Part 8

The home project which resulted in an improved kitchen in one home had a favorable influence upon the home life of the family. The girl, with the financial assistance of her brothers, had made an attractive and more efficient kitchen in the bare 4-room house, which was the home of the family. The living quarters were naturally limited in such a small space. In reporting on this project the teacher said:

I feel that this project has been very worthwhile to Ethel and her whole family. Her mother was so grateful and told me how much better it made her feel to walk into a bright, cheerful kitchen every morning. She said that her boys were so pleased they had made a living room out of the kitchen on cold winter nights.

=Suggestive Home Projects in Which Art is an Important Factor=

Clothing projects which include planning as well as construction offer many possibilities. This planning would necessitate such applications of art as the adapting of style, design, and color to the individual, selecting and combining textures and colors in the fabrics, and using appropriate trimmings and accessories. Such projects would also afford opportunity for exercising judgment through the evaluation of results. The same opportunities exist in the "make-over" projects as in the others in which all new materials are used. A few clothing projects involving art are suggested, as follows:

1. Planning and buying or making (_a_) school wardrobe for self; (_b_) season's wardrobe for small sister or brother.

2. Making the most of clothing on hand. This will involve cleaning, pressing, and mending, as well as some remodeling.

3. Remodeling clothing on hand and choosing additional garments needed for an attractive and suitable wardrobe.

4. Selecting the accessories to complete a costume for self or for mother.

Home-improvement projects which involve the exterior of the home as well as the interior should have a place in the home-economics program. In this group of projects there is not only great opportunity for the application of art as the basis for planning and selecting, but also for the making of more pleasing arrangements of things already in the home. In view of the fact that in most home-improvement projects the girl needs to make the best use of furnishings and equipment already possessed by the family, and usually has a limited amount of money to spend, her problems are greatly increased. Except in the few cases in which she has the privilege of newly furnishing a room or a part of the home, the starting point is with the present possessions in the home and a careful evaluation of them to determine the good in each. _She should appreciate the fact that the home and its possessions belong to the entire family and that any changes she may desire to make should meet their approval or at least be undertaken with their consent._ In most cases the proposed changes will be more welcomed by the family if little outlay of money is necessitated and if the largest and best use is made of cherished household treasures.

Joint home improvement projects have been carried out in some States with considerable success. In these projects the girls in home economics have worked cooperatively with brothers who were in agricultural classes. This usually meant greater interest on the part of parents and other members of the family. More ambitious programs for improvement were thus possible, not only through greater family support and encouragement but through the boy's ability to make certain alterations in structure or finishing that a girl could not do alone. Through these projects the boy and girl have learned much from each other. Perhaps the most conspicuous evidence of success has been the spread of interest beyond the homes into community improvement.

Some suggestive home-improvement projects are as follows:

1. Making the home kitchen a more convenient and attractive place in which to work.

2. Arranging home furnishings and accessories so that harmony, balance, and desirable centers of emphasis contribute to the attractiveness and comfort of each room.

3. Assisting in the selection and arrangement of furniture, wall coverings, floor coverings, or accessories for the girl's own room or other rooms in the house.

4. Preparing the sun porch for summer use.

5. Planning and caring for window boxes.

6. Planning and planting a flower garden or border that will contribute to the appearance of the home and also be a source of pleasure.

7. Re-covering or making slip covers for furniture.

8. Assisting in the selection of linen, china, silver, and glassware for the table.

9. Planning the table decorations for special occasions.

10. Keeping appropriate centerpieces of flowers, plants, or fruit on the home table.

Two home-improvement project reports on Beautifying Our Yard and Improving Our Home are given as suggestive of types of projects in which art plays an important part in successful achievement. Only the plans for the first one are given, since they show the significant art applications.

_Name of project: Beautifying Our Yard_

(Reported by a girl in a vocational high school in Nebraska.)

I. Reasons for choosing this project--

1. The flowers will improve the looks of the yard.

2. It will be an experience in the arrangement of flowers for me and will not only add to the attractiveness of the yard but to the house and surrounding buildings.

II. Aims--

1. To make the yard and house more attractive.

2. To keep flowers watered and weeded and give other care they need.

3. To plant the flowers in the most suitable place and position.

III. Plans--

1. Get all the information I can from experienced gardeners and from books and magazines that tell which are the best flowers to raise, easiest to grow and take care of, and when and where they should be planted.

2. Names of flowers to be planted--

Cock's Comb. Zinnias. Phlox. Larkspur. Nasturtiums. Petunia. Sweet William. Cannas. Snap Dragons. Sweet Peas. Poppies. Heliotrope. Asters. Sweet Alyssum. Cosmos. Marigolds.

3. Location of flowers--

_a._ Along the walk (both sides). _b._ Along sides of the house. _c._ Along side of vacant lot. _d._ Around garage. _e._ Along the driveway.

4. How to plant the flowers--

_a._ The tallest ones in the back. _b._ The shortest in front.

5. When to plant them--

_a._ Sweet peas, March 1 to 10, or before. _b._ Others in the middle of April to May. _c._ The flowers may be started in the house and transplanted to the outside when the weather permits.

6. Care of flowers--

_a._ Water the flowers at least once a day (if dry weather). It is best to water them in the evening. _b._ Weed them at least twice a week and loosen the soil around them. _c._ If some insect starts destroying any of the flowers, spray them with a solution which will kill the destroyer.

IV. Approval of guardian--

This project, Beautifying Our Yard, selected by Alta, is a very profitable project, especially at this time of the year when our thoughts are directed toward the planting of flowers, shrubs, etc. A beautiful yard adds so much to the home and makes everyone more happy and contented. This project should create a desire in Alta to take more interest in the yard and in planting it. Also watching the plants grow will make her feel some responsibility in caring for them, while at the same time every member of the family will enjoy the realization of the project. I wish her all success in making this project come true.

