HOME PROJECTS IN SECONDARY AGRICULTURE. 19 



of the district or upon a phase of farming most needed. To aid the 

 teacher in centering his efforts upon one or two kinds of projects, 

 some schools have adopted the alternate plan of subjects and projects. 

 If four years of agriculture are outlined, the first and third years' 

 work is given one year and the second and fourth years' courses and 

 projects are worked out the next. 



Fitting projects to the course of study. — It has been found most satis- 

 factory to make the project sufficiently extensive to correlate with 

 one year's work. In States where the home project is the basis for 

 the teaching of agriculture, there is a question as to whether the class 

 work and study of agriculture shall grow out of the project or whether 

 the project shall develop from the agricultural study. If it is decided 

 to require a project of each agricultural student the question will 

 arise, To what extent shall the regular class work be devoted to 

 projects, and to what extent shall the student pursue an individual 

 project study? 



Giving credit for projects. — It is customary to require two hours of 

 practical work in field or laboratory for one hour's credit. Shall 

 credit for home-project work be given upon the same basis and 

 allowance for this work be made in making up the schedules ? The 

 question may arise as to whether one type of work is not worth more 

 credit than another. To what extent shall quality of work and 

 results obtained be considered in giving credit? If extra time is 

 put in on projects shall extra credit be given? Shall the student's 

 record of time be used in awarding credit, or labor-requirement tables 

 be worked for different farm operations? The problem of giving 

 school credit for home work is being given attention so it may soon 

 be possible to answer these questions and others which may arise in 

 a more satisfactory way than at present. 



Contests, prizes, and awards. — In the elementary school most of the 

 home work in agriculture has been in connection with club work in 

 which the contest idea is a strong feature. Some teachers in the high 

 school have linked their home-project work with the organized club 

 work. The question arises as to just how far the high school teacher 

 should use the contest idea, and to what extent prizes and awards 

 other than regular school credit shall be given as incentives in regular 

 projects. 



To what extent shall projects yield a profit ? — Boys in the high school 

 have reached an age where they are beginning to consider values in 

 terms of dollars and cents. One of the chief educational values of the 

 home-project plan lies in the fact that through it the boy may be 

 taught the value of a dollar. If this fact is considered, the question 

 may well be asked, Is not the production project the nost profitable 

 from an educational point of view ? While making a profit may be 

 the chief aim of a production project it may enter into other projects 



