refreshments also, for the social hour, are more easily gotten than in the city, and in a more real way bring together the interest of the neighbor- hood.
We can recall many meetings of parents in country schools at which one of the features of the "after hour" was a table of home-
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 49
made cakes. Such cakes! Good and genuine, and even after all had feasted there were so many left over that the households around the school were fed on Mothers' Council cake for several days, and in return there was hung upon walls of the schoolroom some beautiful picture or work of art to gladden the hearts of the children for years to come.
We would not over-emphasize the "Social Hour" of these home and school meetings, but we would bespeak their great value. And in no place is the value greater than in the country schools. The Central Committee in a village need not be large, but the method of procedure should be about the same as in the city. Again, we would urge that, having done its work, and formed the Home and School Association in connection with the school, the wise thing for the Cen- tral Committee to, do is to step aside and let the Association run its own affairs. It is the old, old paradox of u losing life to find it."
In the country it is well to reverse the order of the Annual Conference and Joint Entertainment, holding the former in the winter, at the time when there is less out-
50 HOME AND SCHOOL
door work. Either the county seat or some central place in the county should be chosen — a place with a good school building that will comfortably accommodate an audience. Representatives from all the Home and School Associations in the county could profitably spend a day listening to reports from the local Associations and discussing school conditions with the school men of the county.
We would suggest that always on the program of the Annual Conference there should be one "number" in which the children take part. Let it be remembered that this is for the Annual Conference only. We do not believe it to be wise, nor for the best interests of the Associations, for the children to be present at the regular stated meetings; their very presence would fre- quently forbid a free discussion of problems that most nearly concern themselves. But once in the year, at the annual gathering, it seems fitting to have the child thus "in the midst," emphasizing in this way the fact that the whole movement is for the betterment of conditions affecting the child. Only as this thought is kept clearly in mind
o
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 53
is it possible to accomplish the real purpose of the getting together of home and school. Having held the Annual Conference in mid-winter we would suggest that the Home and School Associations connected with country schools hold their Joint Entertain- ment in mid-summer, each Association in the county furnishing part of the program. We know of nothing better to suggest than a " Field Day and Play Picnic." ' Most excellent suggestions for such a day can be found in a pamphlet bearing the name of " Field Day and Play Picnics for Country Children," by Myron T. Scudder.* We would advise anyone thinking of getting up such a Joint Entertainment to write for this booklet. It should be borne in mind that the purpose of this entertainment, as was that of the Annual Conference and of the local Association itself, is the ''getting together" of the forces of the home and school. This Field Day, or play festival, should not be for children only, but for adults as well. Such gatherings and the
* Price, 10 cents. Published by Playground Asso- ciation of America, 1 Madison Avenue, New York City.
54. HOME AND SCHOOL
preparations they necessitate would go far to infuse new life and new enthusiasm into country districts.
Quoting from the above-mentioned pam- phlet: "Home, Church, and School should unite intelligently to produce conditions which will make for contentment. Social forces in the country are centrifugal and ex- pulsive; their direction is from the center outward and away; they must be made centripetal and attractive. The dominating question should not be, 'How can I get away?' but 'How can I make conditions such that I shall be glad to stay?'
"As an aid in improving conditions, the telephone, the trolley, and the rural free delivery are operating favorably. The church and the school are beginning to feel a new life. Economic conditions are also improving, and farm lands and crops are more valuable than ever before. Perhaps the most confortable and prosperous class in the country today are the farmers. They are organizing everywhere, the most noted organization being the grange, with more than a million members. A rural literature is rapidly developing, teeming with excellent
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 55
books and magnificently edited periodicals. Most astonishing are the varied agencies which have begun to operate for a social uplift. The future is full of hope.
" Of course, this new life has not reached all, nor even the many. And even in the favored communities it has scarcely extended down to the children to improve their schools and give them opportunities which twentieth century children must have. Child life in the country is often dull and hopeless. Nearly everything conspires to drive young persons cityward. What can be done to make their environment so attractive that it will hold them?
" With tactful persistence and with organ- ized action considerable can be accom- plished. Initiative will usually have to come from the outside. Left to them- selves, comparatively few country districts will attempt anything. As we have seen, the school is helpless and in many sections the church is dead. An all-important question then is, What influences can be brought to bear on the situation ? How can country boys and girls be kept in perfect contentment at home? The more that can
56 HOME AND SCHOOL
be kept there, the better for the country. A good farm is still the best place possible to rear children." ,
If the conditions indicated in the author's statement prevail "in many sections/' we feel sure that the helplessness of the school and the lifelessness of the church can both be largely done away with when coupled with the forces of the home. Such a union will go far toward developing the higher social instincts of any community.
In passing we might mention that within the last few years we have heard of several churches organizing Home and School Associations in connection with their Sunday schools. At the meetings held those inter- ested "get together" to study and consider the great underlying laws of the child's nature as related to his spiritual develop- ment. The testimony comes from all that the movement has proved of great benefit to both the homes and the church.
But to return to the Play Festival. To those who have never attempted any such gathering as the before-mentioned festival there will come a sense of surprise at the esprit de corps that will grow out of
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 59
the effort, if properly directed. Everything should be done informally and in the most unprofessional way, making each school community feel that it is an integral part of the whole. We are wondering why ''The Grange" should not inaugurate such a movement wherever that body is organized, never forgetting the purpose of the effort.
PLAN OF PROCEDURE FOR LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS
Much stress has been laid, so far, upon the formation of a Central Committee and its duties. The reason for so doing is on account of the unifying influence of this method of procedure. But the real strength of the whole movement lies in the power and influ- ence of the local Association. There are many Home and School Associations throughout the land today that are in no way related to any outside influence, that owe their existence simply to the energy and self-sacrificing labors of the teachers and parents of the particular school in which they meet. These Associations have done and are doing splendid work; but one can readily see how much finer their work would be if, in a large city, they were somewhat in touch with other school communities; or if, in the country, they could now and then "get together" with a wider circle of schools and neighborhoods, thus extending their influence, and in return revivifying (60)
PLAN OF PROCEDURE 61
themselves by the very law of life, the high claim of which is, "To have, one must share."
Whether the work is undertaken with the backing of a Central Committee or through the initiative of the teachers alone, one of the best methods of invitation, especially for the first meeting, is to let the children write the notices. In class rooms where the child is too small to do this well he at least can be commissioned to carry the note into his home. Oft-repeated experiences have proved this method to be good, and in a real sense have interpreted the phrase "a little child shall lead them."
We will imagine ourselves one of such a neighborhood responding to a note written in childish handwriting, stating that: "At the - - School, on the evening of
— , there will be a meeting to which all the parents and friends are cordially invited." Mention is made that there will be a Social Hour after the addresses. It is also stated that the address of the evening will be given by the Superintendent of Schools, after which a plan will be presented for the formation of a Home and School Association. Never having heard of such
62 HOME AND SCHOOL
an Association, we are curious. As we walk along the streets toward the school we find ourselves questioning just what it all means. On approaching the building we are impressed with the brightness and good cheer streaming from every window and doorway. Evidently the younger portion of the neighborhood is impressed also; the "small boy" is out in full force, hanging on the fence, indulging in "cat-calls," begging each one who enters to "take me in too," keeping things busy for the stalwart police- man who stands at the door, by way of welcoming the invited guests and protecting them from the onrush of the youths whose only invitation consists in being requested to remain outside. One little fellow con- fidentially tells us, as he follows us through the gate across the school yard, "They've got cake in there; my mother took some with her."
