B 1033 
 W5 
 opy 1 
 
 Welch's 
 
 Inspirational 
 
 Series 
 
 VOL. 1 
 
 For Teachers and Parents 
 
 W. M. WELCH MFG. COMPANY 
 100 LAKE ST., CHICAGO 
 
HPEACHERS who wish to distribute 
 
 copies of this booklet among parents 
 
 and women's clubs can procure them from 
 
 the publishers at reduced rates in quantities. 
 
 W. M. Welch Mfg. Company, Publishers 
 100 Lake Street, Chicago 
 
A School Workshop 
 
 FOR- 
 
 The Head, Heart and Hand 
 
 DESCRIBED BY 
 MRS. E. B. WILSON, One of its Workers 
 
 Principal High School, Carroll, Iowa 
 
 Anecdotes of Discipline 
 
 By W. M. WELCH 
 
 Moral Training in Morning Exercises 
 
 By MISS MARTHA HIGGINS 
 
 ELGIN, ILLINOIS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 W. M. WELCH MFG. COMPANY 
 
 100 LAKE STREET, CHICAGO 
 
(UBHARY of CONGRESS 
 Two Codes Received 
 WAY 10 1906 
 
 >, Copyright Entry , 
 
 CLASS/<£ XXc. No. 
 / 4 <o 3*79 
 
 OOPY B. 
 
 Copyright 1906 
 By W. M. WELCH MFG. COMPANY 
 
WORK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 
 
 With proper respect for the wisdom of school 
 boards, and parents it is very apparent that the 
 pace set for our schools depends almost entirely 
 on the teachers. In the average town as long as 
 "the school runs smoothly" (if the teachers and 
 superintendent are not mindful that "New occa- 
 sions teach new duties, time makes ancient good 
 uncouth"), the board and the patrons are satisfied. 
 Slightly phrasing Lincoln's words, and applying 
 them to education, it may be said: "Some people 
 may be fooled all the time, and a few may be fooled 
 for a long time." In Iowa, or any other state 
 where any school is being taught "in the past 
 tense, ' ' where the daily work goes on to the refrain, 
 "We run the same course that our fathers have 
 run," — it is first of all the teachers' fault. Such 
 workers could even learn a valuable lesson from 
 the unlettered cowboys, whose object in a snow- 
 storm is "to keep the herd on the move," no mat- 
 ter where they drive them. There are many schools 
 snowed in, drifted over, waiting to be dug out — 
 all on account of their inactivity. It is the teach- 
 ers' work to keep "the herd on the move," and 
 in the right direction. 
 
Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 Study Things, Not Books. 
 
 The greatest errors found in our school work 
 to-day, arise from the fact that too many teachers 
 are trying to follow principles laid down in books. 
 These principles are all right if they are made 
 concrete. All theory must be made concrete, and 
 this can only be done by studying the work of edu- 
 cation from the actual, present-day demands, and 
 needs of society. Teachers should show the same 
 common sense in their work that agriculturists 
 show in their great field. Consider the magnificent 
 triumph of investigation and experiment wrought 
 by such men as Mr. Burbank; they have touched 
 the weeds of the field and converted them into edi- 
 ble products, they have given us more delicious 
 pears and apples, they have given us more exquis- 
 ite lilies and roses. How has this great work been 
 wrought? Not alone by studying books, but also by 
 studying the plants and their environments. Na- 
 ture cared only for the propagation of species ; man 
 is working on the line of developing richer quali- 
 ties of food, and higher grades of beauty. The 
 work of experiment stations has hardly begun. A 
 well-known chemist recently said: "I believe that 
 there is not a by-product, or a weed in the fields, 
 that will not be found of value to human beings.' ' 
 This is a wonderful world when we find out its pos- 
 sible adjustments and get things fitted together. 
 The successful teacher must view the work of edu- 
 cation from the same practical standpoint the 
 scientist views his work. The subject must be stud- 
 
WORK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 5 
 
 ied, not from books, but from the materials with 
 ivhich the worker has to deal. 
 
 Not long ago I was talking with Prof. Holden 
 who said: "I receive hundreds of letters asking 
 me to name some books which will give the desired 
 information on corn, and often where agriculture 
 is being introduced into schools, teachers write and 
 ask me to name books which will tell them how to 
 teach the subject. They make a mistake when they 
 ask for books on the subject, they must study the 
 greatest books of all — Nature. They must study 
 the thing itself, and not about it." Those of you 
 who have listened to Prof. Holden's interesting talk 
 on corn were undoubtedly impressed with the truth 
 that all his wonderful and practical knowledge on 
 the subject was never secured from reading books, 
 but from patiently, persistently and intelligently 
 studying corn, corn, corn. Dean Swift said "the 
 man who makes two stalks of corn grow where only 
 one grew before, confers a greater blessing on hu- 
 manity than the one who writes a book," and it 
 is equally true that no man ever learned from read- 
 ing books how to make two stalks of corn grow 
 where only one grew before. 
 
 In our school we frequently receive letters ask- 
 ing us the name of the book we use in our manual 
 training work. Perhaps the writers of these let- 
 ters are disappointed when we answer and say: 
 "We use no book. We are studying the needs of 
 our boys and girls and giving them the work which 
 we think will help them to become sensible and use- 
 ful men and women." 
 
6 WELCH S INSPIRATIONAL SERIES. 
 
 When I observe the work of many graduates 
 who left school with high percents and diplomas, 
 and when I am associated with and consider the 
 work of some teachers from universities and nor- 
 mal schools, I am very forcibly reminded of Kip- 
 ling's poem, "Tomlinson": 
 
 ' ' Now Tomlinson gave up the ghost in his house in 
 
 Berkeley Square, 
 And a Spirit came to his bedside and gripped him 
 
 by the hair — 
 A Spirit gripped him by the hair and carried him 
 
 far away, 
 Till he heard as the roar of a rain-fed ford the roar 
 
 of the Milky Way, 
 Till he heard the drone of the Milky Way die down 
 
 and drone and cease, 
 And they came to the gate within the wall where 
 
 Peter holds the keys. 
 ' Stand up, stand up now, Tomlinson, and answer 
 
 loud and high; 
 The good that ye did for the sake of men or ever 
 
 ye came to die — 
 The good that ye did for the sake of men in the lit- 
 tle earth so lone.' 
 And the naked soul of Tomlinson grew white as a 
 
 rainwashed bone. 
 6 0, I have a friend on earth, ' he said, ' that was my 
 
 priest and guide, 
 And well would he answer all for me if were he at 
 
 my side.' " 
 
 And again when Tomlinson is questioned by St. 
 Peter, he makes answer: 
 
 "This I have read in a book, and that was told to 
 
 me, 
 And this I have thought that another man thought. ' ' 
 
WOKK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 7 
 
 "And Peter twirled the jangling keys in weariness 
 and wrath. 
 
 Ye have read, ye have heard, and the tale is yet to 
 run; 
 
 By worth of the body that once ye had, give an- 
 swer — 
 
 What ha ' ye thought, or done ? ' ' 
 
 And then Tomlinson, the man of borrowed speech 
 and deed, and thought unfit for Heaven, was sent 
 back to earth. 
 
 "And again the Spirit gripped him by the hair, 
 
 and sun by sun they fell, 
 Till they came to the belt of naughty stars which 
 
 rim the mouth of hell. ' ' 
 
 And now the Devil, and not St. Peter, questions 
 Tomlinson, who answers as before: "I read it out 
 of a book, or some one told me so." Then spoke 
 the Devil thus: "Get hence, the hearse is at the 
 door, the grim black stallions wait. They bear your 
 clay to place to-day. Speed lest ye be too late. Go 
 back to earth with a lip unsealed — go back with an 
 open eye — and the God that ye took from a printed 
 book be with you, Tomlinson." 
 
 There are too many " Tomlinsons ' ' in school 
 work. All their work has an unmistakeable trade 
 mark: "This I have read in a book, or this was 
 told to me." They do not carry "an open eye" 
 and their work is dissevered from home life, and all 
 practical thinking and doing. 
 
 Every school managed by a "Tomlinson" be- 
 comes a place of positive control and discipline, a 
 place for stuffing the children with knowledge. A 
 
8 Welch's inspirational, series. 
 
 "Tomlinson" was never found in charge of a 
 school which is a workshop — for the Head, Heart 
 and Hand. 
 
