bro>vn] HYGIENE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 167 



and the formal. The informal lessons are given as occasions arise in 

 the schoolroom. They should be brief but to the point. As an ex- 

 ample: on a rainy day when some of the pupils have had wet feet and 

 have dried them, a lesson may be presented on the advantages of 

 keeping the feet dry and some of the dangers of wetting them. 

 Informal lessons are not unprepared lessons. One needs to have the 

 subject well in hand to be ready with informal lessons. 



A formal lesson comes at the regular time set apart in the program 

 for this subject. It may present the same topic as that recently 

 presented in a brief informal lesson. The formal lessons may be 

 conversational, and if any records are desired for future study, they 

 ma}- be kept in a note-book set aside for this purpose. A review of 

 the subject may be obtained by reading the chapter in a good text- 

 book on that subject. Studying from topics may vary the work. 

 The topics may be written on the board, and the pupil may study 

 and then recite from the topics. An experienced teacher will readily 

 think of other ways to create and sustain an interest in the subject. 

 While there is a natural sequence in teaching some of the topics in 

 general hygiene, it is far more important in dealing with children that 

 the teaching should be closely connected with events in their eveiy- 

 day life. The logic of the course does not appeal to the child as 

 does the direct interest or usefulness of the information." 



The lesson in hygiene should be well illustrated. "The young 

 child naturally looks to his teacher as a living example of what she 

 teaches. It does very little good to teach one precept, and to live 

 another. The first duty of a teacher of hygiene is to keep herself in 

 good condition. A teacher who is constantly illustrating the bad 

 effects of headache and dyspepsia cannot effectively teach children 

 what they should eat and how they should live. The teacher needs to 

 illustrate the results of careful eating, of exercise, and of rest, as 

 well as to show good taste and cleanliness in her personal appearance. 

 The schoolroom, also, should be an example in its way, and should 

 illustrate good housekeeping. It should be kept clean and tidy. 

 The children can help in many ways to keep the desks clean and well 

 arranged, the room neat, and the blackboards clean." 



Pictures, charts, food, and articles of dress may all serve to make 

 the teaching of the various subjects more impressive and interest- 

 ing. With all the teaching we must not forget to do or to carry out 

 the suggestions given in the lessons. The doing often precedes the 

 talking. 