We meet the principal of the school at the head of the stairs, where he stands receiving those who enter. If he does not know the parents, he learns, on questioning them, what child or children they represent, and directs them at once to the classrooms of those
W
PLAN OF PROCEDURE 65
children, where the teacher receives them and, for the half-hour before the exercises of the evening begin, talks with them of the young people in whom they all have a com- mon interest. On the walls and on the desks are displayed the work of these chil- dren, so there is no danger that conversation will lag for lack of subject matter.
We stand beside the teacher, watching with interest the mothers and fathers who enter. Among the group a man and woman especially attract us. They are so eager, so interested. The man holds a folded slip of paper in his hand, as, indeed, all do who enter; he comes forward, followed by his shy little wife, and in presenting the paper to the teacher with the question, "Is this Miss Jones?" reveals at once his nationality; he is evidently one of a group of English workingmen who have settled recently in a colony near the school, and who are occupied all day in the mills and factories hard by.
Miss Jones opens the note and reads what she herself had dictated to her class the day before :
66 HOME AND SCHOOL
"Mr DEAR Miss JONES: This note will introduce to you my father and mother, who would like to see some of my work."
(Signed) " JOHN ARNOLD."
Looking up with a bright smile, she exclaims, in a tone of welcome:
"Oh, are you John Arnold's father?"
The man gives assent, and in the same breath says:
"How is John getting on with his arith- metic?"
"John?" smiles the teacher; "well, John is the worst boy in arithmetic I ever had."
With this declaration she leads the way to a piano, upon which are piles of lesson papers, and invites the father to examine those belonging to his son.
The man is interested, you can see from the animated conversation he holds with the teacher, from whom he continually turns to emphasize to his wife opinions evidently expressed many times before in the home.
"There, Annie, didn't I tell you so?" he exclaims over and over again. "I've wrestled all winter with John and his 'sums/ and could do nothing with him."
All the while John's mother stands silently
PLAN OF PROCEDURE 67
by. She has not spoken, but her face betrays her interest. Her eye takes in the room and its setting, and, when at last the teacher turns to speak to her, the question that falls from her lips reveals the attitude of her mind. No question of mental development this, no suggestion of attainment, yet we think we have never heard a more motherly inquiry:
"Where does John sit?''*
Ah, that is the keynote of the whole thing, the desire of those who are training the children in the home to catch a glimpse of the child's world in the school! And as Mrs. Arnold nestles down in John's seat, and assures her husband that "it is comfort- able," she looks for a few moments on John's world, her boy's battleground where he is fighting out his daily conflicts. We feel sure John will be a better boy because his mother sat in his seat that little while, and his father thought his school world of importance sufficient to warrant his spending an entire evening there.
Would that more fathers and mothers made it their business thus to meet the teachers of their children, and in quiet personal conference give and take in mutual
(38 HOME AND SCHOOL
helpfulness! Many old-established ideas about education are being reconsidered these days. Unless the forces of the home and those of the school take counsel together they will inevitably to some extent neutralize each other's work and weaken its results. You may have no organized Association in your school, but you can have a home and school meeting any time you are interested enough to call upon the teacher and discuss with him your mutual problems. Such meetings are the centers from which radiate all the larger circles, for the question of the home and of the school alike is ever the same, "What of the child?"
At eight-fifteen the sound of a bell announces the meeting which is to be held in the communicating class-rooms on the third floor. This school is not fortunate enough to have an assembly hall, so fathers and mothers, stout men and stouter women, are compelled to squeeze into desk seats that barely accommodate the half-grown boy or girl. The rooms are crowded — we judge there must be some three or four hundred persons. How eager they look; how interested! One catches a sense of
PLAN OF PROCEDURE 69
inspiration from the earnestness that per- vades the audience.
" What are they going to do?" one anxious mother whispers to another.
"I do not know/' is the reply; "but it's something to make things better for the children."
There is music to begin with; some one. from the neighborhood, or one of the teachers, has volunteered. The applause has barely ceased when the principal steps to the front and welcomes his guests in a few well-chosen words. He speaks to them of the problem which they hold in common; of the great help it would be to him and to all the teachers to know them better, and to feel assured of their sympathetic, intelligent cooperation; how could they cooperate? He tells them of some two or three ways in which they could help the school, ways that are related to that especial neighbor- hood, and then he repeats how glad he is to have them there and how earnestly he wishes this may be but the beginning of many such gatherings, and that the homes of the community and the school may become bound by indissoluble ties.
70 HOME AND SCHOOL
Yes, we are glad that we came. We have been made to feel the importance of our calling, and we have been made welcome, which means much. Had there been lurk- ing doubt about the matter, it would have vanished under the genial talk of the super- intendent. He represents the city, and he tells us of the splendid results that have grown out of the awakened interest of parents in other parts of our own city and in other cities. He is full of enthusiasm for the movement, and long before he ceases speaking we are fired with the wish that our school might have some such organization connected with it too.
Still we are wondering just how it will come about, when suddenly we are conscious of a woman's voice breaking the silence that has followed the last address.
"Mr. Chairman," she is saying, and we turn around to see one of our neighbors, who is always in the forefront of every good movement, standing, with flushed face and eager manner — "Mr. Chairman, why could not we have a Home and School Association, such as we have heard of tonight, formed in this school?"
PLAN OF PROCEDURE 73
That is just the question the chairman has been wanting asked, and we are rather inclined to suspect our good neighbor was instructed to ask it. He comes forward and says with alacrity:
"There is no reason at all. How many persons in this room would like to see such an Association formed?"
One sees a sprinkling of raised hands, but they are enough to secure a beginning.
Then follows the usual "business" of presenting a constitution and by-laws and the election of officers. Our suspicions are confirmed by the time all this has been done; we feel assured of the wisdom of the chairman; we know plans must have been made before the meeting, for it certainly is not by accident that people so fitting to each office should have been proposed on the spur of the moment; we recall with chagrin the last Ladies' Aid meeting over which we presided, and for which we had failed to plan; how the most scriptural thing about it was the common consent with which "all began to make excuse" as soon as suggested for any position.
The chairman announces that the names
74 HOME AND SCHOOL
of those desiring to become members will be taken by persons in the different rooms. The annual dues of twenty-five cents can be paid tonight or sent later. A pleasant con- fusion ensues, during which we turn and talk to our nearby neighbors or listen to the men about us discussing topics of current interest. Suddenly in our midst some twenty girls of the upper grade appear with coffee and cake. With absolute literalism the last vestige of "ice" melts before the fumes of that hot coffee, and in the "breaking bread" we get very near to many of those whom we have known by sight only.
We shake hands writh the principal and the teacher of our child. We thank them both for a pleasant evening, we linger a little after we have said thus much, for it is more than that we want to say; we want to thank them for this evidence of an added interest, not only in the children, but in us who represent the children's home. We do not pretend to understand school methods, but we do understand when hearts are kind, and somehow, the whole evening has made us feel a sense of nearness to the school and its faculty of trained workers, such as we
PLAN OF PROCEDURE 75
have never had before. Not only that, but as we step out into the street we are con- scious of a neighborhood interest new to us. Not only the teachers of the school, but the men and women with whom we have been "touching elbows" through the evening have a problem in common with us.
There are other boys and girls besides our own for whom we must strive to make the best possible conditions. Slowly but surely an unseen bond is being formed between the homes and the school of that district.
THE WIDENING CIRCLE
The real work of the movement begins after some such meeting as that pictured in the last chapter. It is so easy in the first flush of excitement, under the impulse of gathered forces, to organize an Association, but so hard to carry on a sustained effort which alone leads to success.
