Chapter V: Part TWO: I (2)

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16. Building fires | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
17. Bathing | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 10 | 10
| | | | | | | |
18. Brushing teeth | 5 | ... | ... | 5 | ... | ... | 6 | 16
| | | | | | | |
19. Sleeping with | | | | | | | |
open window | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 70
| | | | | | | |
20. To bed by 9 | | | | | | | |
o'clock | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 70
| | | | | | | |
21. Attending Church | | | | | | | |
or Sunday School | 10 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 10
| | | | | | | |
Getting sister ready | | | | | | | |
for school | ... | 15 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 20 | ... | 75
| | | | | | | |
Washing floors | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 40 | 40
| | | | | | | |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 160
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Total | 35 | 35 | 30 | 40 | 35 | 40 | 76 | 451
----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

I certify that the above is a correct record.

MRS. FOWLER,
_Signature of Parent or Guardian._
]

* * * * *

_Rules governing Credit for Home Work_

To PARENTS OR GUARDIANS:--

The scheme of giving credit at school for work done at home by
the pupils can be made successful only through your coöperation,
and faithful report of the work done.

Every Friday afternoon a Home Work Record Slip will be given
each pupil. Beginning with Sunday all time spent by the pupils
in home work should be entered in the proper place.

Each Monday morning a slip filled in during the previous week
should be returned to the teacher. This slip must be signed by
the parent or guardian.

Extra work may be listed in the blank spaces.

To secure credit at school for his work, the pupil should
average eight hours a week, thirty-two hours a month, at real,
honest, helpful labor that relieves the fathers and mothers of
that amount of work. If this is done, the teacher will add three
credits to the average gained by the pupil at the school during
the month in his studies. Additional credits will be given for
more than thirty-two hours a month at the rate of one credit for
every ten hours' work.

Please coöperate with your teacher in this plan for making work
more worth while to the boy and girl.

LUCIA JENKINS,
_County Superintendent of Schools_.

In the District 61 School, near Bellingham, Washington, taught by Mrs. Lou Albee Maynard, there is used a system of having the home credit accounts kept by pupils; the children call it the Ruth and Grace System.

Here is a plan that solves the problem, if it is a problem, of putting extra work on the teacher through home credits. Not only is the teacher entirely relieved of the bookkeeping which the system requires, but the pupils are engaged in practical bookkeeping while they keep the records. Checks are made out in regular bank-check form, and receipts are given.

The Ruth and Grace System is thus described in a neat account written by Emma Ames, a pupil in the sixth grade:--

Ruth and Grace were girls who wanted to learn bookkeeping. In
order to give them a chance we took up the credit system.

At the end of each week the girls give us a slip of paper ruled
and ready to be made out. The mothers sign it. Each thing which
we do counts so much. At the end of the week these slips are
handed back to the girls, and we receive another. We also get a
check telling how many credits we received the week before.

When we make five thousand credits we then receive a composition
book. Smaller things are also given for fewer credits.

The girls keep in their ledgers each person's work. So if any
mistake is made they will have something to refer to.

We call the system the Ruth and Grace System.

The prize list is as follows:--

Washing dishes...................... 10 credits.
Wiping dishes....................... 5 "
Sweeping............................ 5 "
Making beds......................... 5 "
Baking bread........................ 15 "
Dusting............................. 5 "
Scrubbing........................... 25 "
Practicing music.................... 10 "
Brushing teeth...................... 5 "
Clean finger nails.................. 5 "
Splitting kindling.................. 10 "
Splitting wood...................... 10 "
Carrying water...................... 10 "
Milking cow......................... 15 "
Feeding pigs........................ 5 "
Feeding chickens.................... 5 "
Feeding and bedding cows............ 25 "
Slashing one hour................... 25 "
Getting a meal...................... 15 "
Taking charge of house.............. 50 "
Charge for father one day........... 50 "
Building fires...................... 10 "
Sewing.............................. 15 "
Making an apron..................... 15 "
Carrying wood....................... 10 "
Washing............................. 25 "
Ironing............................. 25 "

The following letter from Mrs. Maynard explains the system further:--

I have been requested to report on our plan for giving credit
for home work as we have tried it. One of my pupils has written
a report of our system which explains our methods nicely. This
has been only a trial, but I am so pleased with results that I
intend to use it whenever there are older pupils who can do the
bookkeeping, for it represents a great deal of work, and unless
the school is a very small one the system would add too much to
the already busy teacher's work.

