"
Passing over the fifth grand division, Home Nursing and
Emergencies (in which the pupil learns simply "the use of
household remedies," "the care of the sick-room," etc.), we come
to the wide expanse of the sixth grand division, Home and Social
Economics.
The work in this division begins with a study of the primitive
evolution of the home and comes on down to the present time, when
"the passing of many of the former lines of woman's work into the
factory has brought to many women leisure time which should be
spent in social service."
Note that last fact carefully. Home Economics is no attempt to
drive women back into home seclusion. On the contrary, it is an
attempt to bring the home and its occupants into the scientific
and sociological developments of the outside world.
For this reason, in traversing the division of Home and Social
Economics, the pupil encounters "an attempt to determine problems
in civic life which seem to be a part of the duties of women."
Seventhly and lastly, there is a division dedicated to
Literature, in which "a systematic course in reading is carried
on through the two years." Indispensable! No degree of
proficiency at inserting calories in correct numbers in to Little
Sally's stomach could atone for lack of skill at leading Little
Sally herself in morning strolls through the "Child's Garden of
Verses," with trowel in hand to dig up the gayest plants and
reset them in the memory.
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