The first interest the people of any com- munity have in this movement is in its relation to their own children or their own school. It matters not on how high an altru- istic plane the appeal for the formation of an Association may be made, the underly- ing force at first is the personal touch. Mothers are won to it because it promises to them a better understanding of the laws governing child nature, which promise, in- terpreted through the medium of a mother's understanding, means that she will better know how to deal with her own particular brood. Fathers are attracted to it because they recognize at once the power such a movement could become because of the (76)
THE WIDENING CIRCLE 77
strength in organized effort. Yet again, in a large majority of cases, the potency of the whole thing is seen through the medium of their own children. This being true, it is wise in the early days of an Association for the leaders to confine the topics to be con- sidered to such as relate to the interests of the school, their own particular school.
Let the talks be of promptness, attend- ance, conduct, school clubs, new methods of teaching. Do not have too much speaking. Invite discussion, be it ever so crude. A " question box" is frequently of great help, as it enables the shy members of a com- munity to offer inquiries and suggestions they would never voice.
Having considered some such elementary subjects as suggested above, and having attracted attention to the special interests of the school, it is wise to bind the homes into a still more common bond by taking up those problems that relate specifically to the work of the home, such as morals, home discipline, obedience, punishments, and re- wards— those abstract subjects that deal with the building of character.
By the time you have touched thus upon
78 HOME AND SCHOOL
the home and school, and revealed to the members of your organization how much the two institutions hold in common, you are ready for a wider horizon. Your people are commencing to "lift up their eyes" and look out on a "widening circle;" they are finding that its circumference touches the boundary lines of the entire community; the vital truth, that "no man liveth to him- self/' is being strangely emphasized; a new interpretation is coming to them through the medium of their own child. Is play a neces- sary factor in the development of their child? Then it must be good for all the children of their community. Is pure water something to be desired for the health of their own home ? It must be just as necessary then for the good of the homes of the whole city. The same can be said of pure food, of the fighting against disease, etc. No longer do we wait for the brotherhood of man to be proved to us, as in the case of Carlyle's poor Irish widow, "who 'proved her sisterhood by dying of typhus fever and infecting her lane, so that seventeen other persons died of fever there in consequence." Our Home and School circle has widened out until
I*
0-
THE WIDENING CIRCLE g]_
all homes of the community are within its measures. Thus, it becomes a perfectly logical thing to consider such subjects as playgrounds and health conditions, and other topics of community interest. %
There is a wonderful dynamic power in the force of sympathy. The ability to pro- ject one's self into another's place — this being true of an individual is true in a larger sense of an organization. When once the soul's horizon has been pushed back and we have levelled the lift of community interest, it is not hard to catch a gleam of the circle's still further widening. The great world movements come pressing in upon our view. It is easy for us now to consider the subject of international peace and arbitra- tion or other movements effecting the nations. We are learning with the widening of our circle how truly we are a part of the world. In our simple organization of the Home and School forces we have launched our small craft with the full knowledge that it is a part of the great invisible fleet that "carries human destinies upon eternity." In the further words of Maeterlinck, "Like the vessels of our confined oceans, she has her
82 HOME AND SCHOOL
sails and her ballast. The fear that she may pitch or roll on leaving the roadstead is no reason for increasing the weight of the ballast by stowing the fair, white sails in the depth of the hold. They were not woven to moulder side by side with cobblestones in the dark. Ballast exists everywhere; all the pebbles of the harbor, all the sand on the beach, will serve for it. But sails are rare and precious things; their place is not in the murk of the well, but amid the light of the tall masts, where they will collect the winds of space." The " sails" of our ship are woven from "heart vision" and they promise splendid carrying qualities.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
Child Study. The natural question that arises upon the organization of a Home and School Association is, "What can we do?" It should never be forgotten that the pivotal point of the whole movement is the child. To learn through a study of the child's nature the laws governing his development is the crux of the whole matter. The igno- rance on the part of parents as to these laws is colossal. Therefore, we feel safe in say- that any Association that fails to place upon its program some phase of child study falls short of its purpose. Although in the flow of the movement, or, to keep to our simile, in the widening of the circle, many forms of activity have been entered into, the primary object of the " getting together" of the home and the school is that through a reciprocal relation, founded on good will and sympathy, one shall give to the other of the knowledge born of their different experience. In a word, it is an effort to train men and women in that greatest of all professions, parenthood.
(83)
84 HOME AND SCHOOL
Does it not seem worth while that parents and those interested in the children of a community should have a clearer under- standing of the laws that make for highest development both mentally and morally as well as physically ? When we learn that not long since there has been started a "School for Lobsters," where scientific men are spending their days studying the habits and needs of the lobster, so that, for commercial reasons, they can develop the little creature up to a higher standard of perfection, does it not seem most worth while to open these "Schools for Parents" wherever earnest men and women are willing to learn?
We would suggest that each Association create a " Mother's Hour Committee," whose duty it shall be to endeavor, at least once a month, of an afternoon, to gather the mothers together that they may discuss some phase of child study. This committee might annually hold a "Parents' Institute." We know one school wherein this Institute has become the feature of the year's work, the afternoons and evenings of three days being set apart for the consideration of subjects relating entirely to the child and his interests.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 85
Prominent speakers, both of the laity and the profession, are invited. On looking over the programs of this Institute during the past few years we find such subjects con- sidered as the following: "The Mistakes of a Father I Knew;" "Helps in the Home;" "The Fine Art of Making a Child Bad;" "The Building of a Citizen," and many others of similar import.
There is a great body of literature upon the subject of child study, of all degrees of merit, and there is hardly a progressive teacher in the country who is not in active relation to the movement as it touches both education and psychology.
If it is not feasible to secure a speaker, get some good book or magazine article bearing on the subject you desire to present. Remember always that to "break the bread" of a great thought into fragments fitted to the comprehension of those not given to deep thinking requires tact, patience, and wis- dom. Be your subject what it may, you can rest assured that the audience before you is making personal applications right through your talk. Choose "Growth," "Health," "Anger," "Fear," "Adolescence," and the
86 HOME AND SCHOOL
parents or guardians who are listening make a mental measurement of their own particu- lar boys and girls. By and by they catch the sense that their neighbor's boy and their neighbor's girl come under the same laws. Then, and not till then, will your circle widen, and the horizon of your effort push back until you touch the children of the world.
We recall quite a learned address given before a mixed gathering — the subject, "Adolescence;" the presentation not meet- ing with unanimous acceptance, which was shown by the various remarks and questions at the end. We found ourselves wondering just what would be gotten out of it all by some of those present. As the parents rose to leave, a German woman came forward and said, in trembling voice:
"Gott bless you all, you're try in' to help us mit de little ones, aren't you? Veil, I got five, and sometimes I gets so bevildered I don't know vot to do."
Maybe she did not understand the talk from its scientific side, but her mother- heart had "sensed" what her head failed to comprehend, and from her after-life in
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 87
the home with those five it could be seen by all that she had more patience with her children as they entered that period "when temptations are hottest, when the pressure is highest, and when young people must have excitement or be dwarfed."
Children's Day. Very often at meetings of Home and School Associations one will find numbers of children. These children are used as part of the program; either to sing in chorus, or to recite for the entertain- ment of the audience, or in some way to "fill in" part of the afternoon or evening. We do not believe it is wise to have the chil- dren at these meetings of the "grown-ups." Now and then they may be made a "fea- ture," but as a regular thing it is much more to the point to have the meetings for adults alone. One cannot well discuss the child and his needs in the child's presence. We would advise the setting aside of one meeting a year when the children should be the invited guests, when everyone belonging to the Association should invite the children in whom he or she is interested. Sometimes this "day" takes on the form of a children's
XS HOME AND SCHOOL
party. At other times a professional story- teller has been engaged to tell stories to little ones. Arrange this meeting preferably for pleasant weather, and have it out of doors, if possible, and on a holiday, so that the men as well as women may "come and live with the children" for the few never-to- be-forgotten hours. Associations that have incorporated " Children's Day" into their year's work are most expressive of the pleasure it has given.