The girls who are represented by our firm carried on the work on
a strictly business basis. They bought the work of the pupils as
represented by the weekly reports. This work was then sold to
me at a gain of 20 per cent. The girls have worked out a simple
system of double entry in six weeks. We, as a school, have
spent an interesting and profitable time, keeping track of our
work, and of their mistakes, and the various ups and downs of a
business.

We are planning a better schedule of wages, a bank in which
to deposit our checks, and a store where the credits may be
exchanged for little articles which represent the rewards; but
this is all in the making, and may have to wait for another
year, as our school term closes soon.

This is a school whose average attendance is about sixteen.
The people are progressive, and see that we have all modern
appliances: gymnasium, school garden, bubbling fountain,
sanitary toilets, and a good heating system are some of the good
things our country school enjoys.

Some original features are included in a plan in operation in Algona, King County, Washington. The Algona plan of grading is this: The actual number of minutes employed in doing the daily chores is registered. Thirty minutes is allowed for church attendance. Twenty-five per cent is given weekly for each of the personal care items, bathing, brushing teeth, sleeping with open windows, and going to bed before nine o'clock. Half an hour's work must be done each day, else the pupil forfeits the work done that day. If at the end of a month the pupil has made an average of 85 per cent on personal care, and has 85 per cent on home work, his grade average for the month is raised 10 per cent. For instance, if a boy should have the required 85 per cent in the home credit department, and should have an average of 80 per cent in his school subjects, his final grade for the month would be 88 per cent.

Algona uses a book system of keeping the pupils' weekly home credit grades. The principal records the final grades for each week, after collecting the cards from his three assistants. He expects to substitute the card system for the book another year, using the same plan of record. Below is given the plan for keeping the records, together with the work of one boy for a month:--

_Leon Noel's Record in Book_

-------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Week ending | Minutes | Personal care | Leon Noel
-------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
February 2 | 210 | 100 |
| | |
9 | 210 | 100 |
| | |
16 | 210 | 97 |
| | |
23 | 210 | 97 |
-------------+---------------+---------------+---------------

_Home Work Record of_

_Leon Noel._

_For week ending February 21, 1914._

------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
|Sun. |Mon. |Tues.|Wed. |Thur.|Fri. |Sat. |Total
------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+Min.
|Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |
------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
1. Working in garden.. | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
2. Splitting kindlings | 15 | ... | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 65
3. Bringing in fuel... | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 35
4. Milking cow........ | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
5. Care of horse...... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
6. Preparing meals.... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
7. Washing dishes..... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
8. Sweeping........... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
9. Dusting............ | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
10. Bedroom work....... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
11. Washing............ | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
12. Ironing............ | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
13. Care of baby....... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
14. Care of | | | | | | | |
chickens........... | 15 | ... | 20 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 95
15. Running | | | | | | | |
errands............ | ... | 60 | ... | ... | ... | ... | 120 | 180
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
A. Bathing............ | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | x | ...
B. Brushing teeth..... | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ...
C. Sleeping with | | | | | | | |
open windows....... | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ...
D. Going to bed before | | | | | | | |
9 o'clock.......... | x | x | x | x | ... | x | x | ...
E. Attending | | | | | | | |
Church or | | | | | | | |
Sunday | | | | | | | |
School............. | 30 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 30
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Total........... | 65 | 65 | 35 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 150 | 405
------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

I certify that the above is a correct record.

