Part 15 (1/2)

sounds a warning note, crying out against the present tendencies which are taking from the flower of womankind thousands who are eminently fitted for lobe,” and diverting their lives to other and less noble pursuits ”It is therefore essential to the race,” say the authors, ”that the ablest, healthiest, and finest woed, tempted, compelled, if necessary, by circu wives and mothers, and it is doubtful how far it is expedient to draw them off, even for a time to other occupations”[33]

While co-education is in agreement with conditions of family life, is economic, and continues to be entirely practicable, the question still remains whether there may not be justification in a demand for certain funda educational means and matter to the two sexes Co-education, however,the education of the sexes identical In fact it is very easily possible to make the education of the sexes fundah both institutions and class activities are co-educational in practice A difference in the aroups of subjects required ofsolution of this question And if there are certain branches of study which should belong exclusively to one or the other of the sexes, it is a simple matter to separate for such work On the whole it seeether as far as possible

THE SCHOOL YEAR

The regular school year in Norway has forty weeks of six days each The plan of having school on Saturdays furnishes an additional day of fruitful, well directed activity to the children, who ht otherwise be peruided conduct

In America we have so many vacations and holidays that our schools are in session only about 75 or 80 per cent of the ti the long summer vacations because of the inconvenience and depletion of strength occasioned by the heat, but several of our vacations during the year and the practice of having no school on Saturdays are inheritances without htly conducted, should be invigorating and exhilarating instead of producing a state of prolonged fatigue requiring seasons of inactivity or other changes in order to regain lost vitality

Again, the relaxation occasioned by diversion of thought and change of activity on Sunday is certainly sufficient to counteract any necessity of using Saturday for recuperation It appears evident that we are not as frugal in this ment demands that we should be

SCHOOL LUNCHES

It has been found that reatly affected by conditions of nutrition The quality, quantity, and preparation of foods, together with regularity in eating, deterress of the pupil in his growth, both mental and physical The child who is improperly fed or underfed is thereby handicapped, while the one who receives intelligent care along the sae

That in all large cities there are hundreds and thousands of underfed children is a fact of coe Inat least one e to all needy pupils Norway has been in the forefront in this paternalistic movement Several of her cities have undertaken this noble work and probably no city in the world can boast ofit on than Christiania

They purchase the best procurable quality of the most nutritious food, prepare it in a wholesome and palatable manner, and send it out from a central kitchen to the several primary schools of the city in such quantities as are needed to liberally supply the deular lunch rooms absolutely free to all children whose parents ask it and at first cost to others This work in Christiania is typical of the provisions made in other cities but the equipment, and possibly the system of distribution, is superior to that found elsewhere

In addition to this, nutritious and easily digested foods and drinks are provided at other schools and served at a moderate cost in the lunch rooenerally in charge of the fa and is most common in the private and secondary schools to which the previously mentioned plan does not extend

Experiment has demonstrated in our own land that it is entirely practicable to provide at a minimum cost warm, well-cooked, wholesoestible lunches so commonly carried by school children The cities and towns enjoy few if any advantages over the rural districts in this regard The plan is workable and advisable, and it should be more commonly adopted

COMPARATIVE ATTAINMENTS

In the study of the school syste to compare the school life and attainments of the pupils with those of American children It is true that until we have established nor the results of education, we cannotof pupils nor estimate precisely their accole out soeneral way

It has been noted that the Norwegian pupils begin school at seven years of age, while the American children commence at five or six Many prominent educators believe that our A They are of the opinion that their developin fore The greater physical developives theor suppleh Norway's successive grades of school to the coth of tih school Now it is generally conceded that a graduate of the gyraduate of the A the university froymnasial course has an education equivalent to that of an individual entering the junior year of work in an Aian even higher than I have here suggested; however, only a very general comparison can be made

In consideration of these conditions the question arises: How shall we account for the fact that we use two extra years in order to reach approxiian entering school at seven and progressing at the normal rate are ready for university work at nineteen while the Ain two years earlier in order to reach the saian pupils accoe, as our A at five, should we rest satisfied, or should we modify our system so as to profit by their experience? Why permit traditions or precedent to rob us of choice benefits within our reach?

Again, the students entering the Norwegian university are older andolder, their habits of life are more definitely formed, and they are better fitted to undertake the responsibility of self-direction It has been suggested by soh school in order to keep our children under parental guidance until they are sufficiently mature to care for theian pupils is uniform for all until the last two years of the secondary school, when certain branches of study may be chosen for major attention When students start to the university they enter immediately upon specialized lines of work and pursue theed to elect a considerable proportion of their secondary school work, yet they do not generally specialize at all until their junior year in college; frequently they postpone definite specialization until the beginning of graduate courses

Fundamental social characteristics enter into educational ideals, and each nation, very naturally, develops a system of schools peculiarly adapted to its needs There are, of course, general underlying principles which operate in all educational systems and place them on similar bases; there are also certain features, essential in the make-up of the individual systeive distinctive character to the various syste their excellencies Whether these special phases affect the life and accoement of school affairs, or other educational activities; they render the different systems alestive, and frequently theythe systems of other countries

METHODS OF INSTRUCTION

Every successful teacher presents his subject in conformity with some universal principles of method While these cannot berules, they form a necessary part of an instructor's equipment The teacher who knows the subject and is master of the technique of instruction is sure of success, while the one without ues of Norway have formed a happy combination of some methods of instruction They appreciate the value of the class oes on chiefly in e call the _recitation_ This is the teacher's point of contact with his pupils; here he meets them face to face and mind to ”[34]

The excellence of the work of instruction in Gernized That ”the Gerenerally known

He transcends all texts and is an authority on the subjects he presents