Nursery Hour. In those districts where mothers cannot well leave the smaller children at home, the "Mothers' Hour" committee should see to it that an attractive room is in readiness to receive the little guests. The kindergarten room of the school is naturally the place most fitted for this purpose. Ask the older scholars, or grown- up daughters, to take turns in giving an hour once a month to the care and enter- tainment of the room and its occupants. This will leave the mothers free to confer with the teachers and with each other. This kindly serving a community's needs is in its turn a means of developing in the
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 89
young girls who give of their time and effort a deeper sense of social relationship. Besides this, the "Nursery Hour" can well be made of use in training the girls in a practical knowledge of little children.
Although this movement is not philan- thropic in the generally accepted sense of the term, yet this nursery hour gives teachers and mothers many an opportunity of discovering the physical needs of the children of the com- munity and supplying those needs through the help of generous-hearted neighbors.
Nature Study — Children'' s Gardens. One of the pleasant means of developing neigh- borhood interest is in the study of growing things in the great outdoors. Whether the Association be connected with a city or a country school, the members can cooperate in carrying on children's gardens. We know of one Association in which the members did not have money enough to pay a teacher for the season, so, on securing the use of a vacant lot, several members offered their services for certain hours each week, to be with and to help the children in the planting and the care of their gardens. At the end of the
90 HOME AND SCHOOL
summer everyone felt that the mutual good- will brought to bear upon the effort proved to be the asset of greatest value to the com- munity.
This work can be carried farther by the Association offering rewards for the best garden in the village, or the most beautiful flowers or finest vegetables grown in the children's gardens.
One enterprising firm in New York State offers penny packets of seeds to encourage just such endeavors, on the ground that "far more practical knowledge of nature- study and agriculture can be acquired from actual garden work than in any other way." Not only will the children of the place profit by some such undertaking, but the senior members of the Association will have learned that while making friends with the children they have made friends with the plants also.
Nature Study — Gathering Field Flowers. While we are speaking of flowers, it would be well to mention one activity which we have seen succeed, and which in the truest, realest sense related widely different sections of a
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 93
great city to each other. An Association connected with a school situated on the out- skirts of a large city, and surrounded by stretches of meadow lands and open country, took upon itself to appoint committees whose duty it should be to gather field blooms dur- ing the spring and summer seasons and forward the same to an Association in another school in a congested section of the city where wild flowers were rarely seen. Many of these flowers were used by the children who received them in their nature study work at school, but they served a still farther- reaching purpose, which was to brighten the homes of that neighborhood. The neighborhood was thickly settled with foreigners, and we doubt not that the flowers taken home by the little ones when the school hours were over spoke many a message of good-will in a language understood of all. A very simple method this, but a most effectual one, of bringing together in sym- pathetic touch groups of people otherwise widely separated.
Thimble Clubs and Cooking Classes. To meet the demands of various members of
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the community the most successful Home and School Associations carry on their work through different departments. It would be impossible to find any one interest that would hold an entire neighborhood for any length of time. So, naturally, as the young people drift to their play activity in the basement or halls of the school building, and the men to their debating club on the third floor or their reading room on the second, the women get together in their clubs and circles.
We have spoken of the "Mothers' Hour" and the topics to be considered then. Another form of interest has been to gather the women together in those neigh- borhoods where such help is greatly needed, and, under the presiding influence of one who knows how, direct their home sewing. These "Thimble Clubs" have proved of real value to many a mother and house- keeper, who learned for the first time the art of cutting down the larger garments and making them over for the smaller folk of the family. These gatherings, if well directed, resolve themselves into genuine neighborhood socials, and in congested quarters where the homes surrounding the
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 95
school are small and cramped, the school takes the place of a common " living room."
Not only do mothers benefit by these gatherings, but we have seen many girls who, being busy all day, had no other time to sew, filling in evening hours by the creation of pretty things to wear that are so dear to every girl's heart.
By way of suggestion, we would add, you will find no trouble in getting the merchants of your town interested in this movement to such an extent that they will at least give one or may be more sewing machines to further the effort. We know one such "Thimble Club" among Italian women, where a business firm put in the machines, and the women, who never before had used such things, became so interested that it was not long before the homes about were being furnished with sewing machines rather than some of the grotesque decorations and use- less furniture that had formerly been purchased.
The same spirit has led other clubs of women, who for a season have attended the meetings of the "Mothers' Hour," to ask of the principal of the school that some arrange-
96 HOME AND SCHOOL
ment might be made whereby they could be allowed to come of evenings and use the room in which cooking is taught to the girls during the day, and there, under trained instruction, learn to be better homemakers and cooks for the family committed to their care. This all seems such a logical working of things that we cannot imagine any board of education objecting to this larger use of school buildings. The buildings belong to the people. What more proper than that the children should have the use of them through the day and the older people should use them at night; both with the same freedom, as a part of a great far-reaching plan that shall eventually make better our present complexed conditions?
Mothers' Outings. One can hardly con- ceive of a group of earnest men and women meeting regularly today for any worthy purpose into whom the spirit of the age does not enter. That spirit is the "Spirit of Ser- vice" written large across the measure of our times. Many Home and School Associ- ations, whose primary object is to consider the welfare of the child, have been led by
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 97
the child into helpful community ministry, and although the movement is in no sense a "charity," still the philanthropic side of the work naturally grows in response to a need.
Parents have been helped to keep their children in school by gifts of clothing; fuel and food have been furnished in many cases; donations have been made to children's hospitals and maternity hospitals; ice and milk funds and many other forms of social service have been furthered by this united effort.
One of the most helpful suggestions along this line of endeavor is that entered into by an Association whose members come from the congested section of a large city. Each winter this Association gives a supper to raise funds for an all-day outing at seashore or park or in the country. Mothers alone are invited to this "outing." The rule is set aside in cases of those who are unable to leave very small children. The purpose of this effort is to give the mothers, not the children, a change.
Story Hour. Some one has said the ' Tell me a story' on the part of a child is
98 HOME AND SCHOOL
his cry for spiritual food." Surely no one will deny that to hear stories from the great story books of the world is ''one of the most inalienable rights of children." Nor will any one deny that the best place in all the world for story-telling is in the home, for there it is that children and adults enter into the sweetest and divinest relations. One needs only to give memory full play, and sweeping out from the past come troups of "story-friends" whose reality we have never questioned, whose influence upon our lives has been strong and lasting. Whether it be around the winter fireside, or about the doorstep in the twilight of a summer's evening, it is mother's knee, or father's voice, or the tender hand of one who loves us that we feel through it all. That is the ideal.
But what of those thousands of children to whom such a privilege has been denied? The "Story Hour" is an effort to make up to them in part, and through the child later on to stimulate the parent. The plan is to have those who know how to tell stories meet groups of children or adults at some after- school hour, in the school building or school
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 1Q1
play-yard, and tell them stories of the kind that will be uplifting on the moral side, as well as stimulating on the intellectual side.
Any one desiring to know more specifically of work to be accomplished, and how to go about it, would do well to look into a little magazine entitled Story Hour, published in Washington, D. C. Those who know the power and influence of story-telling will agree that there is no higher privilege for parent or teacher than to enter thus into the joyous companionship of children, through the gateway of "Once-upon-a-time," that leads so directly into the world of the child.
