CHIDREN'S CORNER

Evening Star, Issue 15074, 4 January 1913, Page 11

CHIDREN'S CORNER

' A NOVEL SCHOOL. J WHERE THINGS ARE* DONE IN A NEW WAY. A very original school is that at Coombe Hill, Kings Lawley, in Hertfordshire. Practically no servants are kept, for the staff of teachers and the pupils between them do all the scrubbing ■ and dusting, cooking, laying of tables, waiting, washing up, making of beds, and the whole household work of the place. There are 34 children in 'average attendance, of whom 39 are girls, and every one of them does his or her share of housework. Housework and lessons are pleasantly sandwiched. The children rise at 6.30 a.m., and every one of them, even the youngest, has a cold bath.' No having "just the chill off" for them, but a real, genuine, cold bath in all weathers. At 7 o'clock they come downstairs and play in the gar--den for half an hour, with the exception of< four, who are told off to prepare the breakfast, which is cooked by one of the teachers, usually by the principal herself. The four children "on duty" wait on the others during the meal. 'After breakfast the children make their own beds, and generally clean up the house. -Some wash up the crockery, some sweep, some dust; others clean spoons and forks and knives ; others, again, attend to the garden, the bees, and the. two. ponies that are kept at. the. school. At 9.10 lessons for the day begin. Singing and music usually come first, followed by most of the subjects included in the curriculum of an ordinary board school. At 11 comes an hour's housework, from 12 to 1 more lessons. From 1 till 20 minutes past the children amuse themselves as they like, and then comes dinner—cooked and" served by teachers and children, just as breakfast was. After dinner there is another 20 minutes' play, and then lessons again till 4, except m the case of the very small children, who take an afternoon '" nap." From 4 to 5 the children play games : then comes ■tea. From sto 6 they study, while at 6.20 comes supper on the same lines as tho other meals. After supper the younger children are -packed off to bod afte'r a hot bath, which each child takes every night as religiously as the cold bath in the morning. The other children's studies last till 8, and by 9 all are abed. It seems rather a full day, but every-thing-is taken in a leisurely* way. There is no hurrying or ''speeding up,'"' the children's minds being allowed to develop at their own pace. Misses Clarke and Cross, who "run" the school, consider that the more a child has to do the better. It is not in a child's nature, they say, to do nothing, and their spare time and surplus energy might just as well be utilised in doing useful things, like housework, as wasted in play. They are never allowed to leave things lying about. Each room is under the charge of an elder girl, known as. "the dragon," and if anything is left in her room she is responsible for finding out the delinquent, and inflicting on her the statute punishment, of having to carry tho mislaid article about with her for two hours! . . . The children take a very great part in the management of the school. Every week they hold a house, committee meeting, which everyone attends, and where they freely discuss ahv improvements they would like made in the school itself, in the rules and regulations, or in their lessons. They are also given complete charge of the. games money, the library money. and the housework money, and they regulate themselves the expenditure on brooms and brushes and floor polish. This heJps to teach them the value of money and the cost of household requisites. The House Committee also allot the housework, decree what children shall do dusting, which gardening, and w on. These tasks are changed tvery three weeks, so that each child during the term does a spell at every branch of the work. The same simplicity "that rules in the furnishing of the school extends to the food. Most of the children and the teachers are vegetarians, and it is a- strict rule that no condiments of any sort shall be put in the food to stimulate the appetites and vitiate the children's palsies, • The children never drink tea. or coffee.-simply milk at breakfast and water at- other meal;;.

