School Fairs 



L. A. De Wolfe 

 Truo, Nova Scotia 



School Fairs will not be of value educationally until they represent 

 every phase of Home and School work for the whole year. To 

 secure this, there must be close co-operation between the parent 

 and the teacher. Preparations must also begin at the beginning of 

 the year. 



One reform, is vitally needed before School Fairs can be suc- 

 cessful. That is, we must make the school year coincide with the 

 calendar year. In such case, we should then have the same teacher 

 at seed time and harvest. As it is now, with the school year 

 beginning in August, the newly appointed teacher cannot organize 

 a good Fair for September. In most cases, she knows nothing of 

 preparations on the part of the previous teacher; and, therefore, 

 concludes that "next year we'll have an exhibition." Of course 

 "next year" sheisgone, and a new teacher repeats the performance. 



With the present arrangement of the school year, the only 

 alternative is to hold the exhibition in June. We have advocated 

 this for four or five years; and in a few sections it has been carried 

 out. Thus the exhibition becomes the public examination. At 

 this time the year's school work can be exhibited; but the garden 

 work is lacking. Some teachers have advocated two exhibitions — 

 ore in June and one in September. This will work so long as new 

 activities keep up enthusiasm. There is danger, however, of both 

 teacher and pupils tiring of such work. 



Whichever solution is adopted the exhibitions must become more 

 educative. A few vegetables and flowers hastily gathered together ; a 

 little sewing snatched from the work-basket; a few rough boards 

 nailed together and called "woodwork;" business forms and 

 crayola drawings copied from, the teacher's model on the blackboard ; 

 these, however well they may look at an exhibition, mean nothing 

 more than hard work for the teacher and a few cents in prize 

 money for the children. 



Until the regular school notebooks, health charts, and daily 

 records of the year's work are displayed at the end of the year, the 

 exhibition will not be complete. Nor are these, in addition to the 



81 