(Signed) MRS. C. D. FRENCH,
_Signature of Parent or Guardian._

A comparison of Leon Noel's home credit record on his slip with the record in the principal's book shows that while he has 405 credits on the former he is credited with only the required 210 on the record. C. C. Calavan, the principal, expects to allow a holiday, or grant additional credit on school work another year, for credits above the half-hour a day. The children of the school at first insisted on making an hour's work the minimum for a day's credit, but Mr. Calavan decided to start conservatively. It will be noticed that Leon Noel lost three points in each of the last two weeks of February. This was because he was not in bed before nine every evening. Mr. Calavan says he is going to change his plan along this line next year, granting three or four evenings a month when a child may be in bed a little later than nine without forfeiting credits. He believes that a happy, wholesome evening, spent in play with companions, has a very valuable place in the child's development.

Sunday-school and church attendance has become popular in Algona since school credit has been given for it. The little daughter in a non-church-going family had never attended any church services until it was brought out that the other children at school were getting credit for such attendance. The parents dressed the little girl for Sunday school, and sent her off, determined that their child should not be left out in the home credit game.

A boy's record was perfect, except that he did not have a church attendance recorded. On inquiry the principal found that Albert's family was of the Seventh Day Adventist faith, and that the boy was at church as regularly as Saturday came. He was at once given credit. The children of the Catholic faith are given credit for attending the catechism class that meets in the schoolhouse Tuesday afternoons.

"The people took hold," said Mr. Calavan. "The Parent-Teachers' Association is enthusiastic over the plan, and is doing all possible to help. Two decided results that home credits have brought about are that we have a much neater, better-kept class of pupils, and our boys are off the streets. Several persons have remarked to me that the school was doing something with the boys, surely, for they all seemed to be busy after school."

* * * * *

The system introduced in Portland, Oregon, schools, is the daily record and weekly report plan. The following suggestions were sent out early in 1914 by the Portland office:--

_Suggestions for using the "Home Record Slip"_

The regular monthly report card should contain two extra
columns, one entitled "Home Work" and one "Personal Care," and
in these columns the pupil should be marked on the scale of 100.

One hundred per cent in the "Home Work" column would be secured
by a daily record of not less than one half-hour of approved
work for seven days each week.

One hundred per cent in the "Personal Care" column would be
secured by daily practice of numbers A, B, C, and D for seven
days of the week, and for attendance upon some religious
service. Twenty per cent could be allowed for each number and
twenty per cent for attendance at church or Sunday school.

The matter of bathing should not be interpreted to refer
strictly to tub baths, since in large families daily tub baths
are sometimes impracticable, and inability to make a good
showing on the card would have a tendency to discourage.

Different plans of reward for a given number of minutes devoted
to work during a week are outlined in the pamphlet, "School
Industrial Credit for Home Industrial Work." These, however,
may be modified or enlarged to suit. All time, including the
half-hour a day and the amount allowed for all other operations,
should be counted toward a specified total necessary to earn the
reward.

These rules are printed on the back of each home credit record card:--

_Rules governing Credit for Home Work_

Every Friday afternoon a home work record slip will be given to
each pupil. Beginning with Sunday, all time spent by the pupil
in home work should be entered in the proper space.

Each Monday morning a slip filled during the previous week
should be returned to the teacher. The slip must be signed by
the parent or guardian as an assurance that a correct record has
been kept.

Any work not listed but of value to the parents may be counted,
and the nature of the work specified in the blank spaces.

At the close of the school month, when the report of school
work is made out, in the column "Home Work," the pupil will be
marked on the scale of 100 for actual work of not less than one
half-hour each day, and in the column "Personal Care" on the
scale of 100 for numbers A, B, C, and D, and for attendance at
church or Sunday school.

In addition to credit on the report card, reward may be given at
the option of the principal for a specified amount of time spent
in useful work at home.

For purpose of reward credit of five minutes a day will be
allowed for each operation listed as A, B, C, and D, and twenty
minutes for attendance at church or Sunday school.

The Portland home work record slips are printed by the city office, and furnished to teachers who wish to use them. On pages 115, 117, and 119 are given home credit records of Portland children, showing the class of home work they are doing. A swift review of a child's record gives the teacher a pretty accurate estimate of his home environment.

Elsie G., whose card is shown, has kept weekly records of her work for more than a year. She and some of the other girls make it a practice to help Miss Wright, their teacher, enroll the records for the class. The method of crediting is extremely simple, but it seems to work. The pupils return the filled-out slips the first of every week; at the end of each month the girls count the slips, and for every pupil who has brought in four slips they register one credit in the book. Miss Wright looks over the cards as they come in, and often makes comment on the work, to the individual, or to the class as a whole.