.Lessons are «-us unconventional as everything else. Thero are- no examinations, no marks, no. prizes, and practically no punishments. There is much less memorising than in most schools-. The whole teaclv ing is on the theory of Socrates, that education should bo 'not so much putting things into a. child's mind as "■drawing out'' -what is already there. At lesson time the.children do*most of the talking, asking questions frequently, while the teacher, who is much more at one -with them than j.n the avmp school, docs little hut answer them. They are taught to he ambidextrous, and it is a- common thing to fee a. tiny mito draw on a, blackboard, using both -hands at once, with c. speed, freedom,_ and accuracy that arc astonishing. They are never allowed to copy from other drawings. They are given 'a copy to look at : then they must" put it away and draw from memory. And they do this over and over aajain till they get the design aright. Singing, music." and dancing are great features,*'the old folk songs and Morris dances being taught more than anything else. A good deal of attention _is paid to handicrafts. Boys and girls alike are taught carpentry, sewing., knitting, and basket work. . Spinning and weaving r..re to he added. One of the striking things about the lessons is the wav in which the children are left to themselves. Ouo sees little groups of them at work, writing, clay-modelling without any grown-up being in the room ; and they work busily, apparently never chattering or wasting time. As much time as possible is .spent i:i the open air. Not onJy lessons, but oven meats, are takem in the garden, whenever weather permits, or else in a big. open bnrn. Jn the summer many of the children sleep out of doors in sleeping porches or on the balconies. The. school is part of an old priory founded by Edward 11.. and is surrounded by ten acres of ground, the larger portion of which is laid down in vegetable and fruit gardens.— ' Home Chat.' JUVENILE HUMOR. The lad had a face bright and sunny, and a pair of blue eyes like a girl's, aiid he had just put away a line, ripe banana in a maimer remarkable, for its neatness and despatch. Then he looked up at '"daddy," and smiled the inquiring smile which meant trouble for the old man.

“Dad,” he said, softly, “supposing I'd been twins.” Dad shuddered, bub it is necessary to dissemble sometimes. “Well. Goorgie,” be said, “supposing?” “You’d have bought-the other boy a banana, too wouldn’t you? Fact, I don't see how yon coujd have got out of it.” • ‘ I should certainly have bought the other boy, as you call him, a banana,” said, dad, austerely. “Well, dad,” said the little fellow, “you surely ain’t goin’ to cheat me out of a banana ’cos I’m all in one piece, are you?" Little Jtlhel was usually very fond of salad, so that the rest of the' family were numb surprised the other day when she refused to partake of a particularly elaborate and inviting one. “Won’t you have any?” asked her mother, towards the end of the meal “We’ve eaten it nearly all now. Why don’t you want >t to-day 7” “I’felt so sorry for the poor caterpillars.” vouchsafed Ethel at last, pensively, “when I saw cook chopping them np!” THE FAIRY IX TEE FIRE. There’s a Fairy in our fire-grate When the coal is all aglow'; There is, ’cos , mother said so, And. of course, she's sure to know. And when the stars are peeping O'er the little village spire, I love to sit and gossfp With the Fairy in the Fire. Sometimes, when winds are blowing, And raindrops patter down, And everyone is grumpy, And each face wears a frown, I sit and dream, of ghostesses. And ghouls,. and mud, and mire. “ Cheer up ! ’Twill soon be Springtime !” Says the Fairy in the Fire. And oh! the little Fairy Sings such sweet songs to me ■’ About the realms of Fairyland So far across the seaWhere toys and things grow on the trees. And eyelids never tiro. T ou 11 come some day—now won't vou ?” Says tire Fairy in the Fire. —Boys’ Favorite Books.— A report just issued by the London County Council gives some interesting information on the books which are most popular with boys in London. The most favored are:—Hans Andersen’s ‘ FairyTales,’ ‘Robinson Crusoe,’ ‘Tom Brown’s Schooldays,’ ‘Grimm's Fairy Tales,' ‘The Old Curiosity Shop,’ ‘ Tanglewood Papers.' Lamb s ‘ Tales from Shakespeare,’ and ‘Little Women.’ A SNAIL. A big grey snail began to crawl Along the top of the garden wall. A thrush he met, To his regret, For he didn't like that bird at all. “Vou’re nice.and juicy,” cried the thrush, To which the. snail, with modest blush, Sard : : “ Not at all!” Then down the wall He tried, alas! in vain to rush. The thrush devoured him in his shelljust then a. eat, as I’ve heard tell, Sprang on the bird, And loudly purred, And made a meal of him as well. A B C RIDDLES. Which letter is an industrious insect? B (bee). Which is a beverage?—T (tea). Which is an exclamation?—o (oh!). Which is a question?—Y (why?). a river in Scotland?—D (Dee). Which is a bird?—J (jav). Which is a vegetable —P (pea). Which is the solver of this puzzle?—U (you). Why is the letter D like Land’s End 7 Because it is at tlm extremity of the land. What is that which was (o-morrow and will be yesterday ?—To-day.