 What will it profit a girl if she does secure high 
 per cents, and the ability to glibly recite facts from 
 a text-book, and carries off a diploma, if she can- 
 not cook, mend, sew and do many other useful 
 things which the saving grace of common sense 
 tells us she should be able to do, and do gladly and 
 well? I will never forget what an awakening came 
 to me in the first years of my teaching. One of our 
 senior girls was exceptionally bright, she could 
 translate Virgil into poetic lines, originals in geom- 
 etry were mental jiu-jitsu to her, she was more con- 
 versant with the Assyrian kings than the cooking 
 utensils in her mother's kitchen. One day her seat 
 was vacant, and the sad intelligence came to our 
 school that Death had taken her mother from the 
 home. After school I went to that motherless 
 home; there were seven young children, of which 
 the oldest was our brightest senior girl. This girl 
 had never been taught to do the simplest duties in 
 the home, and in this hour was as helpless as any of 
 the younger children. Her parents had let her grow 
 up under the mistaken impression that they had 
 worked hard but this girl should "be educated" and 
 take life easier than they had done. When I saw 
 how unwomanly this girl (with plenty of book 
 knowledge) was, this vital question came to me: 
 ' ' In the four years we have had this girl in school, 
 have we done all we should have done for her?" 
 Tf the home was amiss in its training, was it not 
 
WORK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 9 
 
 training that the school should have given the girl? 
 There are some people who claim that children 
 are sent to school to learn about books, that the 
 home and business life are the only places to teach 
 such practical subjects as cooking, sewing, garden- 
 ing, and printing. It will not be many years be- 
 fore this idea will be as antiquated as a narrow- 
 gauge railroad would be at the present time. Presi- 
 dent Eliot of Harvard was right when he said: 
 "One-half of the education of the child should be 
 manual — young people learn by doing — the time 
 will soon come when no school or college will ap- 
 proximate right methods that does have its Man- 
 ual Training Department. The soul centers of 
 many a young man can only be reached by having 
 him work with his hands; I constantly see the fal- 
 lacy of abstract theory in education." There would 
 be no educational "Tomlinsons" at the present time 
 if all the teachers could see the fallacy of abstract 
 theory in education. Thrice fortunate will the boys 
 and girls of our land be when all abstract theory 
 in education is a thing of the past. 
 
 Education Should Be Practical. 
 
 The spirit of the Public School should be practical. 
 Every subject studied or any work done should tend 
 directly to some useful purpose. The home and the 
 school should both be censured if poor Susan, who 
 is able to translate Caesar, cannot translate the 
 tired condition of her mother enough to hurry 
 around and get supper for the family. If Susan's 
 mother has neglected to teach her the dignity and 
 
10 Welch's inspirational, series. 
 
 value of labor in the home, then the school should 
 do this great work for the girl. The influence of 
 churches, courts and society in general can never 
 do as much to prevent divorces, and unhappy do- 
 mestic relations as the public schools. If we teach 
 our girls practical, useful work as well as the in- 
 formation found in books, these girls will assume 
 the duties of wife and mother, and be prepared to 
 do their work well. All honor to the woman who 
 can interpret Browning and Shakespeare, who can 
 mentally uplift her husband — or even susceptible of 
 having him unlift her — but the Lord pity him if 
 his bread is like lead, his coffee muddy and a whin- 
 ing, peevish wife presides over his home. Let us 
 send out from our Public Schools all-round, practi- 
 cal girls, girls who can work, and who are willing to 
 work. 
 
 Any girl who comes under the influence of a Miss 
 Blimber type of teacher can not be expected to gain 
 "an open eye" for the common duties of home. 
 Many language teachers like Miss Blimber are ' ' dry 
 and sandy with working in the graves of deceased 
 languages. They want no live languages, but stone 
 dead ones." Perhaps this accounts for the post 
 mortem spirit that many Latin students have. 
 
 Has it ever occurred to you that the much satir- 
 ized Squeers was nearer the truth than Dr. Blim- 
 ber? Squeers had the boys spell W-I-N-D-O-W, and 
 then commanded the boys "to wash the window." 
 Eliminating Squeer's selfish motive, or his purpose 
 to get all he could out of the boys, he made his 
 instruction concrete. Blimber 's work was most 
 
WORK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 11 
 
 despicable for want of anything that was concrete. 
 As Dickens says: "The doctor had over-done it 
 with young Toots, his head was excessively large, 
 he had gone through all books, and when he began 
 to have whiskers, he left off having brains." 
 
 When I watch the failures in life, of many boys 
 and girls who have been graduated from schools 
 with "honors," but who do not know how to use 
 in a practical manner the knowledge they have 
 gained, I think, "Alas, another poor, unfortunate, 
 misguided 'Toots'; when he began to have whisk- 
 ers he left off having brains. " 
 
 Books are adjuncts and the boy who has wisely 
 used them when in school is far more apt to do 
 good work than if he had not, but the chances are 
 that he will not know how to rightly use the books, 
 unless he has read more than one book work given 
 him while in school. President Roosevelt's address, 
 recently given to the Congress of Mothers, had the 
 ring of true education, and the education he names 
 could not be acquired from books, and books alone. 
 He says : "Do not let your daughters grow up idle, 
 if you do you are preparing them to be useless to 
 themselves, and burdens to others. 
 
 Life's Work Is to Overcome, Not to Avoid Dif- 
 ficulties. 
 
 Teach boys and girls alike that they are not to 
 ]ook forward to lives spent in avoiding difficulties, 
 but to ]ives spent in overcoming difficulties. Teach 
 them that work for themselves and also for others 
 is not a curse but a blessing; seek to make them 
 
12 Welch's inspirational, series. 
 
 happy, to make them enjoy life, but seek also to 
 make them face life with the steadfast resolution to 
 wrest success from labor and adversity, and to do 
 their whole duty before God and man. ' ' 
 
 School Work Should Be More Closely Related 
 
 to Life Work. 
 
 It is only half the truth to say that the school is 
 the place to fit boys and girls for life, while they 
 are in school they should also experience life, by 
 doing their work in such a manner that it is true to 
 life. Even last June there came to me from Iowa 
 towns, commencement programs containing these 
 sentiments: "From school life, to life's school," 
 and "To-night we launch, to-morrow we shall be 
 in the sea. ' ' I suppose it was a great revelation to 
 these youngsters to find the morning after gradua- 
 tion that the breakfast pancakes tasted the same as 
 usual and the old world moved on about as it did 
 before they graduated. "When will schools stop 
 teaching the pernicious doctrine that graduation 
 places the child in another world and life, and it 
 is the business of the school to get him ready for 
 his first entrance into this place called "life"? Not 
 long ago I heard a teacher say: "I teach algebra 
 in such a way that the pupils acquire precision, ac- 
 curacy, neatness, and all those very necessary qual- 
 ities that girls will need if they should ever have 
 to assume the duties of the home." That algebra 
 instruction is all right, but it may never be able to 
 do all that the optimistic teacher prognosticates for 
 it. It is abstract theorv and has not been made con- 
 
WOKK FOK THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 13 
 
 crete, and perhaps the girl will not be able to do 
 this for herself. While Mary is studying algebra 
 if she nses the "accuracy, neatness, etc.," in ac- 
 tually cooking, sewing and doing other kinds of 
 useful work then we are sure that she is prepared 
 for the duties of the home. Her algebra will also 
 be better prepared because she has done this other 
 practical work. As Herbert Spencer said: "If 
 education be a preparation for life, the child 's work 
 should show this while he is in school." 
 
 Book Learning Now Receives New Zest and Is 
 Acquired "With Greater Avidity. 
 
 From watching the results of book study and man- 
 ual training work, I am convinced that the entire 
 time devoted to the study of books does not bring 
 the greatest returns even in book culture. I base 
 my conclusions on the study of hoys and girls. I 
 have seen a girl work for thirty minutes, or longer, 
 independently and carefully constructing an arjron 
 or other garment. When this work was laid aside 
 she took up the study of Latin or geometry lesson 
 and prepared the lesson in half the time she for- 
 merly took before doing manual training. Not long 
 ago a girl said to me: "Since I have been cutting 
 out aprons, I have thought how common sense it 
 seems to study a lesson according to some plan, just 
 as I cut the aprons.' ' When a child has worked 
 anything out through his hands the truth is clearer 
 in his mind. Sometimes I think the greatest value 
 that comes from manual training is the spirit of 
 doing things, in the most common sense and prac- 
 
14 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 tical way. This spirit enters and vitalizes every 
 lesson, the discipline, and all the work of both 
 teachers and pupils where the work is carried on. 
 If manual training is practically carried on, in time 
 better methods of conducting recitations will be sug- 
 gested to the teacher, because she will have caught 
 the spirit of planning school work so that it will 
 actually get boys and girls for work out of the 
 school room. 
 
 Lead Children to Apply Their Common Sense. 
 
