Three-pulse measure—Doh is E.
The great advantage of the Tonic Sol-fa system over any other is the definite and graduated ear-training which the pupils must derive from it, rendering the singing true and accurate, however poor the voices may be.
It is also of great use in developing the voice and training the ear of those who are older, and have for some reason neglected all musical and vocal culture.
Books recommended—Curwen’s Tonic Sol-fa Courses and The School Music Teacher, by Evans and McNaught. Publishers, Curwen & Sons.
ELOCUTION.
The speaking voice is often left to what we are pleased to call “Nature”; but a natural voice and a fine speaker are like the language of the race, the product of cultivation.
Weak and toneless voices are frequently the result of faulty production. We may divide the vocal apparatus into three parts: (1) Lungs; (2) Larynx; (3) Mouth. Consider the functions of each separately, and afterwards their relations to one another.
Great care is needed to develop the lungs, that they may store the requisite quantity of air and supply the waste of it constantly and silently; breath control is of primary importance.
In reading aloud, teaching, lecturing, the air in the lungs should be felt as an active force. All speech is uttered on the outgoing current of breath. The vocal chords in the “voice box” or larynx close when sound is made, and toneless or woolly voices show that the chords are slack and the breath is passing through without being used for sound, as when the bow of a violin passes over loosened strings. Note that the larynx should never be tightened by the band or collar of the dress.
The three principal resonators for sound are: the bones of the chest, the head bones, and the roof of the mouth.
Right position is very important. Both in standing and sitting the muscles should support the body so that the lungs may expand easily. To inhale and hold a deep breath is a silent and useful practice. It strengthens the walls of the thorax, develops the lungs, steadies the action of the heart, and consequently the voice.
The habit of bending the body over a desk or book, of sitting with the spine curved outward and the chest collapsed, of standing with the weight upon one foot, especially upon the heel, should be avoided. It is not enough to speak, but to speak well.
All articulations are made in the mouth, and the sound must reach the point where the letter is formed; the place of the letter in the mouth must be understood, and the quality of it.
The alphabet is best divided into four groups: (1) Vowels; (2) Explosive consonants; (3) Vibrative consonants; (4) Toneless letters.
Every word in English is complete in itself, and no letter must be omitted or joined to another. The omission or slurring of the small words constantly mars the sense; stress is not required, but distinct utterance. A small voice, if the articulation is distinct, will travel far, while a loud, ungoverned organ creates confusion of sound and cannot be understood; nor should the speaker maintain a fixed pitch, but allow the voice to pass through many gradations of sound, and endeavour to express the language naturally and musically.
DRAWING, PAINTING, Etc.
Mr. Ruskin says, “Accuracy and rapidity of perception ... are especially what masters and schools can teach”. Also, that “All qualities of execution are influenced by, and in a great degree dependent on, a far higher power than mere execution—knowledge of the truth”. With Fröbel’s teaching, and these thoughts in mind, we observe the first attempts of children at drawing. They draw from memory, and their drawings exhibit their knowledge of the things drawn. Natural drawing of children.In the first lessons we do not interfere with their own natural method, but we help them to further investigation by encouraging them to look again at the object, asking them questions about it, and drawing with them. We give exercises for the hand, wrist and arm, by running the pencil round cardboard shapes of simple geometric or ornamental forms; also by repeating straight and curved lines on squared paper. Brushwork.We foster their love of colour and train their inventive powers, by using the brush. If we take a brush and fill it with colour, we can (without any effort of drawing) produce two simple units or elements. If the point only touches the paper, we have a dot; if the side, we have a form determined by the size and shape of the brush. Simple designs.We use these elements on a network of squares (of sufficient size), and find them capable of producing the simplest possible designs. By adding short lines, both straight and curved, drawn with the point of the brush, we increase our power and variety. With the same elements we can approximately imitate some very easy natural forms, but as “it does not train the child to great accuracy,” we are very careful to choose such flowers, leaves, insects, etc., as these simple means can most nearly represent. Line drawing.We continue our practice in drawing lines on squares for two reasons, viz., it is an easy method (greatly used by designers) of drawing patterns, in which every variety of straight and curved lines may be used and placed in all conceivable positions, hence great facility of line drawing may be acquired, the influence of which will be felt in the writing exercises, and new combinations may be made by the children themselves; also, many simple drawings of objects may be done, with the advantage of being true in their proportions, before any actual training has been given in that particular. We do not allow the use of india-rubber in this practice.
