OUR HOME
AND PERSONAL DUTY
OUR HOMEAND PERSONAL DUTY
YOUNG AMERICAN READERS
BY
ILLUSTRATIONS BY EDNA A. COOKE AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
In these vital tasks of acquiring a broader view ofhuman possibilities the common school must have a largepart. I urge that teachers and other school officersincrease materially the time and attention devoted toinstruction bearing directly on the problems of communityand national life.—Woodrow Wilson.
THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY, Publishers
PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO
Copyright 1918 by
The John C. Winston Co.
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All Rights Reserved
The John C. Winston Co.
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All Rights Reserved
CIVICS FOR AMERICAN CHILDREN
The notion of what constitutes adequate civics teachingin our schools is rapidly changing. The older idea wasbased on the theory that children were not citizens—thatonly adults were citizens. Therefore, civics teaching wasusually deferred to the eighth grade, or last year ofthe grammar school, and then was mostly confined to amemorizing of the federal constitution, with brief commentson each clause. Today we recognize that evenyoung children are citizens, just as much as adults are,and that what is wanted is not training for citizenship buttraining in citizenship. Moreover, we believe that the“good citizen” is one who is good for something in allthe relationships of life.
Habit Formation
Accordingly, a beginning is being made with the earlyschool years, where an indispensable foundation is laidthrough a training in “morals and manners.” This soundsrather old-fashioned, but nothing has been discoveredto take its place. Obedience, cleanliness, orderliness,courtesy, helpfulness, punctuality, truthfulness, care ofproperty, fair play, thoroughness, honesty, respect, courage,self-control, perseverance, thrift, kindness to animals,“safety first”—these are the fundamental civic virtueswhich make for good citizenship in the years to come.Of course, the object is to establish right habits of thoughtand action, and this takes time and patience and sympathy;but the end in view justifies the effort. The boy or girlwho has become habitually orderly and courteous andhelpful and punctual and truthful, and who has acquired[iv]a fair degree of courageous self-control, is likely to becomea citizen of whom any community may well be proud.
Dramatization
The best results are found to be secured through stories,poems, songs, games, and the dramatization of the stories
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