 A few days ago I read in the Chicago Tribune an 
 account of the death of old Adam Brokaw, the plow 
 maker. A hard working, frugal blacksmith whose 
 years of labor and economy had made it possible 
 for him to accumulate four millions of dollars which 
 he has left for philanthropic work. When people 
 asked him the secret of his success, and how he had 
 amassed such a fortune, as he pumped at his bil- 
 lows, he would explain: " First get a plan in your 
 head, and then, my boy, stick to that plan through 
 everlasting thick and thin. "While you are working 
 at that plan find time to improve your abilities, and 
 never any time to waste. If you will study out the 
 common sense way of doing everything you will suc- 
 ceed unless you are fool. ,, 
 
 This sagacious old plow-maker expressed in these 
 words the one formula that every practical, success- 
 ful teacher should follow in all school work. "Study 
 out the common sense way of doing everything. ' ' 
 
 I know it is impossible for a teacher to plan suc- 
 cessfully and execute practical work in manual 
 
WOKK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 15 
 
 training, and 1 conduct other school work in ways 
 that are impractical. The work in manual train- 
 ing gives the teacher such a common sense view 
 of all school work that it becomes the leaven of the 
 school loaf. For proof of this, I draw illustrations 
 from the work shop in which I am a humble worker. 
 One month ago the class in civics when ready to 
 study the powers of congress, organized into a mock 
 house of representatives, for one month they have 
 been practically learning about, current events, par- 
 liamentary rules, the constitution, and how to work, 
 study and express themselves. 
 
 Train Pupils to Do Without Teachers. 
 
 Every boy and girl in this class has been brought 
 face to face, not with dry, dead, text-book infor- 
 mation, but vital, every day questions. The work 
 of the teacher should enable the pupils to do with- 
 out the teacher, not simply when they leave school 
 but while they are in school. No person is truly a 
 teacher who cannot show pupils how to lead and 
 direct themselves. 
 
 When the principle of doing all school work in 
 a common sense way is applied to the recitation of 
 lessons, no teacher will follow the antiquated meth- 
 ods of asking well-formulated questions for the pu- 
 pils to answer. Have we not outgrown the school 
 that Lowell describes? 
 
 "Where well drilled urchins each behind his tire 
 Waited in ranks, the wished command to fire, 
 Then all once when the signal came 
 Discharged their words against the dame. ,, 
 
16 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 The class recitation should be regarded as a pe- 
 riod for conversation on the subject studied, each 
 pupil should prepare his work so that he will be 
 able to discuss independently the subject in class. 
 When recitations are conducted in such a manner 
 the pupils are daily learning how to do independ- 
 ent thinking and talking. 
 
 In our workshop — for the head, hand and heart 
 — we have never had a special teacher of manual 
 training, but each teacher in her respective room 
 has carried on, under the direction of the super- 
 intendent, some kind of manual training. Another 
 feature of our work, which I am very sure has an 
 excellent and practical value for the children, we 
 make the work as nearly as possible self-support- 
 ing, and in doing this, we utilize old and waste ma- 
 terial. I am sure that the valuable lesson of mak- 
 ing useful articles out of rejected material, and the 
 lesson of independence that comes from making the 
 work self-supporting could not be so effectively se- 
 cured if the board furnished freely all the material 
 used. In carrying on the work as we have done, 
 often we have seen many examples of how the chil- 
 dren have thoroughly learned the value of utilizing 
 everything that can be turned to some account. 
 
 I give one example of the many that might be 
 given to show how we are conducting our work ac- 
 cording to these principles. Two years ago, in the 
 fourth and fifth grades, the children took up the 
 work of caning chairs. The teachers in those rooms 
 learned how to direct the work from a cabinet 
 maker in the town. Then from the dim dust of old 
 
WORK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 17 
 
 garrets, came a great array of bottomless chairs. 
 When they left the chair hospital, they had been 
 restored to seats of honor by the little, skillful fin- 
 gers of joyous workers. The nominal sum charged 
 for the labor had been sufficient to buy the cane for 
 the work. I wish you could see the work, you would 
 say that it was as good as any caning you ever 
 saw. I do not need to prove that as these children 
 were doing manual work they were also gaining val- 
 uable mental training. 
 
 Our boys and girls are taught to make articles 
 that have special utility. Three months ago I said 
 to the girls in the high school of this work shop: 
 "Think of some useful article that you can skill- 
 fully make from some rejected material, bring your 
 material here and then plan and carefully execute 
 your work." When finished these articles formed 
 a virtuoso's collection. There were little trousers, 
 made from garments cut down, perhaps the curves 
 in these were not as graceful as those from the 
 hands of a Parisian tailor, but they were not de- 
 signed for the inane legs of dummies in clothing 
 house windows, but they were made for and worn 
 by lively little German legs. One maker of trous- 
 ers, not very elegantly, but most forcibly remarked : 
 "Mother has six kids to sew for and she is glad 
 to have me help her." I might add that this girl 
 is a senior, and in a class of twenty-four will per- 
 haps receive the honors of the class. 
 
 But back again to the collection we were describ- 
 ing. There- were foot-stools, dusting-caps, broom- 
 bags, hoods of various cuts and hues, ironing boards, 
 
18 Welch's inspirational, series. 
 
 boxes in which "harems of dusky beauties" had 
 ouce been ensconced, were transformed into imita- 
 tion books for valuable clippings from papers and 
 magazines; little tin boxes, which had formerly se- 
 creted "nicotine lullabies" had been deftly trans- 
 formed into silk-lined, hand-painted jewel boxes, 
 and so I might go on naming articles by the dozen 
 which were ready to be taken into the homes and 
 used. These were not only useful articles, but 
 works of art as well. Why works of art some one 
 may ask? William Morris says: "Art is the ex- 
 pression of joy in man's work." This work had 
 the true element of art wrought into it. This work 
 bad helped to educate every girl who had made an 
 article, whose making had been wrought by "the 
 marriage of the hand and brain." 
 
 As I saw these girls working I thought later in life, 
 when such problems as lengthening Kittie's last 
 year's frock, or making John's top coat out of 
 father's old one comes to any of these girls, in a 
 spirit of a Caesar, they will cross the domestic 
 Rubicon, and victoriously say: "I cut, I sewed and 
 I accomplished." 
 
 In this work shop, which I am describing no one 
 ever works because it is compulsory. All work 
 clone is the spontaneous expression of a pupil's best 
 impulses. Often requests of this kind are made: 
 A bright face looks over my desk, and a happy 
 voice asks: "Since I have my lesson, may I go in 
 the manual training room and work this period!" 
 Often a girl will return after the noon hour, and 
 say as she enters the room: "I would like to help 
 
WORK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 19 
 
 finish that sewing on the quilt, if I get my lesson 
 may I work in there the last period to-day 1 ' ' Often 
 requests of this kind are heard: "If no one helps 
 me may I take my work home and finish it to- 
 night? " I call these requests the indications that 
 our girls are growing into common sense, practical, 
 useful, all-round educated women. 
 
 Last year these practical workers made and sold 
 many bed comforters, several pairs of chenille por- 
 tieres, kitchen aprons galore, and both boys and 
 girls made telescopes. (I mean those for earthly 
 traveling, because we do not hitch our wagons to 
 a star.) 
 
 We tried to find out what each pupil could do 
 best and what he wanted to do, and then he was 
 encouraged to put his best efforts into his work. 
 To develop the brain and heart, the pupil must de- 
 velop the hand. No skillful hand work is ever 
 wrought which does not reflect the doer's mind and 
 
 S0UL f |i : h| •'■ ! I'l-ij ! 
 
 Manual training cultivates in pupils, thoughtful 
 
 observation and intelligent appreciation. Any well- 
 made article, whether a school desk, a coat, a house, 
 an engine, whatever the article may be speaks lan- 
 guage to one who has skillfully wrought something 
 with his hands. 
 
 The dignity of labor, the charm of creating, the 
 joy of possession can only be truly appreciated by 
 those who have wrought with their hands. We are 
 what we are, not only on account of the thoughts we 
 have thought, but the things we have done. As a 
 muscle grows strong only through use, so does 
 
20 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 every attribute of the mind, soul and body take on 
 new strength through exercise and work. 
 
 As far as the East is from the West banish the 
 thought that any book, or special teacher can tell 
 us what to do in manual training. Every school 
 should take up the practical work which the imme- 
 diate surroundings and needs require. One kind of 
 work will naturally lead to another. In our work- 
 shop, last fall, the class in economics became prac- 
 tically interested in social settlement work, and spe- 
 cially in the work of Jane Addams at the Hull 
 House. So, very naturally in the manual training 
 work, it was suggested that we might do something 
 for the Hull House. In reply to our letter to Miss 
 Addams we were told what we could do that would 
 be very acceptable. A few months later a box was 
 sent from our school to the Hull House, and this 
 letter explains what our girls had done : 
 
 Carroll, Iowa, March 24, 1905. 
 Miss Jane Addams, 
 
 Hull House, 335 South Halsted Street, 
 Chicago. 
 Dear Miss Addams : From our manual training 
 work in the High School, we have this day sent you 
 the following named articles : 
 25 aprons for young children. 
 10 wash hoods for infants. 
 3 crib quilts. 
 
 6 pairs of Knickerbockers for boys under five 
 years of age. 
 
 15 table bibs for children. 
 
 In the Chicago Tribune recently were these 
 
WOKK FOE THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 21 
 
 words quoted from a letter by Dr. Harper: "It is 
 a great world we live in, and there is nothing in 
 it greater than to be able to help others, even a lit- 
 tle. ' ' Prompted by such a spirit, we send this small 
 gift to the Hull House. 
 
 Yours very cordially, 
 The High School Girls op Carroll, Iowa. 
 