Brushwork proper.Our next use of the brush is for real drawing; the matter for our designs being no longer mere accidental forms, but such as require actual drawing like those on Greek vases. The flexibility of the brush, and natural movement of the wrist, render it easy to produce these forms which are varied in shape and thickness by pressure. The network of squares may be abandoned in favour of filling spaces (such as the cardboard shapes previously mentioned) with ornamental arrangements.
Proportions obtained with the ruler.We come at length to study proportions by the aid of the ruler. Straight lines of various lengths are ruled; these are divided into simple proportions. Exercises are given in judging the relative lengths of lines drawn on the blackboard, etc. Squares and oblongs are constructed. Simple flat objects with straight edges are used as models; they are measured and drawn with the aid of the ruler. The drawings are always of correct proportions though the size may be varied, the measurements being reduced to 1⁄2, 1⁄4, 1⁄3, etc. The relation of this work to arithmetic is apparent.
Proportional measurements with the pencil.We give much time to teaching the use of the pencil for measuring proportions thus: one eye is closed, the pencil is held up between the eye and the object, at arm’s length away; the thumb indicates on the pencil the apparent length of the part to be measured, which (by moving the hand still kept at the same distance) can be compared with the whole until its true relationship is ascertained.
Memory drawing.We give exercises in drawing from memory all along the course, the subjects being chiefly animal forms so interesting to children. Object drawing.We now pass on to drawing from flat objects having some curved as well as straight edges. Let us suppose we have chosen a Japanese hand-screen, which we hang on the blackboard parallel to the class. The size of the drawings is first determined. The proportions are thought out and indicated. Construction.The model is handed round the class, attention being called to its construction. When replaced in its original position, the curved edges are compared with straight lines to ascertain their true nature.
A drawing is then made on the blackboard, the class following step by step. When complete the drawings may be tinted with flat washes of colour. The pattern may be drawn with the brush or a new one invented.
Foreshortening.Mr. Taylor reminds us that “it required all the ages to the fifteenth century of our era to master the laws of foreshortening”. To introduce these “laws” we use straight-edged flat objects, such as a map or picture on the wall. We sit, not now facing the model as before, but so that one edge may be described as being nearer to us, another farther from us, and two receding. Appearances.We have to deal with appearances rather than realities. The edges we know to be horizontal, no longer appear so; we compare them with the pencil held horizontally until we realise the angle they make with it. The width has apparently grown much less and must be compared with the front edge. The farther edge, which we know to be the same length as the nearer one, now looks shorter. Thus we think out the apparent changes and make our drawing accordingly. In the same way we draw the top of a table, and when able to do so correctly we place flat objects with curved edges on the wall or table, or diagrams with curved lines on them, and by comparing the curves with straight lines we realise their apparent forms.
Class and individual teaching.In consequence of the children having each a different view of the model, it is more satisfactory to take a very small class, giving each one as much personal attention as possible until they get accustomed to the work.
It is well to have some work of a more popular nature to alternate with these lessons in foreshortening. For instance, the brush may be used for painting easy leaves, flowers, etc., direct from nature, or for flat tinting of ornamental forms drawn from copies or the cast.
Plane geometry.Exercises in drawing from written descriptions, involving knowledge of simple geometric terms and figures, should also be given.
Model drawing.We proceed to model drawing proper, working in the same way as in the lessons on foreshortened planes; obtaining as accurately as possible the angles at which lines appear to recede; measuring the widths of receding planes and comparing distant lines with near ones. Perspective.We have to deal with perspective, “the science of appearances,” and we do this in the most practical way. We realise that it is only too possible to teach this subject in a wrong manner, by putting rules in the place of accurate observation. We therefore evolve our perspective sketch from the model and find it a great help to intelligent drawing. We frequently draw our models from memory. Alternating with these lessons we frequently take a course of elementary shading. Individual tastes.We encourage the child in its own natural preferences and mode of expression, having an excellent opportunity for doing so in the work done at home during the week, and especially during the vacation.