Nor would we limit the influence of the teller of stories to the child alone. The "Story Hour" is becoming a potent force among adults. In many Home and School Associations story-telling is used at the club gatherings of adults, not merely as an enter- tainment, but as an important instrument of education and uplift.
Current Events Clubs. Current Events Clubs are so well known that they need but passing mention. These clubs, growing out
102 HOME AND SCHOOL
of Home and School Associations, are bring- ing together men and women of various com- munities and relating them to each other through their mutual interest in the large world happenings of the day.
There are various methods of conducting such classes. The following suggestions have proved helpful in different groups:
Appoint or select a leader, as there must be some one to preside. Much of the success depends upon the chairman. Ask each member to take one particular country as his special province for the season, or for a month, or for one meeting only if deemed advisable.
The important events only are to be noted or reported. Thus, though it is important that an heiress is born to the Dutch throne, it is very unimportant to go into the details of its wardrobe, etc. There should be a time limit, rather carefully enforced. Long newspaper clippings should not be read. Current books, if worth while, should be com- mented on. Also science, art, music, etc., in a rather general way. Leave some time for discussion. The leader must see that the discussion does not ramble into irrelevant
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 1Q5
side paths, nor must it be too long. Do not fail to call upon all those who have been requested to prepare a report along any line.
Another method is to ask different mem- bers, one to bring " one item of foreign news," another to bring . " one item of domestic news," devoting an allotted period to the consideration of any special subject engaging the attention of the world at that time.
Another method is to take some great subject and discuss it thoroughly in all its bearings for a whole meeting, appointing various members to take various aspects of the matter. Thus, a great invention like wireless telegraphy could easily hold the attention for an entire session if carefully and properly presented.
One who has been a most successful leader of such a group writes: "If I find a member is conversant with any special sub- ject, I have him give a paper or talk on that subject. We always have music. Indeed, it is the most varied work one can imagine, but the best feature of it is the feeling of good comradeship that it brings to the members."
106 HOME AND SCHOOL
Social Gatherings. A very large part of the Home and School movement has taken root in the exchange of social courtesies between neighbors who have never before met on common ground. As was said earlier, we would not over-emphasize the social hour, but its importance as a factor in relating the community to its school is so great that it must not be overlooked.
It is well, two or three times a year, for the members of the Association to u break bread" together, even though the bread be in the form of a sweet cracker eaten over the teacup. The keyword of the whole move- ment is "together." Not only should each local Association get together in this way, but it is wise for one Association to invite another, the members of the one extending the invitation to act as host for the evening, preparing the program and refreshments. The program should be simple and informal. We know of nothing better to suggest than a "Play Party," where amid games and play the " grown-ups" become as little children and enter for a few hours at least into the kingdom of brotherliness and goodwill.
In gatherings composed of foreigners there
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 1Q9
is no better universal social language than music and refreshments — these are under- stood by all. "Such occasions present fine opportunities for dropping the seed-thought of American citizenship in the hearts of these our brothers from across the sea. The Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of Immigration and Naturaliza- tion, Washington, D. C., publishes two valuable pamphlets prepared by the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, which are the best things of the kind we have yet seen.
Following is an excerpt from the Official Bulletin of the National Society S. A. R. :
INFORMATION FOR ALIENS.
The Committee on Information for Aliens has had translated the leaflet, "Information for Immi- grants Concerning the United States," into the following languages: Italian, Polish, Yiddish, Mag- yar, Slavonian, Slavic, Croatian, Swedish, Greek, Bohemian, German, Norwegian-Danish, and Lithu- anian, and they are now ready for distribution.
Leaflet No. 2, "Naturalization of Aliens; How to Become Citizens; What is Required; Rights and Duties," has been printed in English and submitted to the U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor for its approval and adoption.
HO HOME AND SCHOOL
Applications for copies to Commander John H. Moore, U. S. N., 1755 P Street, Washington, D. C., will receive prompt attention. There is no charge whatever for furnishing or delivering these leaflets.
One can conceive of nothing more abso- lutely democratic than these Home and School social gatherings. The scholarly minister, the "boss of the ward," the brewer, the anti-saloon man, the physician, and the street laborer all meeting on common ground, drawn together by a common concern, the hand touch and the heart touch revealing a common brotherhood. The underlying principle of the whole thing is to give and take in social exchange. These gatherings have in them no group of citizens seeking to uplift the slums. The idea is not for good people to save the bad ones, but for all to get together for the common good and to develop a wholesome public spirit. Surely there can be no more fitting way in which to use the school buildings that would otherwise be standing idle. They belong to the people and should be used by them for purposes of public good.
In addressing the associations of Roches- ter, on April 8, 1909, Governor Hughes used the following words:
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES ] ] 1
"I congratulate you upon the use that is made of the fine public buildings that have been erected for educational purposes. I do not think I have seen any public buildings so overworked, or so fully worked, yielding such rich dividends upon the public invest- ment through the promotion of the public good, as those school buildings that I visited today. We used to pass these stately edifices of education, after school hours, and find them closed and dark, and interesting only because of the architectural beauty or curi- osity of their fagades. Now, I don't know when they get time to clean the public school buildings of Rochester. It seems to me they are being used all the while, and it is a school extension proposition, so that what the community has paid for is now enriching the community in larger ways than were at first thought possible, although in ways under wise guidance, which I understand are entirely compatible with the uses for which they were primarily intended."
Civic Clubs. Clubs whose primary object is to develop intelligent public spirit by the dissemination of intelligence upon public
112 HOME AND SCHOOL
questions have arisen of late all over the country; but it has been for Rochester, N. Y., to inaugurate a movement, under the direction of its Board of Education, that not only encourages the formation of such organizations, but is opening the doors of its public school buildings for their use as meeting places. " These Clubs," to quote from their last report, "are given the free use of the school buildings for neighborhood meetings, even discussions on politics and religion not being tabooed. This was decided as the rule that should maintain, because such freedom was, of course, essential to the development of an institution which shall serve in the city as the Little Red School House served the folks back home."
That in this one city at least they have carried out the foundation principle of their organization is clearly demonstrated by the list of subjects discussed, as shown in their last year's program: " Duties of an Alder- man," "The Telephone Question," "The New Charter," "Public School Extension," "Rochester's Milk," "The Panic," "Trusts/ "The Poor," "Municipal Gov- ernment," "Rochester's Water Supply,"
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES H5
"Tax Levy/' "The Immigrant/' "Problems of this Community/' "Italian Questions," "Democratic Policies/' "Socialist Policies," "Prohibition Policies." These and many more such subjects occupied the men, while the women, who met separately in their Civic Clubs, considered such topics as: "Child Labor," "Woman's Suffrage," "Capital Punishment Should be Abolished," "Social Purity," "Free Text-books," "Six o'clock Closing Movement," "Public Health and Sanitation," etc.
The preamble of the constitution of the clubs in Rochester clearly defines the reason for their existence: "Whereas, the welfare of society demands that those whose duty it is to exercise the franchise be well informed upon economic, industrial, and political questions of today; and whereas, by com- bination of effort the best results may be obtained; and whereas, the public school building is the best available place for such combination of effort; therefore, we, whose mimes are hereunto annexed, do form a society to hold, in the public school building, meetings whose object shall be the gaining of information upon public questions by
116 HOME AND SCHOOL
listening to public speakers and by public readings and discussions."