_Home Work Record of_

_Elsie G----._

_For week ending December 19, 1913._

-------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
| Sun. | Mon.|Tues.|Wed. |Thur.|Fri. | Sat.|
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+Total
| Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |
-------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
1. Work in garden | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
2. Splitting kindlings | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
3. Bringing in fuel | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
4. Milking cow | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
5. Care of horse | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
6. Preparing meals | ... | 25 | 15 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 135
| 1 | 1+| 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
7. Washing dishes | 20 | 25 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 20 | ... | 200
| | | | | | | |
8. Sweeping | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
9. Dusting | 15 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 15 | 30
| | | | | | | |
10. Bedroom work | ... | ... | 10 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 20 | 65
| | | | | | | |
11. Washing | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
12. Ironing | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
13. Care of baby | 30 | 60 | 45 | 60 | 60 | 45 | 60 | 350
| | | | | | | |
A. Bathing | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ...
| | | | | | | |
B. Brushing teeth | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ...
| | | | | | | |
C. Sleeping with | | | | | | | |
open windows | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ...
| | | | | | | |
D. Going to bed before | | | | | | | |
9 o'clock | ... | x | x | x | x | x | x | ...
| | | | | | | |
E. Attending | | | | | | | |
Church or | | | | | | | |
Sunday | | | | | | | |
School | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Total | | | | | | | | 790
-------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

I certify that the above is a correct record.

MRS. G. H. G----,
_Signature of Parent or Guardian._
]

* * * * *

Miss Wright began this home credit work by taking sixteen of the printed slips and laying them on her desk. The boys left the room to go to manual training, and the girls then gathered around her desk and discovered the slips. "What are these?" they inquired, and they each wanted one to take home. There were just enough for the girls, but when the boys found out about it they clamored for slips, too.

Miss Wright now leaves a pile of the blanks on her desk every Friday, and most of the pupils take them. They used to ask to have the credit applied to raise their standings on their lowest studies (they are allowed, for instance, to increase a mark of seven in grammar to a mark of eight for one month), but now they seldom ask for the increase. They do their home work and record it with no other incentive than the satisfaction of having a record and the honor and approval of their parents, teacher, and schoolmates.

The ten-year-old boy whose card is shown here goes on week-ends to the country, and brings in his record afterward with great pride to show the other fellows that he has cared for horses.

_Home Work Record of_

_Henry F. P----._

_For week ending , 19..._

-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
|Sun. |Mon. |Tues.|Wed. |Thur.|Fri. |Sat. |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
|Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Total
-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
1. Work in garden | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 10 | 10
| | | | | | | |
2. Splitting kindlings| 10 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 85
| | | | | | | |
3. Bringing in fuel | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 60
| | | | | | | |
4. Milking cow | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
5. Care of horses | 20 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 10 | 30
| | | | | | | |
6. Preparing meals | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
7. Washing dishes | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
8. Sweeping | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
9. Dusting | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
10. Bedroom work | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
11. Washing | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
12. Ironing | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
13. Care of baby | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
Feeding chickens | 10 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 70
| | | | | | | |
Feeding rabbits | 10 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 85
| | | | | | | |
A. Bathing | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ...
| | | | | | | |
B. Brushing teeth | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ...
| | | | | | | |
C. Sleeping with | | | | | | | |
open windows | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| | | | | | | |
D. Going to bed before | | | | | | | |
9 o'clock | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
E. Attending | | | | | | | |
Church or | | | | | | | |
Sunday | | | | | | | |
School | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Total | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 340
-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

I certify that the above is a correct record.

FLORA H. P----
_Signature of Parent or Guardian._
]

* * * * *

We find many instances, like the following, where boys who at first had nothing to do, seemingly, but to get in the fuel, have begun to assist their mothers with the dishwashing, dusting, and cooking. Not only does this work run up their list of credits at school, but it causes them to appreciate what mother has to do, gets them acquainted with their homes, and keeps them off the streets.