Suggestive drawing.We seek to modify the rather stiff and rigid kind of drawing hitherto necessarily done, knowing that higher art demands a suggestive treatment. We use such natural forms as fruit, flowers, foliage, of which we draw such lines as seem best to interpret them. Growth.We study very carefully their growth or development. We use also casts of animals, human features, etc.
Shading.We endeavour to make our shading course a good foundation for painting. We give exercises in flat tinting and graduating to obtain power over the material (chalk, charcoal, pencil or otherwise) and to ascertain its possibilities. We draw from objects having flat planes such as a cube, placed so as to receive a strong contrast of light and shade; from cylindrical or other rounded objects, in which we study specially the shaded side with its reflected light, and the position of the high light. We work from groups of objects of various colours, trying to obtain their relative tones, textures, etc.
Sacrifice.We try to arouse interest in the light itself, showing (by working with the class) how we must sacrifice minor details to emphasise its play on the group; Mystery.also in the mystery of shade, wherein reflected lights must often be subdued and details lost. Pupils have to draw also from memory.
The figure or painting may follow.
No originality is claimed for the methods and course advocated. They are founded on the desire to be educationally useful, interesting to the pupil, and a good ground on which to build artistic work in painting and designing for wood carving, china painting, needlework, etc.
BRUSH DRAWING.
All children take pleasure in drawing. Who has not seen a baby make unintelligible strokes on a piece of paper, at the same time exclaiming, “See, a chicken!” “a train!” “a gee-gee!” But the pleasure caused by such productions is not to be compared with the delight with which a child of three or four years old will handle a brush, dip it in the paint, and then produce a coloured impression on the paper. The happy laughter of the baby as he sees his flower or leaf appear will not soon be forgotten by those who have put this magic wand into tiny hands. And the interest derived from brush drawing does not pass away. Each year the child will be able to obtain truer representations of the objects he attempts to reproduce, and every fresh effort will give pleasure anew to the child and the teacher.
Brush drawing may be regarded from an educational standpoint. Many useful papers have been printed showing its educational value, and the help it gives in developing the artistic sense, powers of observation, etc.
With very little children it seems best to keep to the simplest exercise for some time, and to let them represent any leaves, flowers or insects, which can be made with the flat impression of the brush; they will soon learn to hold the brush perpendicularly, and thus obtain thin lines for stems and branches, and the finer parts of other objects. Later on they will be able to represent the forms of various animals, as well as an infinite variety of flowers and leaves.
It is most essential that the class should have the real object to observe and copy, and whenever possible a specimen should be given to each child, for, as Ruskin says, “The sight is more important than the drawing”; and an earnest seeking after truth and accuracy must leave its impression on the character.
PAINTING.
Let beginners have real objects to draw from, or any plaster casts of ornaments which can be made sufficiently interesting. An H.B. pencil is the best to use at first, which may be changed for a B. or B.B. as more shading is required, until the pupil is ready for the more vigorous qualities of charcoal. Use the charcoal in stick on a rather rough paper, with bread for correction and picking out lights; in fact, use the bread as if it were a white paint. It is better to substitute charcoal for chalk and stump as it is quicker in execution. For complete representation, oil colour gives the fullest range of light and shade possible.
Pupils should not spend time in elaborating and finishing, from which little knowledge is gained; it is better spent in mastering new difficulties than in making tidy an old drawing.
Let it be clearly grasped before beginning what sort of a drawing is going to be made, and how the result is to be reached. One can generally explain better by working on the pupil’s own drawing, but one must encourage unaided effort. Each new study should present fresh difficulties: one must insist on precision, especially in the drawing and placing of shadows and bright lights. Learners should try to get every touch right at first, and never knowingly paint or shade an incorrect tone.
Perspective should be taught from real objects; a few simple rules are sufficient: rules must be used to assist the eye in getting directions right, not to take the place of looking to see how lines actually do go. Though geometric models give all necessary problems in drawing (till we come to study from the human figure), yet they are less interesting than other things.