 Every girl in the High School did much work on 
 the garments made for the Hull House. In imagi- 
 nation, I ask you to journey to our manual training 
 room, and see what to me is one of the most beau- 
 tiful pictures I shall ever have in memory's gal- 
 lery. It is long past the daily closing of school. 
 The walls of the room, tables around the room bear 
 articles that have been made by our boys and girls 
 from all grades; around a half dozen long tables 
 are many happy, womanly girls working on the 
 Hull House articles. Some are working on little 
 crib-quilts; some are finishing aprons or dainty 
 hoods, made from out-grown dresses, waists or 
 aprons; and others are finishing Knickerbockers for 
 South Halsted laddies. The rattling of the ma- 
 chines, the merry laughter, and glad voices give a 
 medley which makes glad the heart of every visitor. 
 
 By working with the pupils in the manual training 
 room, the teacher learns to know them as she never 
 could simply from association with them in the 
 class room. Not long ago a girl was ready to iron, 
 she tried the charcoal flat and found that it was 
 scorching hot, and sat down for it to cool — ten, fif- 
 teen, twenty minutes and still she was waiting for 
 the flat to cool. I passed over to her and looking 
 
22 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 her in the eye spoke three words: "Gumption, wa- 
 ter, time. ' ' The next day that girl said to me : "I 
 have learned a new definition for education, it is 
 having common sense to know what to do, and to 
 do it quickly, when you get into trouble. " 
 
 One night a girl brought me a little hood, with 
 the request: "Will you please fix the back of this 
 for me?" "No, but I will show you how to do it, 
 here is one for you to examine, and discover for 
 yourself how it is made." As these girls work, 
 they are making character as well as useful gar- 
 ments. These womanly traits wrought out in their 
 sewing will appear in their work on future lessons. 
 Through this manual training work a bond of 
 fellowship is formed among our pupils. They all 
 feel as though they belonged to one big, happy, use- 
 ful family. "While the pupils work they talk, about 
 their work, their lessons, or other plans relating 
 to our work. 
 
 While we were making the Hull House article, 
 the senior class were studying the works of Tenny- 
 son, and here writen by one of them, is a modern 
 lullaby which is rather apropos (with apologies to 
 Tennyson's "Sweet and Low") : 
 
 "Swift and loud, swift and loud, 
 
 Eattles the old machine, 
 
 Sew, sew, onward go 
 
 Faithful, old machine, 
 
 Over the checkered gingham go 
 
 Thread from the spool and bobbin low 
 
 Over the French seam sew for me, 
 
 While the little ones, while the pretty ones wait. 
 
WOEK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 23 
 
 Watch and wait, 
 
 Aprons will come to thee soon, 
 
 Watch, wait, early and late, 
 
 Aprons will come to yon, babes, from the west, 
 
 Trousers too, and bonnets the best — 
 
 Made in the mannal training room, 
 
 While the little ones, while the pretty ones wait." 
 
 Whittier's "Barefoot Boy" is famed for his 
 knowledge never learned in school. "The dear, old 
 Quaker poet little dreamed when he wrote those 
 lines that some day educational work would include 
 this "knowledge never learned in school." A boy 
 may be well taught in arithmetic and grammar, and 
 other book knowledge but he is not educated, if he 
 treads the streets of his town blind to the miracle 
 that changes the snows of winter into the blossoms 
 of summer, or the wonders that are wrapped up in 
 every tiny seed. 
 
 We have testimony in the Bible (whether allegor- 
 ical or otherwise) that when the creator undertook 
 to make a paradise for the first man and woman, 
 he placed them in a garden. How they were to 
 know enough to cultivate it, without eating of the 
 forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge, is not re- 
 vealed. Certain it now is that the successful gar- 
 dener must know something. One day last spring 
 I saw a well-dressed, dignified lady planting a rose- 
 bush. She was using a fire shovel and had made a 
 hole that was very shallow, and piteously narrow 
 for Gen. Jacqueminot to stretch out in and grow. 
 The consummation devoutly wished for was a 
 healtlry, perpetual blooming rose, and she had 
 given it treatment that would insult a sunflower. I 
 
24 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 know that this lady is a college graduate and has 
 studied botany, but not in a practical way. Chil- 
 dren can never become properly intelligent with 
 nature, through books alone. The idea of a garden 
 school is gaining ground (in several ways) we are 
 glad to say. Let us combine study and work; hand 
 culture and brain culture should go on together. 
 On the farm, in the home, or school garden there is 
 enough geography and geology to make the initial 
 chapter for the child. The city boys and girls need 
 this training, and the farm boys and girls need it 
 also. The aim should be to make every farm boy 
 and girl an intelligent investigator and thereby 
 make farm life intensely interesting, and farm 
 work inspiring. 
 
 In our workshop, our boys and girls are in many 
 ways "taught to walk hand in hand with nature.' ' 
 Two years ago our " open-eyed" superintendent 
 and may his tribe increase — organized the boys in 
 the grades into a Producers' Club. Vacant lots in 
 the outskirts of the town were transformed into 
 gardens, which busy, happy lads tilled through the 
 vacation days. No one can estimate all the bene- 
 fits that came to those faithful, happy gardeners as 
 they slaughtered weeds and peddled vegetables. 
 They were storing up health "that mocks the doc- 
 tor's rules;" they were learning the joy and dignity 
 of useful labor; they were walking in that wonder- 
 land of nature which is open to all who are taught 
 to carry "an open eye." There was more music 
 in the whistle of these merry youngsters than in 
 great Apollo's lute. 
 
WORK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 25 
 
 Last year our school offered prizes to the boys 
 and girls who had during the summer the best kept 
 gardens either of flowers or vegetables. In our 
 manual training room can now be seen as speci- 
 mens of this work, bottles of corn, carrots, cabbage 
 and other vegetables. There are also preserves, 
 jellies, jams and pickles which tell of the practical 
 work our girls have done. 
 
 For the coming summer vacation the superintend- 
 ent has a well formulated plan for the boys to clean 
 and beautify the alleys of the town. The following 
 excerpt from an article by him will explain how 
 this work is to be carried on by the boys : 
 
 "It does not require a very close observer to note 
 that manure heaps and ash piles are the dominat- 
 ing ornamental features of the average alley, and 
 that about the average lot there is something incon- 
 gruous,, unsuitable and incomplete; that there can 
 be no harmony between an ash heap in an alley, oys- 
 ter cans in a backyard, and flower beds on a lawn. 
 The back of a lot should be as ornate as the front, 
 and it can be made so with a little thoughtful ness 
 and effort. Think what it would mean to Carroll if 
 the alleys and backyards could but feel the result 
 of intelligent effort. Ugliness has nowhere an ex- 
 cuse for being. The superintendent of the city 
 schools has formulated a plan and if he receives 
 the co-operation from the citizens that he ought, 
 there can be no question whatever of securing de- 
 sired results. He is positive that every alley in 
 Carroll can be cleaned and kept clean during the 
 five summer months, at slight expense to property 
 
26 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 owners, by utilizing the motor activities of children 
 in the city schools. He has organized a board of 
 managers, consisting of the board of education and 
 an additional man from each ward as a sort of ad- 
 visory committee to aid in the work. Upon the pay- 
 ment of five cents a week, from each property own- 
 er, during the five months, the superintendent will 
 guarantee and the board of managers will guaran- 
 tee that some of the hideous features of our civic 
 life will be removed, and there will be substituted 
 additional features that will give Carroll a promi- 
 nence she has not heretofore enjoyed." 
 
 But there are other kinds of labor carried on in 
 our workshop, and of these I have not yet spoken. 
 We are proud of our printing press purchased with 
 funds which our workers earned in various ways. 
 If you should visit our exhibit room, and ask what 
 has the printing press wrought, you would find sam- 
 ples of the work — about everything from milk tick- 
 ets to magazines. 
 
 In our workshop, we are no prouder of the sew- 
 ing, pottery work and carpenter work, than we are 
 of the books that our boys and girls have written 
 and bound. 
 
 We have no manual training "recipe book" which 
 tells us just what ingredients to put in, and what 
 method of procedure to follow. With "open eyes" 
 and common sense to guide us, we hope to be led 
 aright. 
 
 Very small incidents often suggest useful kinds 
 of work for our boys and girls. The other day I 
 noticed! a lad with very "baggy-kneed" trousers. 
 
WORK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 27 
 
 As he came into the High School room at noon, and 
 I chatted with him, I said: " Don't you think that 
 this week you can get your lessons in less time than 
 it has been taking you to get them? (I very well 
 knew that he had not been making an economic use 
 of his time) and do some manual training work!' ; 
 What I suggested acted like a spring tonic on the 
 lad, and he wanted to know about the work. I told 
 him that I had a kit of soldering tools, and a pair 
 of stretchers for trousers, that he could get the ma- 
 terial and make himself a pair by using the ■ 
 
 as a model. Not many days later the boy had made 
 a pair that were superior to the model, and his 
 appearance, conduct and lessons are as much im- 
 proved as the trousers which are no longer "baggy- 
 kneed. ' ' The work which this boy took up has been 
 taken up by many other boys in the school. This 
 is only one illustration of the many useful, practical 
 kinds of work which our boys can do. Every kind 
 of work done puts them on the qui vive for other 
 kinds, and the interesting thing is that they find 
 work for themselves, not only in school but out of 
 school as well. 
 