And it has other uses for a boy. Henry Turner Bailey says:--

Away from home, as a lonely art student and young teacher in
strange and home-sickening boarding houses, maybe I wasn't
thankful to be able to sweep and dust, to wash and iron and
cook, upon occasion, to sew on buttons, to darn, and to mend.
But perhaps my keenest satisfaction came from my ability to make
a bed. The boarding-house madonnas are not, as a rule, highly
skilled in that gentle art.

In view of my personal experiences I have often wondered
why the advocates of Domestic Science are not more strongly
co-educational. What is sauce for the goose seems to me worthy
to be sauce for the gander,--certainly during the gosling stage.
Every boy should know how to sew, just as every girl should
know how to whittle. Every boy should know how to cook, just
as every girl should know how to swim. Skill in the elemental
arts is a form of what Henderson calls human wealth. All should
participate.[5]

[5] _School Arts Magazine_, May, 1914.

_Home Work Record of_

_Harold R_----.

_For week ending December 20, 1913._

-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
|Sun. |Mon. |Tues.|Wed. |Thur.|Fri. |Sat. |
|Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Min. |Total
---- ------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
1. Work in garden | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
2. Splitting kindlings| ... | 5 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 60
| | | | | | | |
3. Bringing in fuel | 5 | 10 | 25 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 25 | 95
| | | | | | | |
4. Milking cow | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
5. Care of horse | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
6. Preparing meals | ... | ... | ... | 15 | ... | ... | 15 | 30
| | | | | | | |
7. Washing dishes | 10 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 60 | ...
| | | | | | | |
8. Sweeping | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 10 | 10
| | | | | | | |
9. Dusting | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 10 | 10
| | | | | | | |
10. Bedroom work | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 10 | 10
| | | | | | | |
11. Washing | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
12. Ironing | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
13. Care of baby | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
A. Bathing | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
| | | | | | | |
B. Brushing teeth | x | ... | x | x | x | x | x | 30
| | | | | | | |
C. Sleeping with open | | | | | | | |
windows | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | 7
| | | | | | | |
D. Going to bed before | | | | | | | |
9 o'clock | x | x | x | x | x | x | --- | 6
| | | | | | | |
E. Attending Church or | | | | | | | |
Sunday School | x | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 1
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Total | 23 | 17 | 52 | 57 | 37 | 82 | 101 | 810
-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

I certify that the above is a correct record.

MRS. F. M. R.----,
_Signature of Parent or Guardian_.
]

* * * * *

A Portland woman, who is much interested in the schools, says:--

In looking over some of the cards I find that the child soon
learns to do his "chores" in less time each week, that he may
have more time for other work or play, and yet fill out his
record card. This is a great help to the parents.

I know one boy who cannot be induced to go out to an evening
affair because he wants to get to bed before nine o'clock so
that his record card will be perfect. How soon could we dismiss
the Juvenile Court if we could get all children to feel like
that! It is worth while to try.

In Polk County, Oregon, the system has been introduced into rural schools with marked success. The plan here comprises a daily record, and monthly reports. Below are excerpts from an article written for the _Oregon Teachers' Monthly_, by Mr. R. G. Dykstra, who used home credits in his rural school at Suver, Polk County, in 1912-13. I should like to direct especial attention to his testimony on the tardiness record of the district; also to his plan of allowing credit for a long walk to school.

With the following exceptions I carried out the work as started
in the Spring Valley School last year: I required the pupils to
get eight hundred minutes' credit before taking the holiday
instead of six hundred; the number of minutes' credit for
milking cows was increased from five to fifteen for each cow and
a reasonable amount of credit was allowed for all work not named
in the list of chores; children living over a mile and a half
from school were allowed credit for the distance they had to
walk in proportion to the others, and 5 per cent instead of 10
was added to the end of the year on their final school averages
for the carrying on of the work. Only two prizes were offered
by the District, three dollars and two dollars respectively.
Children seldom took advantage of the holiday given for eight
hundred minutes' credit unless it was used for sickness or
unavoidable absence, as they were encouraged in the knowledge
that a day lost was a day's work lost as well. Tardiness on the
part of any pupil doing the work meant a loss of so many credits
already accumulated.

