The extent of such training will depend upon its value as an element of general
education. The public school can not easily undertake the work of special techni-
cal training. * * * The public school has done its part in preparing youth for
special pursuits when it has given them an efficient general preparation for all pur-
suits, and all industrial experience shows that the more fundamental and thorough
this general preparation, the more fruitful will be the special training.
Iii the report to the board of education for 1891, under the heading
of "Course of study," it is stated that —
No modification has been made during the year, and there are 37 departments pur-
suing the manual-training course of study, 122 classes in sewing, 22 in cooking, and
55 in workshop. The course pursued in this class of schools seems to be meeting
general approval and the instruction is efficient.
In December of the same year a special report was made on this
subject, and some improvements were made as suggested by experience.
The comment on cooking is as follows:
This subject is taught to the girls in the second and third grammar grades. The
teaching is done by four special teachers. The progress made has been commend-
able, the instruction having been given in thorough accord with the specifications
9900— No. 5G 2
18
of the course of study. The real object of the study has been kept carefully in view,
and the understanding of food values, chemical changes, hygienic influences, and
physiological truths has not been sacrificed for the simple ability to make palatable,
dishes. The choice of raw materials, their composition, their nutritive quality, and
their relative values have been carefully studied, and the change of food into blood
is understood from an economical as well as a scientific point of view.
A note is also made on the influence of the manual- training course as
follows :
The question of the amount and character, of the influence which the so-called
manual-training subjects exert upon the ordinary branches of school education is
one that is not to be settled by mere offhand statement. The correct answer can
not be given by the enthusiast, who finds in manual training a panacea for all the
ills of school life, and who sees in the shop work or in the cooking an ennobling influ-
ence that transforms the character of the wayward pupil ; nor can it be given by the
half-hearted, doubting teacher who fails to give to the pupils a fair opportunity to
obtain the benefit to be obtained from the really excellent methods which are charac-
teristic of the manual-training course.
The true condition of affairs can be determined only by carefully and dispassion-
ately viewing the whole field, and by obtaining, as nearly as may be done, the con-
sensus of judgment of those who have been responsible for the application and
enforcement of the provisions of the manual-training course of study. Probably
the true condition of the situation is this: The manual-training subjects lead the
pupil to see and to understand more things, and consequently give them more sub-
jects to talk about understanding^ and compel them to talk more.
The report of 1892 shows 591 pupils receiving instruction in cooking.
Page 13
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The extent of such training will depend upon its value as an element of general
education. The public school can not easily undertake the work of special techni-
cal training. * * * The public school has done its part in preparing youth for
special pursuits when it has given them an efficient general preparation for all pur-
suits, and all industrial experience shows that the more fundamental and thorough
this general preparation, the more fruitful will be the special training.
Iii the report to the board of education for 1891, under the heading
of "Course of study," it is stated that —
No modification has been made during the year, and there are 37 departments pur-
suing the manual-training course of study, 122 classes in sewing, 22 in cooking, and
55 in workshop. The course pursued in this class of schools seems to be meeting
general approval and the instruction is efficient.
In December of the same year a special report was made on this
subject, and some improvements were made as suggested by experience.
The comment on cooking is as follows:
This subject is taught to the girls in the second and third grammar grades. The
teaching is done by four special teachers. The progress made has been commend-
able, the instruction having been given in thorough accord with the specifications
9900— No. 5G 2
18
of the course of study. The real object of the study has been kept carefully in view,
and the understanding of food values, chemical changes, hygienic influences, and
physiological truths has not been sacrificed for the simple ability to make palatable,
dishes. The choice of raw materials, their composition, their nutritive quality, and
their relative values have been carefully studied, and the change of food into blood
is understood from an economical as well as a scientific point of view.
A note is also made on the influence of the manual- training course as
follows :
The question of the amount and character, of the influence which the so-called
manual-training subjects exert upon the ordinary branches of school education is
one that is not to be settled by mere offhand statement. The correct answer can
not be given by the enthusiast, who finds in manual training a panacea for all the
ills of school life, and who sees in the shop work or in the cooking an ennobling influ-
ence that transforms the character of the wayward pupil ; nor can it be given by the
half-hearted, doubting teacher who fails to give to the pupils a fair opportunity to
obtain the benefit to be obtained from the really excellent methods which are charac-
teristic of the manual-training course.
The true condition of affairs can be determined only by carefully and dispassion-
ately viewing the whole field, and by obtaining, as nearly as may be done, the con-
sensus of judgment of those who have been responsible for the application and
enforcement of the provisions of the manual-training course of study. Probably
the true condition of the situation is this: The manual-training subjects lead the
pupil to see and to understand more things, and consequently give them more sub-
jects to talk about understanding^ and compel them to talk more.
The report of 1892 shows 591 pupils receiving instruction in cooking.