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What is true of music is equally true of art. We do not teach drawing or picture study in order that our pupils may become artists and paint pictures. We teach them in order to open eyes that else would be closed to the beauty that is around them, that they may see mountain, grove, and river in the beauty which clothes them, that architecture and sculpture and painting may speak their message of joy and peace. Is it worth while? Is anything worth while except the food that sustains our bodies, the clothes that cover our nakedness, and the gold that jingles in our pockets?

"And nature study? Surely our boys and girls would better be learning to spell than catching grasshoppers and watching tadpoles." Possibly; possibly not. I was born in the country. The robins woke me in the morning and the thrush sang me to sleep at night. The living God spoke to me in waving bush and shadowing tree and purple mountain. But the robin stole my cherries and the sparrows got my chickens' dough, and the wood upon a thousand hills was worth a dollar a cord on the stump, and the river had no value except as it turned the mill. to grind the corn. God spoke to deaf ears. To-day I walk through the old fields; God still speaks as of old, not now, as then, in an unknown tongue, though I understand him but dimly and grieve because I did not learn to know his voice in my youth. Our work in nature study has this one object, that the little ones may learn to hear and understand the Father's voice as he speaks to them in rock and tree and hill and every living creature. To me it seems that this language is worth more than the language of the market place.

"And manual training?" To me manual training has always seemed, it still seems, a rather clumsy substitute for what we wish we might have, but know we cannot have. It comes into use because we are passing from the simple life of the fathers to the complex life of the day. In all the world's history there has never been elsewhere or at any other time so good a place to be born in as the New England home of fifty years ago. From this home has flowed a mighty stream which has enriched the whole nation. This home was the ideal school for growing youth. Here were taught the crowning virtues of in

tegrity, industry and frugality. The two great facts impressed upon the child were a God of truth and justice and the necessity of hard labor from sun to sun. The two cardinal sins were lying and laziness. In such circumstances children grew to manhood and womanhood with an abiding consciousness that they were part of the family life and must labor for the common good, and that they must win the battle of life by a series of tremendous struggles against foes without and foes within. Now we have to learn how to rear a race of sturdy men and women in the new conditions of urban life. Other nations have tried to learn it—and human history is largely a record of their failures. We can learn much from their defeats, but no man can prophesy concerning our final success. Wealth, luxury, physical and moral decay, death; this is the ever repeated story of the past. Can we stem the tide? Can we maintain respect for manual labor, the sense of human obligation, purity and integrity of character, ambition to be and to do? If manual training and industrial training can help in solving this greatest problem of the ages, and I believe they can help much, they are worth tenfold more than they cost.

If I were educational autocrat in a town or city, I would ascertain what amount of money the people were willing to place in my hands for supporting their schools year by year. I would then divide this sum into three parts. One part I would set aside for improvement of the school plant-buildings and apparatus; for I could not be satisfied with merely holding my ground in these particulars. I would devote a portion to the ordinary running expenses of the schools. All the rest I would spend for teachers' salaries, and I would make this a very large part, because it is always the teacher that gives character and efficiency to the school. I would use much of my time in searching out the best teachers who could be found for the salary which I could pay. If I had money enough I would establish kindergartens for all children of proper age, and I would admit no children to my graded schools until they were ready for school life. I would prepare my course of study with the greatest possible care, admitting only such subjects as possess the qualities which I have named. I would give to every

subject a time allowance according to the value which I conceive it to have as a preparation for life-for living and for getting a living. I would make the later portions of the course elective, so that for the year or two years before a pupil left school his work might be arranged in the best possible way to aid him in entering upon and prosecuting his life work successfully. I would provide for Saturday schools, evening schools, vacation schools, and other kinds of continuation schools for those who have left the public day schools.

