643 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN ITALY. 



The manifold advantages of open-air 

 instruction in the case of delicate chil- 

 dren, especially of those having a pre- 

 disposition to tuberculous disease, are 

 quite generally realised. In a recent bul- 

 letin of La Scuola di Roma, Signer 

 Grilli gives some particulars concerning 

 the utilisation of this idea in Rome, 

 where there are at present six schools of 

 this type in operation, while in many (jf 

 the other schools provision is made for 

 giving outdoor instruction to the pupils 

 •during a part of the session. 



The open-air schools, properly so 

 called, constitute what might be termed 

 " school colonies." Here are grouped 

 together from the different city schools 

 those children whose physical condition 

 indicates the special need of an abund- 

 ance of fresh air and sunlight. To 

 secure this and at the same time afford 

 the children protection in bad weather, 

 pavilions of a special type have been 

 built, with removable walls, so that while 

 constituting closed but well-ventilated 

 halls m bad weather, they give merely a 

 roof shelter in fair. 



Of the conditions governing these 

 open-air schools. Signer Grilli writes : — 



The boys and girls admitted to the 

 ■classes are in school daily, except Sun- 

 days, from 8 a.m. to sundown. They 

 are provided gratis with three meals 

 daily and their school tasks are suitably 

 reduced, only two and one-half hours' 

 daily study being required, divided into 

 half-hour periods, alternating with 

 periods of absolute rest, play, respira- 

 tory exercises, or light gymnastics. The 

 medical examination made before recep- 

 tion into the school is repeated twice a 

 month, so as to determine the results of 

 the physico-psychic treatment. 



The limitation of the hours of study, 

 with the corresponding reduction of 

 mental effort and nerve waste ; the pure 

 air constantly renewed ; the light, air, 

 and ^un baths, sui)pleniented by a 

 weekly bath in pure water ; the i^rovision 

 is simple, pure, substantial food and of 



Ruspini syrup ; the alternation of study 

 and play, of exercise and repose, the 

 substitution of the intuitive for the ver- 

 bal method of teaching ; the constant 

 watchfulness of doctors and teachers ; 

 the pleasant companionship of these 

 fresh young souls, unfolding like 

 flowers under the beneficent influence of 

 natural forces ; all these contribute to 

 render this type of school effective. 



These schools are in a measure " peri- 

 patetic," as the children are furnished 

 with specially constructed portable 

 chair-desks, which make it possible to 

 hold sessions occasionally in various 

 jjarts of the city, in the Coliseum, in the 

 Janiculum, etc., where the pupils may 

 study the history of Rome surrounded 

 by the monuments of her glorious past. 



In order to extend the benefits of this 

 plan as widely as possible, arrangements 

 have been made in several other schools 

 to give the pupils open-air instruction 

 for at least a part of the school session, 

 each class in turn being transferred for 

 a brief period to a court, garden or ter- 

 race connected with the school building. 

 In the schools of this class one free re- 

 past IS provided for the children, if 

 necessary, or the parents share the ex- 

 pense of this meal equally with the 

 school, if they are able to do so. Of 

 this category Signor Grilli says : — 



Given the poor condition of some old school 

 buildings, destined indeed soon to disapj)ear 

 to make place for the fine modern edifices 

 now being constructed, the schools of this 

 type represent a transition stage, soon to 

 pass away. When all the projected school 

 buildings shall have been or<.H?ted, there will 

 be, an opiiortunity to establish new open- 

 air schools in the environs of the Eternal 

 City, or in urban villas, where each morning 

 at the school hour, thanks to the develop- 

 ment of rapid transit facilities, our children 

 may be sonfc forth into the open country. 

 Hero they cam at once drink from th.> jnire 

 springs of knowliHJge ant! al)Sorb the life- 

 giving forces of Nature. The propo.sinl per- 

 manent school colony at Oskia, to be called 

 II sole per tutti ; "The Sun for All," will be 

 typical of what can be nccomplishod in this 

 directioTi. 