Let the first study for complete shading or painting be something that has an evident brightest light and a fairly dark bit of shadow. A big jug partly glazed is a capital subject. If the darkest and lightest spots are got right first, the intermediate tones will come easily. So long as colour is made harmonious, treat it as of secondary importance to correct tone. Choose colours partly for tonic possibilities, say red, blue and yellow, two of each, one dark and one light, rather bright than otherwise. Groups of objects, or still life, are perhaps the most interesting subjects till the pupil is ready to draw from life. Drapery, a curtain or long cloak, thrown over the back of a chair makes a good study.
A knowledge of the proportions of the skeleton is most useful when drawing from life; more especially if only a draped model can be given.
A certain amount of drawing from the antique is necessary before beginning from the human figure, which is the best and highest study both for drawing, tone and colour.
FRESCO.
The value of drawing for decorative purposes has been neglected in the past. An effort is being made to remedy this by the teaching of the principles of ornament and the laws of decorative art-form. The study of Greek Ceramic art shows the important part that the brush plays in the formation of conventional form. It is therefore essential before dealing with the theories of design or composition that a thorough mastery over the brush be acquired. The shapes which the pressure of the brush gives us, will enable us with ease to trace the evolution of pattern from the primitive zig-zag or dot and line to the subtly graceful scrolls and meanders of later times.
Before proceeding to more advanced problems in design we must confine our attention to the filling of spaces, such as squares, oblongs and circles, with these simple brush marks suggesting buds, leaves, flowers, etc. For this purpose we can find no better models than the Greek vase and the skilful brush renderings of Japanese art. When the student has succeeded in arriving at something like an original composition, we must be careful to insist upon the value of sound, well understood growth running through the whole scheme, while simplicity of line and originality of thought should be encouraged. The application of the principles of design ought to be demonstrated by cartoons showing the ornament designs of different races and ages. It would be advisable to work these before the student, showing every line of their construction, stage by stage, until we have a clear workmanlike drawing upon a fairly large scale.
When the pupils can express themselves with freedom, an actual piece of work should be taken in hand, such as panels for a cabinet or piano, the designing of surface decoration, wall-papers, hangings; the use of the stencil and frieze painting. Ladies can very well produce such friezes on the walls of their houses; some in Cheltenham have been most satisfactorily conceived and executed in tempera, while others are designing panels and frieze decorations with a view to their execution in situ.
CHINA PAINTING.
Any one possessing some knowledge of drawing or painting may acquire the technique of china painting without either much difficulty or expenditure of time.
China painting possesses many features of interest which make it both a useful and attractive study for young people. It is one of the very oldest forms of art—a fact interesting of itself. The revivals in majolica, faience, and many other kinds of ware of late years, show how widespread the appreciation of the factile art has become; and with the desire for good form and substance has come that of the most suitable decoration of it.
Much may be gained in the knowledge of design by the adaptation of decoration to different styles, so as to suit the form to be ornamented. This develops also originality and manual dexterity, and tests patience; no work in this branch can be completed without the process of “firing,” which assuredly “tries every man’s work”; for while it brings to perfection the colours, and gives the necessary strength and gloss, it also fixes and brings into strong relief every error—and warns against future mistakes.
Vases, flower-pots, tiles for fire-places, dessert services, tea-sets and many useful household articles can be ornamented; and thus taste cultivated and the home beautified.
ART NEEDLEWORK.
The artistic faculty latent in so many women who perhaps have never studied drawing or painting, has in this accomplishment been developed quickly and more easily than in the higher class of art.
Art needlework cultivates the taste for design, colouring and general effect; and is also interesting as an ancient revival.
The old historical tapestries, both English and foreign, have been freshly studied of late, as well as the ecclesiastical work of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; some of this beautiful work has been equalled if not excelled in some of our modern schools of needlework. There can be no doubt that needlework, from “high art” embroidery down to the plain sewing and making of garments, is excellent for girls, and it is to be hoped that the use of the needle will never be given up in our schools or homes. Both art and plain needlework are now being successfully carried on, even with the very limited time that can be devoted to them, by the pupils of the Cheltenham Ladies’ College.