I would attempt to bring the schools into the closest possible harmony with other educational forces. My first step towards this end would be a kind of educational proclamation which would read somewhat as follows:

"To parents: You have entrusted your children to my care for five hours of the day for five days of the week, for the purpose of receiving a portion of their education under my direction. I accept the trust. On your part I ask you to see that they are at school in season every day when they are well, and that if they do not return home at the proper time you will learn the reason why. I accept no responsibility for them except while they are on school premises. If they stone the rag-man, or steal apples, or destroy fences, or play the rowdy on their way to and from school, it is no affair of mine; they are simply showing to all observers what sort of parents you are. They will learn only good in school. I send you herewith a copy of the course of study used in the public schools. It is subject to change, therefore be sure you have the latest edition. It shows what the teachers are trying to teach to the pupils. Like everything human, it is far from perfect. I shall be very glad for any and all suggestions which you may be willing to make looking to its improvement. Please see just what is prescribed as the work of the grade to which your child belongs. You will find it definite as to subjects, but indefinite as to amounts. The reason for its being indefinite is that each teacher may feel free to do all that she possibly can for every child. In every room every child will learn an amount different from the amount learned by any other child during the year. The one who makes the most progress will always

learn three or four times as much as the one who makes the least progress. How much he will learn depends upon several things-his preparation for the work of the year; his physical health; his natural ability; his efforts; his life outside of school; his regular attendance. Over some of these things you have no control; over others, especially the last two, you should have almost absolute control. You will see, therefore, that your children's preparation for useful and honorable lives depends very much more upon you than upon the schools. For your assistance in performing your part, I have made a little pamphlet which I shall be very glad to send you if you wish it, telling you how you may be of the greatest possible assistance to your child in his preparation for a worthy life. There is a separate pamphlet for each grade, and it contains a list of books which will help you much in training your child, suggestions for helpful home work, and warnings respecting the methods in which the education received at school may be injured or destroyed by other forces. I would like to hear from you frequently concerning your child's progress. Especially if anything seems to be going wrong, I wish to be informed at once. If it seems to you that the teacher is unwise or unfaithful, remember her limitations; she has only about five minutes a day to give to one child, at best. But if you cannot persuade yourself that she is doing as well as she ought, see her at your earliest convenience. Ask her to call at your house, if you cannot go to hers. A cup of tea and large lumps of sugar will make the interview pleasanter for both. Occasionally the teacher will send you a report of your child's work as it appears to her. If it is good, rejoice with your child. If it is poor, don't blame anyone till you know who is at fault. Both teacher and child may be doing their best. If the reports continue poor and my little pamphlet does not explain the cause, see the teacher. You can trust every teacher every time. If you and the teacher fail to overcome the difficulty, go with her to the principal. Last of all, come to me. We'll conquer everything that can be conquered."

Not in just these words, but in this sense I would send my little proclamation. I would get parents and teachers together.

I would try to make all see that home and school need each the other's help at every point. My next step would be to form a coalition of the schools and the various other educational and semi-educational forces in the community--the libraries, the clubs, the Sunday schools, the private schools, the lecture courses, the art exhibits, the athletic organizations, the maternal associations.

My next would be to secure the best thoughts of the best thinkers and the best leadership of the best leaders in creating the right atmosphere for my schools to grow and do their work in. With convenient and healthful school buildings, with a good supply of school apparatus, with the best teachers that money can procure, with the aid and support of the home, with the co-operation of all other educational forces, with friendly public appreciation of the work attempted and the work done, the schools of any city will be a mighty power for good. Toward this ideal let us all look as that which the future holds in store for some generation of children.

In the Rice Grass

(Japanese Love-Song)

HENRY CHADWICK

The rice grass rustles in the summer breeze.
Where the Swan shines within the great white way
That paints the blackened sky with misty light,
I note twin stars-

Two fire points, piercing

Night's mystery.

The rice grass rustles in the summer breeze.
I see the cottage where my loved one dwells,
It's soft light shining down the blackened road.
Her eyes glow there,

Two fire points, piercing

My destiny.

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