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Show OUR CHILDREN 88 I!y ANCIXO I'ATKl BEAUTIFYING SCHOOLS SCHOOL ought to be a lovely place. Children thrive best In beaiilirul surroundings. Thai does not mean elegant Kiirrounillngs. Things can be lieautlfnl without being elegant, or expensive, ex-pensive, or loud. Beauty Is always best when dressed In simplicity. A school building ought to be long and low, spread out on tbe grass like a brooding hen Vines should dress the walls nnd old trees shade Its grounds. llowerlng shrubs should snuggle In the corners where children's chil-dren's feel do not reach them, nnd tucked In about their roots the spring bulbs should flourish. The Inside of the building Is where children live. That means that It should be as beautiful as It can ho made without becoming obviously decorated. dec-orated. I think there ought to be one good picture In every room. 1 like that picture to be tbe one that appeals strongest to the children who use that room. Pictures ought to Inspire the children, so they must be those that the children can read. They can only read a picture th it calls upon their experience ex-perience nnd their dreams. I would not have a lot of children's work pinned about a room. It gathers gath-ers dust. Schoolrooms are not a good place for plants and nnlmnls. birds and fishes. If we can make them beautiful for the'chlldren we are doing well. First, let us make them clean. The walls, the floor, the celling and the woodwork, all ought to be clean as brush and clennslng water can make them. The furniture should he smooth. Its fair surface unmarred. The chairs and benches ought to be comfortable. It costs no more to supply a comfortable comfort-able bench thnn to buy one that makes a child hunch nnd huddle and squirm to find a comfortable angle In It. There must be plenty of light and air. A dark room with poor ventilation ventila-tion Is never beautiful. The closets nnd wardrobes should be sufficient and they should be convenient When hooks are higher thnn children's heads they cannot hang their things on them and they use tbe floor Instead. Whatever What-ever makes for cleanliness, order, convenience, con-venience, and comfort will make the classroom nnd the school a beautiful place to live. This Is a good time to check up on paint and washing powders, pow-ders, furniture and. equipment Where the children live ought to be a place of beauty. WHY? T WISH I knew some way of mak- 1 ing Clarisse practice her music" "Doesn't she practice?" "I should say not If I didn't force her to go to the piano and stand there until she began playing she would not touch It. I've promised her everything every-thing hut It's all no use." "Why don't you try letting her alone for a change." "She wouldn't do a thing, I'm telling tell-ing you. Know what she did last week? So deceitful. I was so upset I cried. I made her go to the piano and I stayed there until she got her music on the rack and began running her fingers up nnd down. I had people peo-ple coming to dinner so I had to go. I listened every once In a while and I heard her playing. At least I heard the piano going. "Well, her father came home early on account of the company and he came to me In the pantry and said, 'Mary, is Clarisse supposed to be practicing prac-ticing or what?' "'She's supposed to be practicing.'" "But as a matter of fact she was reading a shocker and the kitten was doing the practicing. "There she sat reading a perfectly awful book and every once in a while touching the keys, and. letting her kitten go up and down the keyboard to fool me into thinking she was playing." play-ing." "I'd stop giving her music lessons." "It's just a shame when Mrs. Clure's Marie plays like a streak. She gave a recital at tbe town hall last week and everybody was crazy about It. And I can't get Clarisse to do a thing." Tou can't get Clarisse to do a thing but cheat If you feel like that Making Mak-ing a child learn to play a musical instrument, in-strument, take a professional course, learn to dance for public appearances so tbat yon can enjoy the applause won't do. Children do not learn that way. An art must have Its source In the child's soul. If it Is not there yon can never put It there. It Is unfair un-fair to use a child that way and no good comes of It. Fathers sometimes make the mistake mis-take of trying to make star sportsmen of their sons. A place on the big team, a seat In the shell, a medal for a first in track or field sometimes he-comes he-comes so Important that it wrecks a boy and shakes a home to its foundations. founda-tions. If you have a star, well and good. Let it shine. If yon have a pleasant rushlight tend it well and let it shine happily wjthin its own little circle. It is better that way. . Bell Syndicate, WNU Service. |