WOOD-CARVING, Etc.
Wood-carving and kindred handicrafts, which can be used for forming and beautifying the common objects in daily use, have much educational value; they help to develop the æsthetic faculties, and give habits of neatness and accuracy and dexterity, and although children at school cannot be turned into finished artists, an incentive may be given at school; and we may discover in seemingly dull children faculties which, without manual instruction, would remain dormant.
Incidental teaching may be given to elder children in the history of ornamental design, its uses, purposes and meaning; also its inseparable connection with architecture explained, so that they may be the better able to understand the beauties of our own cathedrals, and compare these intelligently with the work of other countries and times. For those who can never attain to great proficiency, an intelligent interest may be awakened in the work of those to whom we owe the renaissance of handicraft, which is so characteristic a factor of our own century.
MODELLING.
No better definition of modelling can be given than this: “As carving is the art of cutting down, so modelling is the art of building up”.
Modelling develops the power of observation, for to imitate we must observe closely, and only by close observation can we learn to appreciate the beautiful which is enshrined in those grand specimens of ancient Greek sculpture which have come down to us, and to which the untrained eye is blind. The sense of touch is quickened to a remarkable degree, for the subtle modelling of a surface necessitates not only its close observation by the eye, but its perception by the hand. Also the hand becomes cunning in dealing with the material, and the power of construction is brought out. It is a sure foundation for drawing and technical education, and instances are not wanting of its utility in the higher branches of learning. Any plastic material may be the medium, but clay is mostly used.
Tools.The first and chief tools are the hands and fingers, but one or two others, the shapes of which will be suggested by the necessities of the work, may be added later on. A modelling board or slate, a straight-edged piece of wood and a sponge are required.
Teaching (class and individual).Beginning in the kindergarten, modelling should continue without a break through the ordinary term of school life. In the elementary stage class teaching is of the greatest value, but no such class should contain more than eighteen pupils. The advanced stage will require most individual teaching.
Elementary.Studies should be chosen from a carefully graduated course, the elementary stage beginning (after the kindergarten) with natural objects such as simple fruits, some of which the pupils may have already made, but which must now be modelled on a larger scale and with more intelligence and accuracy. They should then pass on to more difficult fruits, vegetables, leaves (taken singly and then on the branch), then objects such as a worn slipper, etc., etc.
Lesson to class.Each child should be provided with a duplicate of the object, sufficient plastic material, a suitably shaped board and a sponge. Equipped in like manner let the teacher build up a model in view of the class, giving the reason for each step as she proceeds. The first ten or fifteen minutes of a lesson following the completion of a work, should be devoted to the modelling of a small memory sketch of the last object executed.
Advanced stage.In the advanced stage the objects of study should be chiefly casts and natural foliage, flowers, simple drapery, casts of simple ornament of bold design, but not too geometric: animals’ heads, or the enlarged human features as Michael Angelo’s “David,” masks of antique heads, hands, feet and whole heads.
Note.Casts must always be of the best and those most approved for art training. Natural objects must be such as lend themselves to artistic representation. As a rule, the models should be executed in the round, and only at the end of the course should bas-relief modelling (where foreshortening must be resorted to) be allowed, for this is the most difficult of all plastic work.
Should there be any marked artistic talent it will have shown itself before the end of the course, when the pupil may be allowed to specialise.
SLOYD.
Sloyd, as taught at Nääs in Sweden, its headquarters, is the most perfect educational system of handwork in wood which has yet been produced. It is suitable for girls as well as boys of the ages of ten and eleven and upwards.
Each child is required to make a series of useful articles called models, in which round work and the square work of the carpenter are duly alternated; and each model introduces, with the nicest regard to the graduation of difficulties, some new tool or fresh exercise with a tool. It is used as a means of developing physical power and of forming character and habit, rather than of attaining utilitarian ends. The tools are mostly those ordinarily used by a carpenter, with three or four extra ones, viz., the knife, the axe, the draw-knife and the spoon-iron. Specially shaped carpenters’ benches, adapted to the size of work done, are also used.
