HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19257, 22 August 1924, Page 10

HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION.

TIIK SOCIAL STDE OF FAMILY LIFE. Music in (he Family.—Jn churclh and school the young people learn to sing, and music in the home ought to follow as a mafter of course. It may be said that there is always music of some kind in this home of moderate means and it ranks very high in their pleasures. In very > many homes, supported on an income of no more than £6OO, the very first outlay beyond necessities is for a piano. And in some miraculous manner they learn to play it, nt least for dance musicand to accompany singing. A phonograph is second choice, or it mav come first in those families whose members" do not easily lcam to play an instrument, and they can both sing and dance to its accompaniment. Part, Singing.- It would seem that part singing ought to be the most easily attained of all inexpensive home amusements that are approached from the artistic side. It comes very readily in some families. There may be a natural love of music which insists on expression, or some background in musical culture in the preceding generation that enables the mother to play accompaniments, and the father to read music Even the accompaniment may not be necessary. The Outside World.—Many parents who are equal to the care and direction of little children, at least as far as holding their confidence and affection is concerned, fail utterly when the inevitable connection is made "with the outside world to meet social cravings and to join in community action. This failure to keep in touch with tho ndolescent boy and girl is seen on every side.

At, best the pressure on the family resources and w isdoin in the direction ot adolescent children is great. It will be well if parents realise very early the coming difficulty and make friendly connection with families whose resources are similar to their own and who have good standards of living. They must also avail themselves of all agencies that will give to their view the support of public opinion and the chance for co-operation. Wore the Mothers’ Clubs of the Dunedin Kindergarten Association extended to all phases of school life or had we the Parents’ and Teachers’ Associations such as are playing more and more valuable part in American life, the mother would cease to feel that there was an impossible gulf between the home and the school. For many families the church is the most important outside influence for development and happiness. Church-going may be the first venture of parents and children together; there the whole family are apt to find their friends. The church social, the missionary’ meeting, the Sunday school, the various young people’s meetings, all have something to offer. Free City Amusements.—A family will find that most musoluns and picture galleries are open on Sunday afternoons free. For instruction there are the fre.e libraries, popular lectures, and classes under various auspices. In general, both the man and the woman of the family will seek to enjoy forms of social activity in -which the children do not share. The men’s club and the fraternal orders keen the man in touch with other men in ways that are apart from business routine. Tito mother will find a club the dues of which are small, and its activites will rest her from the home routine. It is the hard-working, self-denying type of woman that, especially needs this. It forces her to spend a little more on her clothes, even if the daughters must have less and to play her part with others, thus gaining self-confidence and fresh points of view. The woman of the middle group, economically speaking, would say if she were frank, “I love m v home, but to be eternally there makes' me sometimes hate it.” For her this social outlet is absolutely needed.