The following song, written for an anni- versary occasion, and sung with gusto by the members, voices in its doggerel form the vitalizing quality of the Civic Club move- ment, which touches a need far removed from the public lecture system of other cities :
"And so these men did organize, And other clubs began to rise, And all the time we did not know What it was that made us grow. 'Twas talking about the things We wanted to talk about, Yes, 'twas talking about the things That ought to be talked about.
"And now of other towns they say — And we are hearing it every day — That of the things that can't be done In the school house — this is one: To talk about the things Folks want to talk about, Yes— to talk about the things That ought to be talked about."
Social Centers. To one who has not given any special attention to the utilization of the public school buildings as the movement is
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES H7
progressing it would seem a far call from the one-time Mothers Meeting, held two or three times a year in the kindergarten or primary grade, to the groups of men and women, boys and girls, who are found today in many places using the school houses for social and recreational purposes everyday after school hours.
"It just means for the people to get their money's worth out of their own property," was the telling remark of a man who attended for the first time a reception given at one of the school buildings on the occasion of its formal opening as a Recreation and Social Center of the community.
The strong point that we would make, and which is being emphasized in several places, is the fact that the Social Center as established in the school buildings is not for the poorer districts of a city or village alone, but that its underlying principle of neighborliness and goodwill carries within it an appealing power that makes for com- munity upbuilding in the residential section of a city as well as in what some choose to term the "slums." The Year Book of the Philadelphia League of Home and School
118 HOME AND SCHOOL
Associations claims that by this organized effort there is being drawn out in a true educational sense the latent force in the people. It claims that the very effort of the people toward self-government in their local associations draws from the community those forces that should make for civic uplift. These forces, guided and stimulated by the influence and cooperation of the school and its faculty of trained leaders, make for the betterment of conditions affect- ing not only the local welfare, but the welfare of the entire city. Slowly but surely there is dawning upon the civic conscience the sense that the public schools are not only to be used for the people but by the people. This awakened sense is developing in many places a community spirit and a community life, with the school house as its Social Center. Many and varied are the forms of activity that enter into the creation of a Social Center. With the new type of school building that is going up all over the country we believe an added impetus will be given to this move- ment. When no building shall be erected without its assembly nail, when baths and gymnasiums shall be a regular part of the
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 12]
equipment, it will be an easy matter to have a recreation center in every community, for the people's club house will be at hand. In the crowded districts the school building, opened during the after-school hours of each day, takes on the aspect of a new kind of living room. The boys and young men are found in the basement in full swing of athletic pleasures, or in the quiet of the game room on the first floor; the men seek the reading room, where, by shaded light, in comfortable chairs, they find the newspapers and current magazines; or, if not thus quietly engaged, they can be found in the assembly hall entering into debates on civic questions or listening to lectures dealing with the live issues of the day.
The women and girls of the neighborhood enjoy the same privileges, sometimes with the men, sometimes separately. Groups engaged in sewing and fancy work give an added touch of "homeness" to this community living room, and, to finish the picture, the quiet classroom, filled with children pre- paring lessons for the next day, gives the last touch of that larger idea of community interest.
122 HOME AND SCHOOL
We would not advocate children entering into the social use of the Center during even- ing hours in those communities where the homes offer proper opportunities; but in many places, where the "home" consists of one or two rooms, it is a godsend for the children to have at hand a "neighborhood house" where clean, wholesome play is offered, and the quiet hour for study or story is given them. The daytime teachers everywhere are bearing testimony to the assistance the study room is proving in their work.
The Director of one of the Social Centers in Philadelphia resides near the school in a community largely composed of foreigners. She uses her own home in conjunction with the school building for all sorts of neighbor- hood work.
The schoolhouse and yard are open three days in the week after school hours for the use of the people, and all the large commu- nity gatherings are held there; but during school hours the Director may be found at her own residence. This experiment is proving most happy in its results.
A page from the Director's Note Book
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 123
shows at a glance the kind of work being done:
For Month Ending July
Outside visits, 152. To homes, 102; doctor's offices, 10; children's bureau, 12; hospitals, 6; com- pulsory education bureau, 2; to park with proba- tioners, 1.
Visits in Office (the Director's residence), 231. Letters written for illiterates, 11; letters translated, 6; cases inter preted, G; assistance given in straight- ening accounts, 7; assistance given in English, 9; instructions to mothers for sick infants, 47; medicine secured, 10; sent to country home through Chil- dren's Bureau, 1; sent to Camp Brook through Juvenile Protective Association, 10; sent to Red Bank through a private physician, 13; work secured, 8 ; shoes for 1 ; clothes for 9.
The various forms of activity previously mentioned for Home and School Associations are carried on in the school building under the supervision of the Director and some dozen assistants. The above refers to that more personal work that has grown out of the large public meetings. The following note received by the Director after one of the social evenings may be of interest to others making similar efforts toward neighborliness :
"Miscalli (which being interpreted is Miss Kelly) pleese in your school parties teech the girl kidses to
124 HOME AND SCHOOL
wash the dishes and fix the table pretty 'Merican style. They all times wash the dishes dirty at home and they don'ts never lets the Italian tables looks nice." '
Whatever the section of the city may be, the use of the school buildings as a Social Center for community gatherings is proving of inestimable value to the people them- selves, interpreting to them anew the world- wide gospel of the Brotherhood of Man, bringing afresh to their minds the world- wide unity of the race.
We of our times are standing at the source of this great new movement. It behooves us to hold aloft the underlying principles of true democracy that shall carry it on to success. It is ours to formu- late ideals that shall guide and inspire those who shall follow into the wider field toward which this movement beckons. It has well been said, " the blessedest conditions of epochs is that they come quietly, making no procla- mation of themselves, and are only visible long after."
Without blare of trumpet or noise of drum a new epoch in the social world is slowly dawning. Who can say but that the dream
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES 125
of the poet is about' to be realized, and that out of the new social order shall arise the "City Invincible," the "City of Friends."
GOVERNOR HUGHES ON SOCIAL CENTERS*
IT is not in the growth of wealth or of commerce or in the expansion of industry that we find the true index of civilization. The question is whether, with increasing opportunity, there still remains the generous sentiment; whether, with growing wealth and new establishments of industry and commerce, there still remain the instincts of human brotherhood. The question really is, while we are conserving individual opportunities are we growing more solicitous of the common good?
You, in Rochester, are meeting one of the great tests of our democratic life; you are proving that the virtues of humanity far exceed in force the vices of humanity; you are showing that it is health that is really contagious, and that in a prosperous com- munity the most intelligent of the citizens
* Excerpt from an address delivered at Rochester, X. Y., April, 1909.
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ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR HUGHES 127
of the community turn their attention to the thought of mutual improvement and of enlarging the area of the real opportunities of life, not in mere money getting, but in enriching the character, giving chance for expression of individuality, bringing home the information and stores of knowledge that are otherwise inaccessible to many who are burdened with the toils of the day.
I have enjoyed seeing the splendid pro- vision that is made through this movement for the promotion of physical well-being. How little we realize that character must have its basis in self-respect, and it takes a good deal of a saint to have self-respect when one is not well and vigorous. I rejoice that boys and girls, men and women, are having a chance to lead a normal life, and to have the physical basis upon which everything else in life largely depends.
And then you have gone beyond that, to give opportunity for intellectual develop- ment. Wherever we may be born, in stately mansion or in flat or tenement, or under the humblest conditions, we are pretty much alike, and it would be a rash man who would try to measure brains by the cost of the
128 HOME AND SCHOOL
nursery. Go anywhere you will, there is a human soul demanding a fair chance, having the right to know what has happened in the world, having the right to be enriched with the stories and poetry of life, having the right to be inspired by the deeds of men of force who have lived amid struggles in the past, having the right to be shown the way upward to that wholesome life which is absolutely independent of circumstances, and which is strong and successful because it is the life of a man or a woman doing a man's part or a woman's part in a world which is fairly understood.