CONCLUSION.
RELATION OF SCHOOL TO HOME.
So far we have spoken of the life of the child in the school. I now enter on another branch of the subject no less important, which in a book intended for teachers I shall treat from a teacher’s point of view.
I have spoken of the great change which has taken place during the last fifty years. In the days of Locke, of Rousseau, of Sandford and Merton, and of the Edgeworths, it was only possible to educate a boy by a private tutor at home. Now the sons of the nobility are no longer educated in their own homes, nor sent, as in earlier days, to other families. A similar change has taken place in the education of girls; every year more of those who would formerly have received their education entirely from governesses and masters at home, or at most gone to a very small boarding school, are studying as day-pupils at large schools and colleges, or living in boarding-houses. The question arises then, since the time is in the case of day-girls divided between the school and the home, how shall the relations between the two be adjusted? In the case of the day-girl, about eleven-twelfths of her time are spent at home; in the case of the boarder, nearly a third of the year. Everything must depend upon the harmonious working of the home and the school, if the education is to be profitable, and the problem requires the most careful attention. Teachers full of zeal and devotion are eagerly seeking to deepen their knowledge, to widen their experience, and when they have come to the conclusion that a well-proportioned curriculum is necessary for mental development, that early specialisation is harmful, that daily distractions are wasting the nervous energy of the growing girl, they are aggravated by hearing, “Mother thinks geometry is no good for a girl”; “Please, I am to drop my English lessons, and give nearly all my time to music”; or, “I could not do my lessons because I was at a bazaar”; or, “Friends invited me”; or, “Mother does not approve of my working in the holidays”.
And then they are tempted to do what specialists in all ages have tried to do—to set up a beneficent despotism, to say, “I am Sir Oracle, and when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!” I once heard the Head of a College address a body of teachers, advising them what to say to an opposing mother: “My dear madam, I know what is best for your child”. There are doctors who assume a dictatorial attitude, but what should we say, if a mother let the child go on taking his medicine without expostulation, when it seemed to be injuring the child; or, on the other hand, refused to give the child medicine which was beneficial, because the child did not like it? As the doctor needs to listen to the experience of the mother, and the mother to carry out the advice of the doctor, so do parents need to trust the children’s teacher in matters of which an educational expert can form the best judgment, and teachers, like doctors, need to profit by the experience of the parent, and should be willing to give reasons for their advice, knowing that the more their patient understands, the more intelligently will he carry out the directions given.
But how shall this be? Well, as a quickened sense of the supreme importance of education has been awakened in teachers, so has it in parents. But mothers cannot in these days lead quiet lives, and devote themselves to the home as they once could. The multiform external activity, which we have noticed among women workers, has its good side even as regards family life, for the family that lives for itself alone can no more lead a healthy life than the individual, but it has its dangers too. We all know how great are the claims of society, of culture, of philanthropy, right in themselves, yet sometimes displacing a higher claim. All of us, specially mothers and teachers, want to know how to conciliate the rival duties, lest the words should be said to us, “Thine own vineyard hast thou not kept”.
It is of the very greatest importance for the child’s character, that there should be complete co-operation between home and school. Consider the difference between home and school discipline; I may say that the home government is personal—there is not strict system and unvarying law. A girl comes down late to breakfast; or she is in the drawing-room when she should be in the study. She chooses friends and books that the mother disapproves, and there is irritation: the mother expostulates, the child is provoked. In the school on the other hand there is inexorable law, the consequence of neglect must be borne, there is no scolding, no entreaty. It will be an advantage to the home to have a little more rule, and to the school to have children brought up with some of the freedom which must be theirs one day.
The child who sees the mother yield up her own power to law, bearing inconvenience, denying herself pleasure, and what is harder still, denying it to her child, will learn to respect duty, and impose laws on herself.
