CEEDIT FOR HOME PEACTICE IN AGRICULTURE. 13 



SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION BASIS OF CREDIT. 



The following questions arise wherever school authorities may 

 consider this matter: 



1. What is the status of agriculture m the rural school law of the 

 State ? Prescribed, permitted, or ignored ? 



2. What bearing have the statutes of the State on prescribing 

 home work or study ? 



3. What is the attitude of the community in question on these 

 subjects and how far will the local officials support the teacher and 

 superintendent in progressive movements ? 



4. Is the present home work of the pupils sufficient and may the 

 school work be correlated with it ? Or will there be an advantage to 

 the homes as well as the school if credit is given for organized and 

 supervised school work, and will the parents welcome this plan ? 



5. May it be advisable to assign definite numerical credits for each 

 subject in the grades as is usually done in the high school? Wliat 

 comphcations would be added if home work in certain hnes were 

 given a similar credit ? Would such credit be of any real value unless 

 its possession would assist in gaining promotion or graduation ? 



So far as possible the superintendent of schools (with the local 

 school committee, if they are interested) should agree upon the basis 

 of school credit for home work in agricultiu"e, leaving to the teacher 

 only the individual apphcation and ranking. These officials should 

 first appreciate why school credit is to be given and should decide 

 upon the amount of home work to be recognized, its character, its 

 ratio to school work and the general method of applying the credit. 

 The assignment of values to various projects will be necessarily based 

 on farm management studies. Some suggestions along this line 

 follow this section. 



Why give school credit? — Without practice at home or elsewhere the 

 textbook course in agriculture would appear to have but httle value. 

 In the secondary schools it is customary to requhe in aU branches 

 so much work of the pupils that some of it must be done at home. In 

 some elementary schools a similar requirement is made but this wiU 

 not be tolerated in some sections as prescribed work. 



Wherever such a requirement is common it would seem desirable 

 that the pupil should take home for study or practice such subjects 

 as may arouse home interest and cooperation and detract as little as 

 possible from the family life. Required study of agriculture and 

 home economics, rural-survey work, and correlations of such work 

 with other branches would seem to meet these demands. Home 

 practice in the garden or with the flock would seem even better than 

 home study. 



In such cases the school should require home projects in connection 

 with the school com-se in agriculture and give a rank on the practical 