 When manual training is carried on without a 
 special teacher as it is in our workshop, teachers 
 and pupils feel thai " it is our work, ' ' and this spirit 
 is at length felt by the community at large. When 
 our "Producers' Club" was first organized, with- 
 out being solicited, one of our leading citizens sent 
 the boys a check for five dollars with which to pur- 
 chase garden seeds. While the Hull House work 
 was in progress, one lady sent us a bundle of val- 
 
28 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 liable material and this note: "I am so glad that 
 you are teaching my girl to sew, I want her to know 
 how to do this work but I am too busy in our home 
 to teach her myself." One lady dropped a dollar 
 into my hand and said: "This is for thread, and 
 other material you will need." I might go on giv- 
 ing many, many examples showing that the people 
 feel that this work is as important as the lessons 
 to be taught from the books, but let me tell you 
 that the people had to be educated up to this con- 
 dition. As I said at first, "the pace set for the 
 schools depends very largely on the teachers. ' ' The 
 work in manual training is comparatively new and 
 whether it is made practical and patrons and school 
 boards are made to understand its important rela- 
 tion in the school, depends entirely on the teachers. 
 And like every other good thing when introduced, 
 manual training must be conducted along common 
 sense, conservative lines. If a failure is made of 
 this work, it will not be the fault of the patrons 
 and school boards — but I say without hesitation — 
 IT WILL BE THE FAULT OF THE TEACH- 
 EES. 
 
 After all, what is the great purpose of education 1 
 To teach children to gain everywhere the most from 
 their environment, to use everything to the best ad- 
 vantage. Kipling tells the story of "The Ship That 
 Found Herself." From the shipyards at Glasgow, 
 with masts and spars and rigging, every part new, 
 a ship was launched. The joyful maiden who threw 
 the christening wine over the ship's prow cried with 
 exultation: "Was there ever a ship more beauti- 
 
WORK FOR THE HEAD, HEART AND HAND. 29 
 
 full" An old, weather-browned! captain standing 
 near made answer: "She's not a ship, she's only 
 so much steel and wood and iron. She's not been 
 tried." The voyage was commenced, and for days 
 this mass of iron and wood and steel worked to- 
 gether and resisted the stormy waves, and bore its 
 great burden over the ocean. When the harbor in 
 New York was reached, and the voyage was over, 
 the old captain cried with joy: "Now she's a ship, 
 she's been tried, and she's found herself." May 
 we not find in this story a true symbol of educa- 
 tion! The whole work of the school should be to 
 help the pupil find himself, and this can only be 
 done where the school is a workshop for the Head, 
 the Heart and the Hand. 
 
ANECDOTES OF DISCIPLINE. 
 
 By W. M. Welch. 
 
 Over twenty-five years ago a principle of govern- 
 ment was impressed upon my mind indelibly. It 
 has been of inestimable value to me ever since. 1 
 believe it worth much to all parents and teachers. 
 It happened in this way: 
 
 It was my second term of school. I was very 
 young both in years and experience, but for some 
 reason or other, the big-hearted people of a dis- 
 trict adjacent to my old home town, who knew me 
 as a boy, concluded that it would help me and would 
 do their school no harm to let me teach the winter 
 term. In those days I was more rash in my under- 
 takings and I accepted this country school that had 
 gained an unenviable reputation for its ungovern- 
 able boys and young men with about the same child- 
 like assurance that a baby might exhibit in assum- 
 ing charge of Barnum's Jumbo. The previous win- 
 ter, the first schoolmaster, a man of experience, had 
 been driven not only out of the school, but entirely 
 out of the neighborhood, and a second teacher em- 
 ployed to finish out the term, had his slippers cut 
 
 30 
 
ANECDOTES OF DISCIPLINE. 31 
 
 to pieces, his hat and overcoat destroyed, and fin- 
 ally felt obliged to carry a revolver on exhibit dur- 
 ing the closing days of his term. 
 
 My first week went off uneventfully and I should 
 have felt it growing quite tame were it not for 
 some whisperings I overheard among the pupils to 
 the effect that the larger boys "would be through 
 picking corn in a week or two, then things would 
 begin to be more lively again at school. " Sure 
 enough, the second and third weeks brought many 
 new pupils — big, brawny fellows, men grown, some 
 of them. It was not long until I was conscious that 
 steps were on foot to break the monotony and "have 
 a little fun like we had last winter.' ' But human 
 nature is the same among boys as among grown 
 people; there is always a period of hesitancy as to 
 how to start the ball to rolling. Matters seemed to 
 be talked over at the recess and noon hours, but 
 nothing transpired. The afternoon began to gener- 
 ate more of a suppressed feeling of something to 
 happen, but the afternoon recess came without fea- 
 ture. But after recess there seemed an unusual 
 quiet as if a storm was gathering. Then all at once 
 there was a loud report, one explosion following 
 another and the room quickly filled with smoke. 
 Torpedoes had been put in the stove drum during 
 recess; but who did it? There was "the first gun 
 for a good time;'' 
 
 All eyes were riveted on the new boy teacher, as 
 they called me. ' ' The ball was set rolling. ' ' "Let's 
 see what he is going to do about that shot before we 
 try him the next," was on the boys' faces. What 
 
32 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 should I do ? There were a dozen young men there, 
 every one of whom could handle me in a physical 
 tussle — the use of the club I opposed — a revolver 
 never occurred to me, — I had no idea who was guilty 
 —I really did not know the best course to pursue. 
 Like an inspiration loomed up before me a princi- 
 ple of government I had often thought of as a uni- 
 form rule of discipline — When uncertain or excited, 
 do nothing; wait and think/' So I waited and 
 thought and said nothing. The silence became pain- 
 ful. The smoke had now cleared away and every 
 eye seemed riveted upon the teacher. Why does 
 he not do something or say something? It can't 
 be that all we have done is going to go by default? 
 But the teacher did not see what to do ; he was ex- 
 cited, and so he waited. A better thing could not 
 have been done. My surprise and excitement was 
 subsiding. My effort to think seemed to be bring- 
 ing light, A new feeling seemed to be sweeping 
 over the school, a feeling that all were disappointed 
 in the lack of any spectacular happening, annoyed 
 by smoke and loud reports and generally disturbed, 
 caught the feeling — I had it — all had it; and then, 
 in carefully measured words, in a voice free from 
 indignation, but full of regret, I said as nearly as I 
 can now remember: "I think we have all been 
 sufficiently disturbed in our work by this unfortu- 
 nate occurrence so that I can hardly take your time 
 further to consider the source of the disorder. I will 
 investigate it later. Suffice for the present to say 
 that I am sorry that such an offense should have 
 been committed against you and against the good 
 
ANECDOTES OF DISCIPLINE. 33 
 
 name of our school and I know you all join me in 
 the feeling of regret that there is any one among 
 us misguided enough to think it smart to commit 
 so disorderly an act, and cowardly enough to seek 
 to conceal it." 
 
 I had scarcely quit speaking when all eyes were 
 turned upon the guilty one, on whose face the 
 beaded drops of cold perspiration were already 
 visible and alternating shades of crimson and pal- 
 lor were chasing each other up and down his trou- 
 bled face. By this time I was entirely master of 
 the situation. The tables were completely turned. 
 The attempt to have some fun to my expense had 
 gone wrong. It was a fiasco — and worse, — a dis- 
 graceful failure. The culprit was already discov- 
 ered. The focused eyes of the school upon him had 
 unconsciously pointed him out and his face and ac- 
 tions confirmed his guilt. 
 
 The simple easy rule of government, — "Never do 
 anything when uncertain what is best to do. Never 
 say anything when uncertain what to say. Never do 
 or say anything ivhen angry or excited/ 7 — had made 
 me master of the situation, had changed an appar- 
 ent defeat into a victory, had punctured the bubble 
 of bravado that had promised "fun" and avoided 
 the spectacular, had appealed to the best that was 
 in my pupils and arrayed them on my side as op- 
 posed to that of the vaunted "desperado" — the 
 waiting and calm thinking did it all. Deliberately 
 setting my mind to thinking, lifting it for the min- 
 ute out of the disturbed mental current about me 
 into a more serene frame of mind, had carried the 
 
31 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 trend of the thoughts of the whole school with me, 
 literally lifting it to a higher level. 
 
 I repeat it again, when you begin to think deeply 
 you neutralize the effect of immediate anger and 
 excitement, not alone that of your own mind, but 
 that of all minds concerned. Here is laid the cor- 
 nerstone of the foundation of self-control, and self- 
 control is nine-tenths of the control you have over 
 others. 
 