But you have not stopped there, and I am glad of that. You are organized in Civic Clubs, and you have federated these clubs, and you are discussing public questions. We cannot have too much of that. I believe absolutely in the success of the merits of a proposition. The one thing we cannot afford to do without in this country is public discussion. There may be those who shrink from a free examination of public questions. You cannot hold the American public in leash ; you cannot muzzle American men and women. The only question is whether you
ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR HUGHES 129
will have calm discussion, with the sole desire to get at the truth, in time of quiet and when reason and not passion control the dispute. It is of the first importance in every American community that there should be the largest possible opportunity for the rational discussion of all questions that concern the community.
And so you are at work in your clubs, dis- cussing, getting at the facts to the best of your ability, applying to those facts the principles in which you believe, under the connective influence of the argument of others who are seeking to apply different principles.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE. Through the courtesy of Mr. E. J. Ward, Supervisor of Social Centers, we have been able to report thus freely of the work in Roches- ter. This is the only city of which we know where this particular phase of social work is carried on under the direction of the Board of Education. New York's Board of Education provides its Public Lectures and Recreation Centers, but not the free- dom of the ordinary club house, and while there were gathered into the school buildings of Phila- delphia, during the season of 1908-1909, nearly one hundred thousand people after school hours, meeting for the discussion of all sorts of public questions, and seven buildings were opened as Social Centers two evenings a week, the financial respon-
L30 HOME AND SCHOOL
sibility was assumed entirely by a volunteer organi- zation— the Home and School League — the Board of Education directing the policy of the work through one of its standing committees.]
HOME AND SCHOOL SONGS
FOR HOME AND SCHOOL
[Written for the Carnival of the Home and School League, held in the First Regiment Armory, Phila- delphia, April 17, 1909. Four thousand people, led by the band, joined in the singing of this song.]
There is a pleasant meeting-place for all the neigh- borhood,
Where everyone is friendly and society is good;
Where everything is cheery and we always like to come,
For in the Social Center at the School we feel at Home.
CHORUS.
We work together- — We work together,
For Home and School belong to me and you.
We work together — We work together,
For Home and School and Social Center too.
To get the best for all of us each one must do his best, And give his highest service for the good of all the
rest. So the Home must give its mothers, and the School
its teachers send, With the Children ready all the time their loving help
to lend.
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132 HOME AND SCHOOL
We have no thought for selfish gain, no time for idle
pelf,
For every Social Center loves its neighbor as itself. With you for me and me for you, that is the golden
rule. Oh, will you come and join us in our work for
Home and School ?
GRACE F. PENNYPACKER.
THE SCHOOL HOME
[Sung at the Banquet of the League of Civic Clubs, Rochester, N. Y., April, 1909.]
I.
Hearken while we sing to you a new and wondrous
song:
Sing you of a remedy to help the world along; Sing it with a spirit that shall echo from Hong Kong- The So-cial Cen-ter for-ever!
CHORUS.
Hurrah, Hurrah, the School Home is the thing! Hurrah, Hurrah, we'll laud it with a ring! The People own the School-house and the people —They are King!
The So-cial Cen-ter for-ever!
II. Once we thought the School-house was a thing to
shut up tight,
When the daylight yielded to the shadows of the night.
Now we know our folly and we cry : "It wasn't right !"
The So-cial Cen-ter for-ever!
HOME AND SCHOOL SONGS 133
III.
Soon as School-days ended then we left the place for
aye,
Said good-by forever, for they wouldn't let us stay,
Till we were enlightened and we found another way.
The So-cial Cen-ter for-ever!
IV.
Now when evening shadows fall the School-home
windows shine; Then our friends and neighbors all, they form an
endless line,
And flock into the School-home where the Civic Clubs they "jine."
The So-cial Cen-ter for-ever!
KENDRICK P. SHEDD.
BROTHERHOOD
[Adapted from "Brotherhood." Air Die Wacht am RheinJ]
I.
The crest and crowning of all good,
Life's final star is Brotherhood;
For it will bring again to earth
Her long-lost Poesy and Mirth.
'Twill bring new light to every face,
A kingly power upon the race;
And till it come, we men, we men are slaves,
And travel downward to the dust of graves.
134 HOME AND SCHOOL
II.
Come, clear the way, then clear the way, The fear of kings has had its day Break the dead branches from the path, Our hope is in the aftermath, Our hope is in heroic men Star-led to build the world again. To this event the» mighty ages ran, Make way for Brotherhood; make way for Man. EDWIX MARK 1 1 A.M.
HOW CAN THE HOME AND SCHOOL GET INTO CLOSER RELATIONS?
A SUMMARY *
THE AIM.
A new question is being asked in every section of the country: "How can the citizen, interested in education, yet repre- senting the home, uphold the purposes and further the plans of the professional teacher?"
The best solution yet found seems to be in the formation of a Home and School Association in every school.
The movement has broadened out rapidly. It is far more inclusive than the Parent- Teacher meetings of a few years ago. It takes in every adult in a community, men and women alike, whether they have children in the schools or not.
It is a citizens' movement.
Form a Central Committee of Citizens —
* [Written originally by Mary V. Grice for the Department of Women's Organizations of the National Education Association, December, 1908. |
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136 HOME AND SCHOOL
GENERAL PLAN OF PROCEDURE.
educators, professional men, prominent women — who are willing to back the move- ment as a whole.
The duties of this Central Committee will be:
1. To enlist the cooperation of the School Board and of the teachers.
2. To send an open letter to each school principal, offering to aid in the conduct of a meeting to organize a Home and School Association in that school. [That is, to provide and address invitations, to arrange for speakers, to furnish table equipment and light refreshments for the invaluable social hour, etc.]
3. To organize a Bureau of Speakers — men and women of influence in the com- munity— who will give at least one talk in a season upon some subject pertaining to the child's welfare; and to have the names of available speakers and of topics properly listed for the reference of local managers.
4. To arrange for music and refreshments, wherever foreign patronage requires a "uni- versal social language."
SUMMARY 137
PROCEDURE FOR EACH SCHOOL.
Be sure of the cooperation of the teachers. Wait, if need be, until they are converted. Their influence is essential to success.
Invite the members of the School Board to the meeting for organization; give them platform seats; keep them in touch with your plans.
Send invitations to every home repre- sented in the school by the hands of the pupils. The children often write these invitations themselves.
Send invitations directly from the Central Committee to other homes in the community which have no children in the school.
Advertise the meeting in every possible way.
Aim to have the volunteers assume the conduct of the meeting under the advice and cooperation of the teachers.
Have some one who knows the work present the value and necessity of cooperation be- tween the home and the school in a clear, forceful way.
Ask the question, "Would it not be well for us to form a Home and School Associ-
138 HOME AND SCHOOL
ation here, and thus bring into closer rela- tionship these two greatest formative forces of the child's life?"
Present the following constitution, elect officers, and get the names of members.
MODEL FOR A CONSTITUTION. ARTICLE I. — NAME.
Section 1. This organization shall be called
ARTICLE II. — PURPOSE.
Section 1. To further all matters educa- tional in the neighborhood of the
School.
Sec. 2. To aid in all movements to provide good, pure recreation in the neighborhood of the School.
Sec. 3. To support and aid every move- ment promoting the existence of intelligent
cooperation between the School and
Homes.
ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP.