It would be impossible to enumerate the many things this work
has done for this community, but the following facts may prove
interesting to the reader. During the year of 1911-12, without
home credit work, this school had a record of 95 per cent in
attendance and 59 tardies. For the year 1912-13 just closed,
the record is 98 per cent in attendance and 8 tardies. Part
of the home credits given have been for proper care of body,
sleeping with windows open, care of teeth, hair, etc., and the
result of these requirements has been the showing of a healthier
appearance on the part of nearly all the pupils. The parents
of the district claim that the children are doing more work at
home than they ever did before, and the people feel that their
children are getting an education that will be of value to them
and that the money is being well spent in this kind of work.

The card issued by County Superintendent Seymour is here reproduced filled out by a pupil. It shows daily records for two weeks on each side of the card. The five school days only are counted.

_Home Credit Card_

_North Dallas School, Polk County, Oregon._

_Blanks to be filled in each day. Parents sign before returning
it to teacher. Blanks to be returned each month and a
new one secured._

_Edwin B----._ _February, 1, 1914._
_Pupil's name._ _Month._

M. T. W. T. F. Total M. T. W. T. F. Total
Building fire 5
Milking each cow
daily 5
Cleaning barn, each
animal 5 25 25 25 25 25 125 25 45 45 45 45 205
Carrying wood 10 20 20 20 20 20 100 20 20 20 20 20 100
Splitting wood 10
Turning separator 10
Cleaning separator 5
Churning butter 50 30 30 60
Working butter 10
Cleaning horse 15
Feeding chickens 5 10 10 10 10 10 50 10 10 10 10 10 50
Feeding pigs 10 20 20 20 20 20 100 20 20 20 20 20 100
Feeding horse 5 15 15 15 45 15 15 20 15 15 80
Feeding cows 5 25 25 25 75 25 25 15 15 15 95
Blacking stove 15
Making bread 10
Getting breakfast 50
Getting supper 45
Washing dishes 20
Sweeping floor, each
room 5 15
Cleaning house, each
room 20
Scrubbing floor, each
room 50
Making beds, each 5
Washing clothes 60
Ironing clothes 60
Bathing 30
Arrive at school clean 5 5 5 5 5 5 25 5 5 5 5 5 25
Music lesson
Bed at 9 p.m. 10 10 10 10 10 50 10 10 10 10 10 50
Gathering eggs 5 5 5 5 5 5 25 5 5 5 5 5 25
Cleaning teeth 5 5 5 5 5 5 25 5 5 5 5 5 25
Cleaning finger nails 5 5 5 5 5 5 25 5 5 5 5 5 25
Sleeping with window
open 5 5 5 5 5 5 25 5 5 5 5 5 25
Making pies 10
Cleaning and filling
lamps 5
Errands 5 10 10 5 5
Reading book home 5
Distance school, over
half-mile 5 5 5 5 5 5 25 5 5 5 5 5 25

Total 198 138 198 128 113 755 153 173 173 163 163 825

Teacher and pupils to go over list and agree on time for each thing.
Distance from school more than one-half mile to be given credit for.
Any work not listed that is creditable teacher will give credit for.

Mr. and Mrs. W. H. B----,
Signature of Parents.
]

* * * * *

The card given on pages 122 and 123 came from Miss Veva Burns, the teacher at North Dallas, with the following letter, dated April 26, 1914:--

I am pleased to explain the home credit system as we use it. I
am sending some of the cards filled out by the pupils. We secure
these cards from Mr. Seymour, the county school superintendent,
and are allowed to use them as we think best....

We have a two-room school, and have divided it into two
divisions, the smaller pupils having five thousand credits as
their aim, while the larger ones work for ten thousand. Of
course the number to be obtained would vary with the opportunity
the children would have to earn credits. On the average, it
takes our pupils about three months to earn the required number.
When they have secured the number, some prize, such as a book,
is given, and they are allowed to start again. Then, at the end
of school, the one who has earned the most is given a special
prize. Also, Mr. Seymour allows us to give ten points on each
child's lowest grade, at the close of school, if he has kept up
his home credit work during the school year. Some teachers give
a holiday as a reward instead of a prize.