 Again, in regarding the offense as one against 
 the school, not against me, I robbed it of its in- 
 tended aim at me and largely eliminated the per- 
 sonal element. All saw the offense in a new light. 
 All felt it in a new way. All had a grievance 
 against the offender. 
 
 Again, in characterizing the act as cowardly, I 
 robbed it of its glamor of bravado. It degenerated 
 to a gaucherie, a flunk, a thing to be ashamed of. 
 
 I told the boy to remain with me after school 
 that night, as we would try to adjust the case with- 
 out further expense of time and disturbance to the 
 school. That robbed it of the last chance of glory, 
 — it eliminated the spectacular. 
 
 That night the boy remained with me after school. 
 T took plenty of time to fix up my records, mean- 
 while thinking kindly of him in his distress and 
 gaining composure in my own bearing. But what a 
 change had come over him ! He wanted to help me, 
 — " Couldn't he cut kindling for me?" and " sweep 
 out?" Of course he could. We were getting into 
 sympathy. By his actions he was already confess- 
 ing, already atoning, already arraying himself on 
 
ANECDOTES OF DISCIPLINE. 35 
 
 my side and on the side of the right. Why then 
 should I foolishly pursue the subject further? Why 
 humiliate him? Nothing a boy resents more, if he 
 is a virile fellow, than to be humiliated. When I 
 bad finished my records, he had done all my chores 
 about the school house that he could find to do. It 
 was getting late, he came to me for his punishment, 
 and the look on his face I shall never forget. A 
 flash of defiance, then Of regret, then a breaking of 
 the light and a final lighting up of the face with 
 mutual understanding, — as I extended my hand to 
 him and looked into his eyes. "It was a mistake, 
 Roy," I said. "I do not need to say more to you. 
 You see the right and have acknowledged it in your 
 actions since the occurrence, you have already suf- 
 fered enough. I am here to help you, not to punish 
 you, unless punishment is necessary to your help. 
 I am sorry the incident occurred, especially sorry 
 on your account. But I have gained a friend 
 through it for I know how you feel and you have 
 evidently turned over a new leaf." He said noth- 
 ing, but the grip of his big hand that completely 
 closed over mine answered me more eloquently than 
 any words could have done — and for the rest of 
 the winter and ever afterwards, we were friends. 
 
 The next day the boys had a meeting out by the 
 woodpile. I learned of it four months later when I 
 was leaving the district. They "talked matters 
 over" and the consensus of opinion was that the 
 part of their program for sport that winter relating 
 to disturbing the school, and making trouble for the 
 
36 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 teacher should be indefinitely postponed, that there 
 was "nothing in it" under the present teacher. 
 
 The decks were swept clean. The first attempt 
 had failed ingloriously, as the leader had gone over 
 to the captain and taken all the mutineers with him. 
 
 And I, triumphant and successful, as I was, did 
 not know then how much I was indebted to that basic 
 rule of government which has, years afterwards, 
 helped me again and again with children and 
 adults. Here it is : 
 
 When you don't see clearly what is best to do, 
 do nothing and think. 
 
 When yon don't know what is best to say, say 
 nothing and think. 
 
 When angered or excited, do and say nothing and 
 think kindly. 
 
MORAL TRAINING IN MORNING EXER- 
 CISES. 
 
 BY MISS MATTIE HIGGINS, ELGIN, ILL. 
 
 Each morning as soon as the school bell rings 
 there are gathered together in our rooms children 
 from homes of various degrees of culture, wealth, 
 and of various nationalities. All come to the same 
 school to be taught the same lessons by the same 
 teacher. There is John, too old for his grade, in 
 school because he would rather stay there than 
 work, sitting in front of Jane, the studious, quiet 
 little lass of the kind that makes teaching a pleas- 
 ure ; while across the aisle sits that energetic, ever- 
 present, typical American small boy, just glowing 
 from healthy exercise, with a great potentiality to- 
 ward resisting anything monotonous, quick to grasp 
 the situation aud become a leader for evil or good 
 as evil or good is best presented to him. Some 
 of the pupils have been studying since half-past 
 eight, others have been hurried from home or were 
 disturbed or fretted on the way to school. All these, 
 teacher! are poured into our educational mills; 
 all these to be ground out the best American citi- 
 
 37 
 
38 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 zens possible. They await the beginning of the 
 day and need something sweet and uplifting to 
 unify their thoughts and attune them ethically to 
 the day's work. "At the weekly services of our 
 churches," says the president of Johns Hopkins 
 University, "it is customary to begin with the read- 
 ing of a verse or two from scripture for the pur- 
 pose of putting the congregation in a proper state 
 of mind for the exercises which are to follow. ' ' How 
 necessary it is that the opening exercises of our 
 schools should do for our young people what the 
 preliminary church exercise does for its worship- 
 ers. 
 
 If, as most of us concede, the school of to-day is 
 a social organization in itself, reaching out and 
 touching other life to which it is closely related at 
 every possible point, and so making its own life 
 fuller and richer, then it would seem that all things 
 tending to unify that organization and make each 
 individual member of it feel his relation to the 
 whole, and his responsibility for the whole, are vital 
 to the life of the organization. Whatever will put 
 the child into possession of himself and his mate- 
 rial, and establish the habit of using these freely 
 and with understanding and taste for the profit and 
 pleasure of the community must make for the adap- 
 tability and power necessary to meet the changed 
 conditions which the large life of the world and his 
 future American citizenship are likely to lay upon 
 him. To meet such demand will arithmetic drills 
 or daily tasks do? Take a little time for the larger 
 ideals of education. Take time for that which is 
 greatest. 
 
MORAL TRAINING IN MORNING EXERCISES 39 
 
 The Morning Exercise. 
 
 The period for the morning exercises is neces- 
 sarily short. Ten minutes each day are usually 
 given both in the grades and high school. This 
 necessary brevity of time is in itself a value. The 
 exercise must be concise, appropriate, and well 
 planned. It gives steadiness and purpose to the 
 result, the expression must be orderly, careful and 
 accurate. The opening minutes seem to give direc- 
 tion to the whole day's work. It is of little value 
 to teach a child to read without giving along with 
 that knowledge a desire for the best in literature. 
 We teach him language, ability to express his 
 thoughts — what thoughts do we give him to ex- 
 press? We teach him to write — what? He studies 
 civics, what is his idea of a citizen! Surely the 
 highest ideals of our teaching — character, true citi- 
 zenship, and patriotism — well may be made to di- 
 rect all work throughout every day, and it is good 
 to have a time set distinctly apart, when pupils and 
 teacher can freely discuss, one with his limited ex- 
 pression, the other with her wider experience, the 
 underlying principle of honesty, desire for right, 
 self-control, truthfulness, sympathy, punctuality, 
 virtues which are necessary to the well balanced 
 citizen of our republic. 
 
 Therefore we have in our schools each morning 
 varied opening exercises. In the grades there are 
 numerous forms, of which the following mentioned 
 in the order of their popularity with the pupils are 
 the most common : Beading, or talks by the teach- 
 
40 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 er, current events, music, quotations, scripture- 
 quotations, readings therefrom, or Bible stories, — 
 talks on prominent Americans, talks by pupils on 
 trips they have taken, recitation of poems memor- 
 ized by individuals or by the school, special topics 
 prepared and discussed by pupils, and discussion 
 of stereopticon views. The exercises in the high 
 school consist of talks by teacher, preachers and 
 other citizens, reading by teachers, recitations by 
 pupils, current events, music, experiments, and in- 
 formal debating. 
 
 Bible Lessons. 
 
 It is interesting to note the extent to which the 
 Bible is used in our public schools ; 72 per cent, of 
 our teachers make use of it in their morning exer- 
 cises. In many rooms the Lord's Prayer and Twen- 
 ty-third Psalm are often repeated. Proverbs and 
 the beatitudes are learned and are recited; and 
 various parts of the psalms and gospels referring 
 to Thanksgiving or Christmas are read or learned. 
 Then, too, the teacher tells or reads, sometimes 
 both, the stories of Joseph and other heroes of He- 
 brew history, drawing therefrom lessons of most of 
 the moral principles of life. Great care is taken 
 to avoid all reference to church or creed. These 
 exercises, of course, show the direct use of the 
 Bible. All teachers, according to the answers to 
 the questions recently sent out by Mr. Whitney, 
 teach the Bible lessons of truth, right, justice, and 
 Jove. It is not of vital importance whether the 
 child learns the Bible quotations, "The heavens 
 
MOKAL TRAINING IN MORNING EXERCISES. 41 
 
 declare the glory of Grod," or "Earth with her 
 thousand voices praises God." "Better is a little 
 with the righteous than great revenues without 
 right;" or "Let us have faith that right makes 
 might, and in that faith let us dare to do our duty. ' ' 
 Whether from the Bible, "Know the truth, and the 
 truth shall make you free," or from Charles Dick- 
 ens, "There is nothing so strong, and safe in any 
 emergency of life as simple truth;" whether, 
 "Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things 
 are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever 
 things are of good report, if there be any virtue, 
 if there be any praise, think on these things," or 
 "We will strive together for all that is noble and 
 good," "There is a true light that lighteth every 
 man that cometh into the world," and dimly, uncer- 
 tainly, perhaps at first the children receive these 
 lessons, until in time the light dawns in fuller ra- 
 diance, their minds rise to the higher levels and the 
 thoughts are woven into their own experiences. 
 
