SCIENCE IN THE HOME

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 142, 19 June 1922, Page 6

SCIENCE IN THE HOME

DEFENCE OF THE SCHOOL SYLLABUS TO tIU SDItOR. Sir, —As a good deal of attention haM been given lately to the question of thei teaching of home science in secondary; schools, _it seems to me that a'few, re-1 marks in defence of a much criticised; curriculum might not be out of place. It has been stated that teachers are dissatisfied with tfie syllabus and "the utterly unpractical and misleading character of home science." This is not the case. Those of, us who are teaching the group of subjects included in. home science feel that the course of instruction, though i* still needs improvement, is, in the main, sound and on the right lines. I propose to outline the course of study followed in Wellington Girls' Col-" lege, and with little, if any, variation in all other secondary schools of New Zealand. The home science course hot two divisions : —(1) Instruction in practical domestic arts—compulsory for hrs* and second year girls. Instruction is given.in. v needlework and dressmaking, girls actually make their own dresses and garments under supervision. Cookery classes are also held for girls who wish them. In many schools laundry work is taught, but in our own school a laundry work class which was hold for one year had to^e given up on uccount of lack 6f accommodation. (2) Home science, a compulsory subject for first and second-year girls. Tha syllabus for the first year provides a study of elementary chemistry and physics—a study of. air, water,; acids, salts, etc. This gives girls a general elementary knowledge of science. Boyle's law and other fundamental laws have been recently singled out.for sarcastic comment by contributors to your columns, but the critics must re- ' member that there are certain principles on which the study of applied science must be based, and that to apply chemistry, it is necessary to study chemistry. In the second year, girls apply the general principles that they have, learned to the study of con* stituents and properties of foods comnionly in use, their dietetic value, the general principles which underlie the various methods of their preparation, and cooking, of cleansing agents, of ventilation and heating of rooms, etc. I give one or <two examples to show that what a girl learns in this despised course, may be\)f use to her whgli sh» is later calllid on to manage her own home. She learns at school that starch grains,, when thoroughly cooked, swell up, burst, and become more digestible, and that long, Slow cooking is necessary to secure this result j she knows, therefore, when married, how fo cook a rice -pudding, and will not, through ignorance, serve it up partially _. raw. She learns afc school the constituents of vegetables, an-1 so later, when called on to take'charge of-a kitchen, she knows that steaming.is preferable'*-in rnatiy cases' to boiling, as the mineral Salt* so necessary for the healthy condition of the blood are t'Otiuned by the former method and sacrificed by the latter. Once again she learns at school that proteins (the most essential ingredients of food) are soluMa in cold water, while they coagulate and become insoluble in boiling water. When, therefore, she later sets about making soup stock, she soaks the bones in cold water for some hours before she boils them; she also learns that the proteins! in meat,'if overcooked, shrink owing to the loss of water and become tough and indigestible. When she marries and becomes responsible foi' the digestion and] health of her husband', she does not attempt to "decently hash cold meat," for she knows something that both ''Maysie's" mother mid a recent writer inyour columns evidently did not know, that "hash" and indigestion are intimately associated. Once again she learns^ if she has studied home science, whatt causes hardness in water, and thus knows whiter how to avoid the waste of soap and) labour in her laundry. Finally', she l&ti'ns at school, if/her time has not been devoted exclusively to Latin, French, and music (which subjects are, of course, of cultural Value, and which I have no wish to disparage), that certain substances are poor conductors of heat, and she leai'Hs the use of such a device as a tireless cookei, which she finds of milch practical Value to her later in her married life. Tho above examples are only a few oE many that could be given to show how the practice of domestic arts is everywhere improved by a knowledge of the related science, and girls are taught the practical application of the science they learn. They carry out in the laboratory practical experiments bearing on the work taught. In addition, the' course includes, for some girls, a study of hygiene, physiologyj first aid, and hoirie nursing. Out of twenty-five school hotti-s a week, three are devoted to home science, two out of those- three being given to individual practical work. Surely the work is practical enough! Aftei the first two years the subject is not compulsory, bur most girls iri pur own school take home science for matriculation and the Junior Univercity Scholarship examination! There are, of course, many excellent housewives, thrifty and capable in their management of the home, who have never seen the inside of a text-book On home Science. They themselves are not conscious of having any need of the knowledge corttained in those books, but they would * probably, have been even more efficient .if they had been trained in the. theory underlying their work. I should like, in conclusion, to urge your reader*, not" to condemn a course which is yit fh its first stages. It is only about seven years since the course was introduced into schools, and it is steadily being improved. I would also urge them to reflect that, though the Schools are doing their best, the whole burden should not be thrown Upon them. Parents should see to it that some instruc; tion is given at home. Knowledge gained at school should supplement what is learned in the home. No teaching ot home science can endow girls who lack them With the qualities of vigour and industry, without which there can be no successful housewife. Home science cannot, unaided, turn a girl Who is lazy or irresponsible into a capable housekeeper. Habits of thrift, energy, and a sense of duty, on which the happiness of the home so much depends, anfl without which a knowledge of home science is vain, must be taught by the older generation to the younger—in the home.; —I am, etc.j Elizabeth j. Cornish, Wellington Girls' College. . 16th June.