The cards are taken home by the pupils and filled out each
evening. If the pupils are too small to attend to the cards,
some member of the family looks after them. We see to it that
the system is thoroughly understood by each family. As each card
is filled out, it is returned to us.

We have a school of over sixty pupils, and all but four are
working on the credit system. We did not urge any one to take it
up, but allowed them to decide for themselves.

This letter is from Miss Miriam H. Rarey, who has taught near Dallas, in 1914:--

Work done on Saturdays and Sundays does not count with the
exception of bathing. Pupils, as a rule, when they bathe at
all, bathe on Saturday. So I told them they could take thirty
minutes' credit for that, and put it down in Friday's space,
in the hope that it would induce them to bathe at least once a
week. It worked pretty well with some of the pupils, but others
would rather do without the credits than do anything so unusual.
When a pupil gets five thousand credits (every minute counts
one credit) he gets his grade on his poorest study raised 5 per
cent, or if he does not need that, he gets a holiday without
being marked absent. The pupils have all worked pretty hard for
credits, and only a few have asked for holidays. The people in
the district have all been pleased with the results of home
credit and I think it is a good thing. I have seventeen pupils,
and they are all using home credits.

The Idaho plan as sent out by the State Superintendent, Miss Grace M. Shepherd, in a bulletin to teachers is as follows: Miss Shepherd issued two mimeographed sheets, one of rules, and one a list of credits. The blank has a place for a daily record and a report for several weeks.

_Rules governing Home Work_

1. No pupil is obliged to enter the contest.

2. Parent must sign statement of work done by pupil.

3. Contest closes when school term closes.

4. Unexcused absence forfeits all credits. Unexcused tardiness
forfeits 25 per cent of credits per month. Less than 90 per cent
deportment, 20 per cent of all credits forfeited.

5. Suggested awards:

Names of the six highest at the close of school will be
published in a county paper.

Three highest at the close of school to be offered prize by the
School Board or some citizen.

Five per cent credit to be added to final examination results of
all pupils who enter and continue in the contest.

_Urge the hearty coöperation of the parents_.

_Record of Home Credit Work_

_Month beginning_ ........................ _Ending_................
..................... _School_ ...................... _County_

Pupils or parents will fill in the following blanks each day and return
to the teacher each month signed by the parent_.

.............................................

_Signature of parent._
]

* * * * *

In Charleston, Washington, Superintendent H. W. Elliott, of the city schools, put into successful operation, in 1913-14, a plan with several special features, to which I am glad to call attention. The plan comprises daily markings by the tally system, monthly reports, cash prizes to those showing the largest number of home credits, and some reward to every pupil with credits above a certain specified number. For the purpose of raising a fund to meet the cash prizes, his school gave a play; and an autumn fair, in October, was arranged for the distribution of the prizes for both school and home work. The credit card is different from any other; it seems to be the most simple of all the monthly systems.

_How to Keep the Credits in the Home_

_For every duty the child has done put down | after the name of the duty the child has performed. Example:_

_Cutting wood_ ||||| ||||| ||||| |
_Taking bath ||||| ||||| || This is to indicate the number of times._

ALL THAT ARE 5 CREDITS ALL THAT ARE 10 CREDITS

Canning jar of fruit........... Music practice (30 min.)..........
Making and baking cake......... Milking cow.......................
Making and baking pie.......... Crocheting (hour).................
Sweeping room.................. Cleaning basement.................
Making bed..................... Making apron......................
Setting table.................. Keeping front yard clean..........
Dusting furniture.............. Keeping back yard clean...........
Making handkerchief............ Keeping sidewalk clean............
Making any other thing......... Keeping alley clean...............
Keeping room ventilated........ Keeping steps and porch clean.....
Splitting kindling............. Politeness to seniors.............
Cutting wood................... Table etiquette...................
Bringing in fuel...............
Blacking stove................. ALL THAT ARE 15 CREDITS
Scrubbing room.................
Running errands................ Up first and building fire........
Taking care of birds........... Sprinkling lawn (1 h.)............
Washing teeth.................. Clerking in store (1 h.)..........
Taking bath.................... Driving team (1 h.)...............
In bed by nine................. Helping with freight (1 h.).......
Up by seven.................... Making and baking bread...........
Helping others dress........... Attending Sunday school...........
Brushing clothes (self)........ Attending Church service..........
Polishing shoes (self).........
Feeding cow or other animal.... ALL THAT ARE 30 CREDITS
Gathering eggs.................
At school with clean Washing clothes (2 h.)............
Hands...................... Ironing clothes (2 h.)............
Face....................... Taking care of baby (2 h.)........
Teeth...................... Preparing meal (family)...........
Nails...................... Cleaning barn.....................
Hair combed................ Cleaning henhouse.................
Carrying papers...................