 Readings. 
 
 One of the most enjoyable of our exercises, as 
 the children themselves say, is reading by the teach- 
 er. Then the greater thoughts of the master are 
 vitalized by the teacher's own personality. If you 
 doubt it, read Paul Revere 's ride to your class, if 
 they can understand it. Note the effect of the hur- 
 ried march in the village street, the excitement of 
 the ride, the sigh of intense interest when you come 
 to "You know the rest." Such an experience makes 
 
42 Welch's inspieational seeies. 
 
 one feel that there will always be some one " ready 
 to ride and spread the alarm." 
 
 The talks and suggestions, the charm of voice 
 and manner, all make the teacher's reading appeal 
 very closely to the children. Teachers generally 
 read selections that wonld be too difficult for the 
 pupils to read themselves, such as Enoch Arden, 
 selections from the Idylls of the King, Pippa 
 Passes, Vision of Sir Launfal; in fact, I believe 
 the reading of some of the more difficult master- 
 pieces should be done, for the first time, at least, 
 by the teacher; for they are spiritual things, and 
 their beauty will be marred by unskilful handling. 
 Pupils may be allowed to read selections from 
 patriotic collections in our school libraries referring 
 to the period of history under consideration, such 
 as Cortez and Montezuma, Stories of Columbus, 
 Pioneer History Stories, Grandfather's Story of 
 Bunker Hill, orations of Patrick Henry and Daniel 
 Webster. They may read Hale's Man Without a 
 Country. They enjoy reading poems touching the 
 country being studied in geography, or the stories 
 of great artists and musicians. 
 
 It has been found that pupils are enjoying their 
 current events given at the morning exercise pe- 
 riod next to the reading of the teacher. Possibly 
 this may be because this feature of the morning ex- 
 ercise is receiving special attention; possibly be- 
 cause there is a war to be discussed just now. It 
 is the time to teach the pupil to discriminate be- 
 tween important and unimportant items, to show 
 judgment in deferring decisions from day to day, 
 
MORAL TRAINING IN MORNING EXERCISES. 43 
 
 to look on both sides of a question, to broaden the 
 sympathies, to feel the universal brotherhood of 
 man. Anyone who recalls the first news item 
 brought in by a class will realize the moral value 
 of directing newspaper reading along lines of 
 thought and culture. The subject to be discussed, 
 probably the Japanese army, Bussian ports, or news 
 of the day at Washington, is assigned to the room 
 or to a certain number of pupils. Then the papers 
 or magazines where the matter is discussed are 
 mentioned, and the children look up the facts, either 
 telling or reading their information to the school. 
 Many teachers are finding in the letters of Curtis 
 a valuable exercise for the school work. 
 
 Music. 
 
 In most schools music forms a part of the morn- 
 ing exercises. Occasionally instrumental music 
 is given. Oftener the children sing selections from 
 songs in season, Gaynor Song Book, or Music Prim- 
 er in Primary Grades, or devotional and patriotic 
 songs taken from the Natural Music Eeader or 
 Cecilian Series in the upper grades. Music has al- 
 ways been recognized as a great unifying, socializ- 
 ing influence. People who sing together are, for 
 the time being, moved by one impulse and one 
 thought; it is the one art through which the spirit 
 of the whole can be expressed in a single result. 
 These daily exercises give opportunity for the 
 whole school to live together in a most intense spir- 
 itual way. Let them sing our national songs enthu- 
 siastically but beautifully. Let their minds be 
 
44 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 filled with the grandeur of "Come, Thou Almighty 
 King," "Lead, Kindly Light," "0 Paradise," and 
 "Jerusalem, the Golden." Let them have often for 
 an opening exercise the beautiful songs of the sea- 
 son. After eight or twelve years of such training 
 higher musical ideas will be developed, and much 
 of our rag-time music and many of our trashy 
 hymns will disappear. Then, too, in grades where 
 instrumental music can be provided, the children 
 can hear interpreted beautiful music, which is, as 
 yet, beyond their skill, and they learn to listen and 
 hear with intelligence, which is an essential part 
 of musical training. In nearly every upper grade 
 room some of the children are able to play the 
 piano well. They are always willing to play either 
 for their own room or for the smaller children. 
 Then, too, the pupils thoroughly enjoy music from 
 some outside source, a beautiful instrumental or 
 vocal solo gives them a great deal of pleasure. Often 
 a number of children in a building can play the 
 violin, mandolin, or other stringed instruments well. 
 They thoroughly enjoy playing together as an or- 
 chestra, and are always willing to do their part in 
 making the morning exercise pleasant. 
 
 Literary and Patriotic Lines. 
 
 Let us remember that children are sensitive to 
 rhythm, tone, quality, and feeling. So on quotation 
 day, each quotation should be smoothly given, sim- 
 ply voiced, interpreted. It should then be left to 
 work its own work in its own way unconsciously 
 into their characters. There are three ways of taking 
 
MORAL TRAINING IN MORNING EXERCISES. 45 
 
 up these quotations that have proven especially 
 helpful. First, an exercise may be devoted to quo- 
 tations from a given author, when selections chosen 
 by the pupils, under the guidance of the teacher, are 
 given. With Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell, the Cary 
 sisters, Masterpieces of American Literature, and 
 Open Sesame in our school libraries — surely a 
 wealth of material for such an exercise is at hand. 
 Let them choose and memorize only the best. Many 
 rooms learn a memory gem or part of a poem every 
 morning. The poems best loved, which stay with 
 us the longest, were learned in our youth. Each 
 child feels the spirit and is unconsciously lifted by 
 his quotations. Let them link the snowfall with 
 lines from the dearly loved Snow-Bound; bring 
 Hawthorne to tell his Wonder Stories; and Long- 
 fellow to sing the music of his Hiawatha. Let them 
 give glimpses of the life of the Orient, nor neglect 
 the Iliad or Odyssey, stories of old Greece, when 
 gods ruled on Mount Olympus and culture swayed 
 the world. Keep these high ideals before the chil- 
 dren, and kindle in them a desire to explore these 
 Elysian fields of which they thus obtain a glimpse. 
 Again, some subject, such as liberty, independ- 
 ence, or patriotism, is made the motive, so to speak, 
 of the opening exercises. Let the children get the 
 true ideas of those three words ; they mean so much 
 to every American. Lay the foundations of future 
 citizenship broad and deep. Can a child, ever, in 
 his mind, at least, substitute lawlessness for inde- 
 pendence after appreciating that "Common right 
 is naught but the protection of all radiating over 
 
46 Welch's inspirational, series. 
 
 the rights of each," or, "My rights leave off where 
 the rights of another begin." "The True Citizen" 
 abounds in quotations that are helpful along this 
 ]ine. Will the child not have a new idea of patriot- 
 ism and his government when he learns that right 
 conduct has been the aim of our greatest leaders, 
 from our first president, who said, "Of all the dis- 
 positions and habits that lead to political prosper- 
 ity, religion and morality are indispensable sup- 
 ports," to our president of to-day, of whom it is 
 well said: "He cares not what others think; 'Is 
 the thing right?' is the question that concerns 
 him;" from Clay, who would rather be right than 
 president, to Lincoln, who desired strength to do 
 the right as God gave him to see the right. With 
 such ideas of freedom and popular government, 
 then ' ' Independence can be our boast, ' ' and we shall 
 have citizens "who are ever mindful what it cost." 
 Some teachers have found it a pleasant morning 
 exercise to have children give quotations from the 
 literature they are studying. The children cer- 
 tainly enjoy this exercise and give the quotations 
 with appreciation and understanding. Let them 
 say as often as they desire, "If you wish a thing 
 to be well done, you must do it yourself; you must 
 not leave it to others." Chivalry rings out in lines 
 from Scott's "Ivanhoe;" steadfastness and loyalty 
 from "Lady of the Lake;" wholesome faith and 
 love of nature from "Snow-Bound;" unselfishness 
 from Dickens' "Christmas Carol;" the moulding 
 influence of deep ideals from the "Great Stone 
 Face,". and many lessons of truth, kindness, obe- 
 
MOKAL TKAINING IN MOKNING EXERCISES. 47 
 
 dience, and love from our school readers. Many of 
 the poems in these readers are learned, such as, 
 "A Child's Thought," "Song of the Brook," "The 
 Bright Side," "The Waterdrop, ' ' "The Village 
 Blacksmith," "Flowers in Bain," "All Things 
 Beautiful Night and Day," "The Barefoot Boy," 
 and many others. The children enjoy repeating 
 these for opening exercises. There is a whole life 
 lesson in the following poem, which I hear them 
 repeat occasionally: 
 
 "Is it raining, little flower? 
 