Besides this, there are ways by which fuller co-operation may be brought about. All professions find the advantage of meeting together to discuss their special problems. There is the Teachers’ Guild on the one hand, and a Parents’ Educational Union on the other. I have tried in vain to bring these together here. The guild is too professional for the parent; it does seem, however, as if the newly-established Child Study Society might unite both. A fair number have joined the child study evenings and given valuable help. In the Pedagogical Seminary for July, 1897, which is a mine of valuable suggestions for parents and teachers, there is an interesting account of the way in which the school and the home have worked together in solving educational problems.
The movement initiated by the able president of Clarke University, U.S.A., for founding a science of education upon systematised observation is a most important one; it will help to build up a true philosophy upon facts, and so save us from the aimless talk of mere theorisers who want to square circles, or to discover the philosopher’s stone.
A good library, accessible to parents and teachers, which should contain books and periodicals not written exclusively for the profession, would be a great help. A niche in the general school library might perhaps be reserved for parents.
I have found much advantage from throwing open such lectures as I give in our large hall to parents and Heads of Houses. Many come to a scripture lesson given to Division I. collectively, and to literature lessons; some have joined our Plato or Browning readings, and occasionally have been present at lectures given in the training department. It is quite usual for mothers to accompany their daughters to the “Cours” in Paris. Of course parents could not attend schools ad libitum, but it need not be quite a terra incognita.
The head mistress in many schools sets apart certain hours for seeing parents; could it not be arranged that each class teacher should have some free time for seeing parents of her pupils, especially at the beginning of a new year? There is much to be said against evening visiting, and ordinary social meetings would be useless for the purpose of discussing difficulties. It is a great matter to substitute candid discussion for fault-finding to third parties; we shall not always agree, but we shall learn to respect one another’s opinions, to understand one another’s difficulties, and to work more effectually with one another in the difficult, sacred task committed to us. So far from finding parents generally anxious to interfere, I have difficulty in persuading them that I earnestly desire they should tell me of anything that needs attention.
The essential thing is that there should be co-operation and a sort of concordat between the school and the home. Certain rules agreed on:—
1. There must be a room for study and certain hours fixed for home work, which must not be altered without grave reason.
2. Late parties, bazaars, theatricals, etc., etc., must generally be allowed only in the vacation.
3. No absence from school, no coming back late, no excuses for unprepared lessons should ever be permitted, except for some very sufficient reason—never because pleasure was preferred to duty.
4. If parents and teachers differ, that difference should be discussed by neither in the presence of the child.
5. Parents should take interest in the school work; ask to see the written work; get to know the teachers and friends of their children; attend lectures, if possible, and supplement school lessons by home reading; perhaps join some common society, e.g., Teachers’ Guild, Parents’ Educational Union, or Child Study Society.
6. Teachers should invite and welcome any communications from parents, should try to know something of the home life.
7. Submission should be required in things lawful from the beginning, and the reins loosened as children grow up: the reverse method is fatal.
8. Parents should not allow the children to read indiscriminately. Distaste for intellectual work is created by exciting novels; irreparable injury is done to the moral nature by letting children enter into sympathy in imagination with the base and impure.
9. The only safeguard is to provide in the home good literature, and to read with the children. Especially should holidays be utilised as a means of learning how to spend time rightly in after-life, and some regular and independent study undertaken during long holidays.
10. Health should never be sacrificed to fashion. High heels, tight-lacing, etc., etc., should be absolutely impossible. Woollen clothing, a carefully studied dietary, regular hours, sufficient sleep, well-ventilated bedrooms, daily baths, proper artificial light, suitable seats and tables, all these things which are studied in boarding-schools should be considered also in the home. Care should be taken in avoiding infection.
11. In planning the studies and life-work of children, parents and teachers should be guided, not by the consideration of what they want the children to be, but of what they are; the special gifts of God are to be specially cultivated, and both should ask, “Lord, what wouldst Thou have me to do?” Pascal’s father forbade mathematics. Some parents insist on music unwisely.
12. Especially should parents use Sunday rightly; the religious instruction of their children maybe given at school, but the home reading has much to do with this, and the example.
13. Children should have a regular allowance of money from quite early years, and be trained to spend it rightly, and to keep accounts.
14. Should it be impossible for the home supervision and training to be carried out in harmony with the day school, either a private governess should be engaged, or the children sent from home as boarders.