PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 339 



much upon habit as upon knowledge. The criticism that is most often made upoji 

 industrial work at school is that it is so different from the work done at home that "it 

 does not put the child into that sympathetic relation with the home which, after all, 

 is for him and the home the most important thing in the world. Juvenile institutions 

 find that they must be careful not to institutionalize the child to the extent that he 

 may not be contented in a real home. In my opinion it will be a great thing for the 

 child to want to help his parents do the task that needs to be done and to want to do 

 it in the best possible way. The reason that so many country boys are now the leading 

 men of affairs is because early in life they had the responsibility of home thrust upon 

 them. I am sure that the motto, "Everybody helps," is a good one. 



But one says, "How can it be brought about? How can the school give credit for 

 industrial work done at home?" This may be accomplished by printed slips asking 

 the homes to take account of the work that the child does at home under the instruction 

 of the home, and explaining that credit will be given this work on the school record. 

 These slips must be prepared for children according to age so that the child will not 

 be asked to do too much, for it must be clearly recognized that children must have 

 time for real play. The required tasks must not be too arduous, yet they must be 

 real tasks. They must not be tasks that will put extra work on parents except in the 

 matter of instruction and observation. They may well call for the care of animals, 

 and should include garden work for both boys and girls. Credit in school for home 

 industrial work (with the parents' consent) should count as much as any one study 

 in school. 



To add interest to the work, exhibitions should be given at stated times, so that all 

 may learn from each other and the best be the model for all. The school fairs in Yam- 

 hill, Polk, Benton, Lane, Wasco, and Crook Counties, together with the school and 

 home industrial work done at Eugene, have convinced me most thoroughly that these 

 plans are practicable, and that school work and home work, school play and home 

 play, and love for parents and respect for teachers and fellow pupils can best be fostered 

 by a more complete cooperation between school and home, so that the whole child is 

 taken into account at all times. 



That the plan is practicable is indicated by a report made by A. I, 

 O'Reilly, j)rincipal of the Spring Valley school, near Salem, Oreg. 

 Under the home credit plan there in operation any pupils who desire 

 to enter the contest may do so and compete for prizes, which, in this 

 instance, include three $3 prizes and three $2 prizes which are placed 

 m the bank to the account of the winners. 



The plan is to offer so many minutes' credit for each little task 

 which the pupils perfomi about the house. For example, if the boy 

 or girl builds the fire at home in the morning he is given 5 minutes' 

 credit; milks a cow, 5 liiinutes for each cow; splits and carries in the 

 wood, a 12-hour supply, 10 minutes; turns cream separator, 10 

 minutes; cleans horses, 10 minutes for each horse; gathers the eggs, 

 10 minutes; feeds chickens, cows, pigs, horses, 5 minutes for each 

 kind of animal. For churning butter, 10 minutes are allowed; 

 making butter, 10 minutes; blacldng stove, 10 minutes; making and 

 baking bread, 1 hour; making biscuits, 10 minutes; preparing break- 

 fast for family, 30 minutes; preparing supper, 30 minutes; washing 

 and wiping dishes, 15 minutes for each meal; sweeping floor, 5 

 minutes for each floor; dusting furniture, 5 minutes for each room; 

 scrubbmg floor, 20 minutes for each room; making beds, 5 minutes 