 Be glad of rain ; 
 Too much sun would wither thee, 
 
 'Twill shine again. 
 The clouds are dark, 
 
 'Tis true; 
 But right behind 
 
 Shines the blue." 
 
 The Special Days. 
 
 Occasionally the teacher desires an idea to con- 
 trol the work of an extended period time, say, for 
 a month. Then there can be a broadening out of 
 all these daily exercises. We should celebrate the 
 great racial festivals: Thanksgiving, Nature's 
 great climax ; Christmas, the triumph of light over 
 darkness, of good over evil ; Easter, the new life of 
 spring, the regeneration of the spirit. A study of 
 these festivals gives a spiritual insight into the 
 hopes and aspirations of the race, the continuity 
 of history, the brotherhood of man. We should 
 celebrate our national holidavs, several of which 
 
48 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 come in February. Cannot that month be devoted 
 to the thought of patriotism and loyalty? Lead the 
 children in story, poem, and song to a true mean- 
 ing of what it is to be an American. A pleasing 
 exercise of this nature was given in a second and 
 third grade room on a Friday morning in Febru- 
 ary. All through the month the children had been 
 calking and singing of their country, Washington, 
 Lincoln, and their flag. The Friday before Wash- 
 ington's birthday was chosen for the final general 
 exercise. Eager faces looked upon the flag that 
 had been draped for the occasion in the front of the 
 room. Nothing was said. The teacher stepped 
 quietly to her organ and played the opening strains 
 of the "Red, White, and Blue." They sang that. 
 Then followed "I Know Three Little Sisters," 
 "Our Bonny Flag," and "There Are Many Flags." 
 The singing was sweet, the voices in unison thrill- 
 ing with the feeling they were just beginning to 
 understand. Then followed a short talk by the 
 teacher and pupils on "Our Flag" — the first flag — 
 stars — stripes — meaning of the red, white, and blue, 
 bravery, truth, and purity. After that all the chil- 
 dren rose and sang the Salute Song from Songs in 
 Season, and then gave the forma] salute to the flag. 
 Thus the teacher bound together in a connected way 
 her whole work for the entire month. 
 
 February is also a month of birthdays — a month 
 to study Longfellow and Lowell. One room stud- 
 ied Longfellow and learned beautiful quotations 
 from a number of his poems. When the final gen- 
 eral exercise was given quotations had been selected 
 
MORAL TRAINING IN MORNING EXERCISES. 49 
 
 from the following poems: The Builders, The 
 Psalm of Life, The Eiver Charles, My Lost Youth, 
 Children, Children's Hour, Daybreak, The Reaper 
 and the Flowers, the Arrow and the Song, The Vil- 
 lage Blacksmith, Excelsior, Paul Revere 's Ride, and 
 The Day is Done. Thirteen of Longfellow's finest 
 poems were represented in that exercise, and the 
 quotations were given with taste and appreciation. 
 
 Morning talks by teachers and others have fur- 
 nished uplifting ideas to pupils and inspiration to 
 better living. Moral living implies a knowledge of 
 the right, and a force of will directed toward that 
 right in a degree strong enough to result in proper 
 action. This last force is especially added when 
 the pupil, after gaining a true idea, has the thought 
 impressed upon him by one whose life and charac- 
 ter he respects. Such talks given by our preachers, 
 as Reserve Power, the Effect of Labor on Value, 
 and Value of Preparation, teach moral lessons indi- 
 rectly, but in a way that counts. Other citizens 
 have given our pupils valuable talks. No teacher 
 likes to formally moralize, but the natural unaf- 
 fected talk with pupils before beginning the day's 
 work is a valuable exercise, and opportunities for 
 such talks are abundant. 
 
 In a first grade room the children came in one 
 stormy morning all excitement over the beautiful 
 snow. After the morning song and prayer they all 
 sang softly " Tracks in the Snow." The teacher 
 then told the story of the little raindrop that be- 
 came an ice needle, joined others on the way to 
 earth, making a snowflake coming to see what good 
 
50 Welch's inspirational series. 
 
 it could do. It fell with many others on a garden 
 
 and helped to keep the little seeds warm in the cold 
 
 winter. The children were questioned as to what is 
 
 most beautiful about the snow. They thought its 
 
 whiteness was the chief beauty. Then in a pretty 
 
 little talk the teacher gave the suggestion that God 
 
 looks upon little boys and girls who do right as 
 
 whiter and more beautiful than the snow. After 
 
 that the children repeated very softly selections 
 
 from the " First Snowfall," closing with 
 
 1 1 This is the way the snow comes down, 
 Softly, softly falling." 
 
 All had seen in a new way the beauty and signifi- 
 cance of the snow. 
 
 Some teachers, especially in our upper grades, 
 have days set apart for systematic opening exer- 
 cises; that is, a day for current events, a day for 
 quotations, a day for music, etc. This gives the 
 pupil a responsibility in the program and makes 
 him always alert for something valuable for the 
 opening exercises. Other teachers like to arrange 
 little surprises for their pupils, seldom letting them 
 know, except in the case of quotations, what is to 
 come next day. Both ways are used with success. 
 I wish to mention the beautiful custom, prevailing 
 in the lower grades, of sending the children home 
 in the afternoon with the thought of a beautiful 
 song, or poem, or story in their minds — a fitting 
 closing exercise. 
 
 Some of the results of these exercises are imme- 
 diate; the disappearance of the restlessness, of the 
 nervous strain, of the self-consciousness. We soon 
 
MORAL TRAINING IN MORNING EXERCISES. 51 
 
 see the tendency to self-control, sanity, poise, cour- 
 tesy, and order. The united spirit in attacking the 
 day's work is always noticeable after an inspiring 
 beginning. Other effects seem more remote; are 
 of slow growth, but are character forming and per- 
 manent; such as making the children more con- 
 siderate and helpful, enlarging their ideals, and ob- 
 taining a truer meaning of living. These, the most 
 valuable results, must be of slow growth to be per- 
 manent. 
 
 Do the pupils enjoy these exercises? It inter- 
 ested me to know what the pupils themselves 
 thought of them. One child said: "I like to have 
 my teacher read a story for opening exercises be- 
 cause it gives us good things to think about during 
 the day. Then when I hear a little about any sub- 
 ject I want to learn more, so it makes me want to 
 read stories for myself." 
 
 "I like to get news items for opening exercises 
 the best,'.' wrote another. "They keep me inter- 
 ested in the outside world, and give us something 
 interesting to do in the evening, to hunt them up." 
 
 Another said: "I like quotations because they 
 teach us the thoughts of great poets and authors, 
 such as Whittier, Longfellow, Lowell and Haw- 
 thorne. Quotations are good for the brain. If I 
 keep my mind full of good thoughts I will not have 
 time to think of evil ones, 'and some day I may be 
 as great and good a man as Boosevelt." 
 
 I have mentioned some of the ways by which we 
 are trying to help our children, by song and story, 
 by talks and poems. We, as teachers, desire to de- 
 
52 Welch's inspirational, series. 
 
 velop high-niinded, true-hearted men and women, 
 citizens for an ideal republic. We are trying to 
 teach them that 
 
 "Education is a better safeguard of liberty than 
 a standing army;" that 
 
 "The strength of the nation is in the intelligent 
 and well-ordered homes of the people;" that 
 
 "The noblest motive is the public good," and 
 that 
 
 "He who reigns within himself is more than a 
 king. ' ' 
 
 We are trying to instill a respect for hard work, 
 and a desire in the child to be a cause, a mover of 
 things. We want each child to make the ideas his 
 own when we read to him or teach him such thoughts 
 as these: 
 
 "Work wields the weapons of power, wins the 
 palm of success, and wears the crown of victory;" 
 
 ' ' The difference between one boy and another lies 
 not so much in talent as in energy ; ' ' 
 
 "Success grows out of the struggles to overcome 
 difficulties." 
 
 We are trying to have them admire and desire 
 nobility of character; hence, our talks on great men, 
 both our national heroes and our great men of lit- 
 erature. We want them to have moral courage, 
 happy thoughts for the day, to add pleasure and 
 brightness to their lives — some never get much 
 brightness except at school, — to let some sunshine 
 and blue glint through the grey routine of exist- 
 ence; we want to enlarge the imagination, the eye 
 whose vision is never limited; we want to awaken 
 
MOKAL TEAINING IN MOENING EXEECISES. 5 
 
 o 
 
 an appreciation of beauty. We have done much for 
 the children if we have been able to link with their 
 everyday commonplace a thought of beauty. We 
 want to create a desire for more intellectual pleas- 
 ure, "to let the spiritual grow up unconsciously." 
 In brief, we are trying by these general exercises 
 to lay the foundations for fine, strong, sturdy peo- 
 ple, true to the right, firm in purpose, broad- 
 minded, cultured, honest, loyal to God and home 
 and country, the true Americans. 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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