312 



Missouri Agricultural Report. 



Mrs. Truitt. 



THE PROBLEM OF INTRODUCING HOME ECONOMICS INTO 



SCHOOLS OF SMALL TOWNS. 



(By Mrs. C. G. Truitt, Salisbury, Mo.) 



Several problems arise when we attempt to 

 introduce any new subject into the public schools. 

 Is it of sufficient importance to deserve a place in 

 the course of study? Can space be found on the 

 already overcrowded program? Can the necessary 

 equipment be secured? And, finally, can compe- 



F^^^l tent teachers be found for the work? 

 y^^BPB In a brief way I wish to discuss these four 



problems with reference to the introduction of 

 Home Economics into the small town schools. To 

 many the importance of this subject is self-evident. 

 If the education is to be a synonym for usefulness, then the schools 

 should stand for preparation. If Home Economics will ''assist pupils 

 to appreciate and control the values of life" or add to their "social 

 efficiency," it is of considerable importance. And if it can be shown 

 that it is necessary to the accomplishment of this ultimate aim in edu- 

 cation, then it should not be omitted. 



Again, more than half the pupils in our public schools are girls and 

 the State presumes that each one will be a home maker, then what can 

 be more important than teaching the very thing — which, for the ma- 

 jority of them — will be the most useful acquirement of any kind of school 

 work. 



Modern economic conditions make it more and more necessary that 

 arts and crafts be taught in the schools. Much of the work that was 

 once done in the home is now entrusted to hired help. Many things 

 that our mothers assisted in doing when girls were potent factors in their 

 education. Thus what may have seemed drudgery was in reality an 

 apprenticeship to a life of usefulness. Though conditions are rapidly 

 changing in these later years, it is just as necessary today as ever that 

 the mistress of the home know the technique of housekeeping. Indeed, 

 she must be an expert theoretically and experimentally if she wishes 

 to be a successfiil home maker. 



The cry has ever been heard that the program is overcrowded al- 

 ready. This plea was. made before many, if not all ; our modern cultural 

 studies where introduced, but today the pupil in the first grade can 

 write better, read more intelligently and knows more of numbers than 