Section 1. Membership shall consist of two classes:
SUMMARY 141
(a) Senior members who shall not be less
than s-years of age and who shall
pay annual dues of not less than
cents.*
(b) Junior members who shall be not less than fourteen years of age and who shall wear a badge or button for which they shall
pay the Association not less than
cents.*
ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS.
Section 1. The officers of the Association shall be a President; and two Vice-Presi- dents, one of whom shall be a member of the faculty of the School; a Secre- tary; a Treasurer; and a Vice-Treasurer who shall be a member of the Faculty of the School.
ARTICLE V. — MEETINGS.
Section 1. One meeting shall be held
annually in the month of for reports
of officers, election of new officers, reports
* Twenty-five cents annually is the commonly accepted sum for Senior Members. Ten cents for Junior "Button" entitles to membership as long as member is qualified to wear the same.
142 HOME AND SCHOOL
of work of various committees, and a free expression of opinion from senior members of the Association.
Sec. 2. Other meetings shall be held at the discretion of the local Association.
Sec. 3. All meetings must be held in the School building, with the full knowledge of the President of the local Association and the Principal of the School, and, if they so desire, with the attendance of these indi- viduals upon the meetings, with the right to speak and vote upon any question which is brought before the Committee.
ARTICLE VI. — COMMITTEES.
Section. 1. Standing committees shall be appointed at the discretion of the local Association by the President in conjunction with the Principal.
ARTICLE VII. — BILLS.
Section 1. Shall be paid by the Treasurer upon receipt of vouchers signed by President and Principal.
ARTICLE VIII. — QUORUM.
Section 1. A quorum on any committee shall consist of a majority of the members.
SUMMARY 143
Sec. 2. A quorum for business at the yearly meeting shall consist of not less than senior members.
N. B.— Attention is called to the fact that this constitution endeavors to keep a proper balance between the representation from the Community and that from the School. Let the responsibility of the work rest upon those outside the school. The very effort of the people toward self-government in the local Association draws from the community those forces that should make for civic uplift. These forces should be guided and stimulated by the influ- ence and cooperation of the school and its faculty of trained workers.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PROGRAMS.
School. Confine the first few meetings to topics of local interest. The parents should know of the practical things they can do to assist the teachers. Let the talks be of promptness, attendance, conduct, school clubs, new methods of teaching — those things which relate to the individual child in his school.
Home. Then take up the subjects in which the home is deeply interested — morals, home discipline, obedience, punishments and rewards — the abstract qualities of character- building.
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Community. Then broaden out into com- munity subjects — playgrounds, water and milk supplies, fighting against disease, etc.
Society. Later turn toward the great social movements, that will extend the knowledge of the parents themselves and so react favorably upon the child.
Fraternities and Sororities. As this prob- lem is one for which the home is respon- sible, the evils of it should be intelligently discussed with the parents.
Play. To be considered not alone as a recreation, but as a moral force.
Religious Training in the Home. Our public system of education proscribes defi- nite religious instruction in the schools. Therefore the training of the child's spiritual nature through the influences of religion must be left largely in the hands of the home. There is no topic more vital to the future well-being of the nation. " It is noble to be pure; it is right to be honest; it is necessary to be temperate; it is wise to be industrious; but to know God is best of all."
o
SUMMARY 147
ACTIVITIES WHICH HAVE SUCCEEDED.
Child-study. The child is the pivot of the whole movement. Therefore, no Associ- ation is carrying out its full object unless it devotes a part of its program to Child-study topics.
Social Centers. Focus a neighborhood's interest on its School Building by throwing open that building at night and after school hours for recreation purposes — always insisting on careful supervision, whether the gatherings be composed of adults or children.
Nursery Hour. If the mothers cannot leave small children, take an attractive room for the little guests. Ask the older daughters to take turns in giving an hour once a month to the care and entertainment of the room and its occupants. This will leave the mothers free to confer with the teachers and with each other.
Social Hour. Two or three times a year, at least, "break bread" together, even though the " bread" be in the form of a sweet cracker with a cup of tea. The key-word of the whole movement is "together."
148 HOME AND SCHOOL
Chorus. No happier way can be suggested for spending an evening hour than a chorus, under leadership, for young and old — to sing for the mere joy of song — street songs, popular ballads, what you will — only ob- serve the rule, "Sing, but do not scream."
Children's Day. One day in the year's program should be set aside for a meeting of the children with their parents — prefer- ably a holiday, in pleasant weather for an out-of-doors party, with a professional story- teller or some simple entertainment.
Nature Study. The School Gardens are excellent, in which parents may give certain hours each week in guidance and assistance of their children in beautifying a "vacant lot." The neighborhood's good-will and love of beauty thus developed is of great benefit.
Thimble Clubs. The women often find a Thimble Club once a week to be most helpful. Home sewing is brought and sew- ing machines are used. To make this a success there must be a presiding woman who has a genius for helping others.
SUMMARY 151
Current Event Clubs. Again, under proper direction, these clubs growing out of the Home and School Movement are bringing together the men and women of various com- munities and relating them to each other though their mutual interest in the large world happenings of the day.
Cooking Classes. For women of the neighborhood these "Classes" have proven most valuable, provided always that the request for the same and the maintenance of the same come from the people themselves.
Field Flowers. Clubs of flower-gatherers may be easily arranged in the schools on the town's outskirts, who will gladly bring field- blooms during the season for transmission to the congested sections where wild flowers are rarely had.
Mothers' Outings. One Association gives a supper each winter to raise funds for an all-day outing at seashore or park, or in the country. Mothers alone are invited to this "outing," but the rule is set aside in the case of those who are unable to leave very small children. The purpose of this effort is to give the mothers, not the children, a change.
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Recipe Exchange. Each member of the Association brings a dish of her favorite cooking and a recipe for preparing it. The various dishes are placed upon a table at the front of the room; the recipes are written on the board and copied by each member. At the close of the meeting the favorite dishes are served, a sample of each to every member.
Athletic Teams. The Junior members of the Association naturally find their place here. The basement of the School Building is used for practice. A "Play Festival" at the end of the season is a good means of bringing into pleasant rivalry the different "teams" of the city or county, thus again "getting together" in the spirit of good fellowship.
Joint Entertainment. Another means of unifying the interests of a large city is to give a Joint Entertainment once each year. The program to be composed of a "member" from each Association, thus relating the entire educational interests of the city to the people of the city regardless of creed, race, or condition.
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154 NOTES
NORTH AMERICAN Civic LEAGUE FOR IMMIGRANTS,
173 State Street, Boston, Mass.
Publishes "Messages for Newcomers to the United States" and other excellent pamphlets.
CONGRESS OF MOTHERS, Washington, D.C., or MOTHERS' UNION, Mrs. E. R. Weeks, Secretary, 3408 Harrison Street, Kansas City, Mo.
Loans Papers for Mothers' Home Gatherings.
TWENTIETH CENTURY SELF CULTURE ASSOCIATION, 317 Third National Bank Bldg., St. Louis, Mo. Publishes "Draper's Self Culture," containing Program and Outlined Course for Mothers and Teachers.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
Washington, D. C. Publishes and sends on request pamphlets on Pure Foods
DR. J. E. WARD,
Rochester, New York.
Has prepared Reports of Social Centers of Rochester, con- taining information for social center work.
PARENTS' NATIONAL EDUCATION UNION,
26 Victoria Street, S. W., London. Publishes valuable pamphlets for Home and School Work .
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOUSEHOLD ECONOMICS,
3325 Armour Avenue, Chicago. Correspondence Courses — full of suggestion.
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219 Meter
G7 Home and school united