ALL THAT ARE 40 CREDITS

Making dress (self)...............
Cutting half rick of wood.........
Spading up 400 sq. ft. garden.....
Total........................

Send in report on or before the 10th of each month.
]

* * * * *

Mr. Elliott sent out a mimeographed sheet explaining the rules to be observed in the contest, giving a list of the credits, and also a list of the articles to be exhibited at the fair. The rules, and the list of articles are given here.

_Rules_

All boys and girls now in one of the eight grades of the Charleston public schools, District No. 34, may enter in one of the four classes; D, first grade; C, 2d and 3d; B, 4th and 5th; A, 6th, 7th, and 8th. Home credits for each month must be reported to the school for record on or before the 10th of each month. Records to be confidential. We hope that every home will enter into this, and that the _parent will be very careful and conscientious in the marking_. Credits to be kept by parents.

_A List of Articles to be exhibited_

For School Fair Exhibit--To be determined by Judges

_Household Economics_--

1. Domestic Science: Best loaf of bread, cake, pie, dozen cookies, dozen doughnuts.

2. Domestic Art: Best made plain dress, plain apron, shirt-waist, sofa pillow, handkerchief, patchwork pillow, darning or repairing specimen.

3. Canning: Peas, peaches, apples, pears, cherries, string beans.

_Agriculture_--

Best 5 ears of corn, 5 potatoes, 5 selected apples, 5 carrots, 5 onions, 5 turnips, squash, pumpkin, raised by pupil.

_Horticulture_--

Nasturtiums, pansies, sweet peas, each 10 sprays; asters, dahlias, chrysanthemums, each 5 sprays--raised by pupil. Best 5 roses cared for by pupil.

_Poultry_--

Best cockerel, or pullet, or cockerel and pullet reared from a setting of 15 eggs.

_Manual Training_--

Best mechanical drawing, joined work, tabouret, small piece of furniture, large piece of furniture, basket, bookbinding, etc.

_School Work_--

What teachers see fit to make it--drawing, etc.

_Music_--

Best played selection on piano, violin, cornet, or other instrument: or orchestra or band: solo singing or chorus. In band or orchestra work pupils may be judged collectively or singly. Same judgment for all chorus work.

Something more may be added later.

Yours for a good fair,

THE TEACHERS.
H. W. ELLIOTT,
City Superintendent.

Mr. Elliott writes: "I believe there is nothing that will link the home and school more closely than the system of credits. There is one danger, however, of cultivating dishonesty on the part of the over-anxious one. This we watch, but this tendency is sometimes noticeable. Occasionally we find a youngster attending Sunday school or church fifteen or twenty times a month."

Examples of the scheme of a weekly record with monthly report are plans in operation in Jackson County, and in Weston, Umatilla County, Oregon. The rules and schedule following were published by Mr. J. Percy Wells, county superintendent of Jackson County.

_Rules governing Home Credit Work_

1. No pupil shall be required to enter the home credit contest,
and any pupil shall be free to quit the contest at any time, but
if any one quits without good cause, all credits earned shall be
forfeited.

2. Once each month the parent or guardian shall send to
the teacher, with signature affixed, an itemized statement
containing a record of the work each child has done during the
preceding month. The child may make out the list, but the parent
or guardian must sign the same.

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School Credit for Home WorkChapter V: Part TWO: I (2)

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