NOTE.--An excellent planting plan worked out on squared paper accompanied this project.

_Name of Project: Improving Our Home_

(Reported by an Alabama high school girl.)

In the spring I took as my project home beautification. I thought when I started there was very little I could do to improve the old barnlike house and unsightly grounds, but the more I did the more there was to be done. I began by removing the old overgrown hedge from the side and front of the yard. After grading the ground we sodded the whole yard in Bermuda grass. The house was next underpinned with rough strips of lumber which were painted. A lattice fence was also built from the house to the garage (about 40 feet).

Between the fence and the lawn a space about 30 feet square was left for a flower garden. Just in front of the fence several rambling rose bushes, jonquills, and chrysanthemums were planted. All around the garden I had flower beds about 4 feet wide filled with marigolds, zenias, bachelor buttons, asters, and phlox.

In the summer we decided that we could afford a concrete walk and steps. This was a little expensive but it has helped the looks of the place so much that we have never regretted the time and money spent.

The interior next received attention, beginning with my own room. The furniture consisted of an iron bedstead, an oak dresser, table, and chairs. There was a faded rug on the floor. I moved the dresser to another room, then from an old washstand I made a little dressing table. With rough lumber I made a window seat which I covered with bright cretonne. The furniture was very attractive after a coat of paint and two of enamel were put on. I have very light curtains at the windows. The old rug was turned over and looks almost like new.

The walls in the living room and hall were painted in buff, the dining room and kitchen are to be the same.

One of the greatest improvements of the interior is the built-in cabinets. A very convenient one was made between the dining room and kitchen, where an old chimney used to be. The bricks were used to build a basement. The part of the cabinet in the dining room is to be used for dishes, and that in the kitchen for the cooking utensils. Both are to be painted cream inside and oak outside.

Next spring I am going to plant more flowers and keep working on everything that I think can be improved, for I love home projects. It not only has helped me, but has helped my entire family and even our neighbors.

Section V

ADDITIONAL UNITS IN ART RELATED SPECIFICALLY TO HOUSE FURNISHING AND CLOTHING SELECTION

Though we travel the whole world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.--Emerson.

In the earlier sections of this bulletin it has been suggested that the first course or unit in art be chiefly concerned with the fundamental principles of art and that applications of them be made in a great many fields. It is anticipated that a detailed or complete study of art as related to home furnishing or to clothing selection is to be given at a later time as separate units or courses. It is, however, hoped that the foundation course in art related to the home will give pupils such training that they will be better able to solve their most common daily problems in which art is an important factor, should they fail to have opportunity to take units in home furnishing or clothing selection later.

In schools having two semesters that can be devoted to related art, it is recommended that the fundamental art course in which general applications are to be made be given in the first semester and the work of the second be composed of these more advanced units. When but one semester is provided for related art work, additional units in home furnishing and clothing selection should become a part of the regular homemaking program, with several consecutive weeks planned for each unit. These additional units offer fine opportunity for further applications of the principles of art in judgment and creative problems pertaining to home furnishing and clothing. Since the pupils will have gained an art consciousness through the more general course in art related to the home, and should have developed to a fair degree an ability to recognize and use certain fundamental art principles, it may be expected that the home furnishing and clothing selection units will be built around the larger and more difficult judgment and creative problems of selection, combination, arrangement, and rearrangement as they are met in life.

In planning for a unit in home furnishing as an additional unit in related art, the present and future needs of girls should again be considered. In the study of house plans, the question arises as to whether or not to require pupils either to draw original plans or to copy plans for houses. To do so has been justified as a means of developing interest of pupils in well-planned houses. However, since comparatively few pupils will ever make use of house plans they have made and because many of them will have occasion for making changes in a house that is already planned or assisting in the selection of a plan for a house, it would seem more worth while and less time consuming for them to judge house plans from the standpoint of convenience and the placing of furniture than to draw them. Since the amount and kind of wall space is a determining factor in successful arrangements of home furnishings, opportunity for the individual pupil and class to judge house plans should be provided. Many interesting plans are to be found in nearly all household magazines. Care in the selection of such plans is important in order to avoid discussion of types of houses that are not in keeping with the standards of the community.

If the home furnishing unit is to provide worth-while training and experience it should give to the pupils not only an ability to recognize good design and pleasing proportion in various pieces of furniture but ability to determine pleasing combinations of color, design, and texture in upholstery, drapery materials, and floor coverings, and to arrange and rearrange furniture and home accessories so that the rooms are comfortable and inviting.

In all consideration of home furnishing and accessories, emphasis is given to the selection of the vase, the lamp, the chair, or the curtain which is most pleasing in shape and suited in color and texture for a particular grouping or arrangement. In the earlier and more general art unit, attention is confined to such selection for some parts of the home, but in the later study of home furnishing, they are made for the entire home, with more specific reference to the relationship of one room to another and to larger arrangements.

It is assumed that in classes for the average girl 14 years of age and above, little if any reference will be made to period furniture. If any is made, it should be from the point of view of determining the suitability of adaptations of it to the average home and not purely as a means of identifying one style from another.

To the extent that a better appreciation of good design and proportion in furniture may be gained by studying why some period furniture, as early American, is always beautiful and continues to be reproduced, it may be desirable to make some allusion to it. When a teacher determines that for the majority in a particular class there is no need for devoting any time to a consideration of period styles in furniture, she may satisfy the few who ask questions concerning those styles by directing them to specific reference readings and allowing them to make individual studies of those in which they have greatest interest.

The type of furniture to be found within the community is always a guide in determining how much, if any, study of period furniture is to be made. An attempt to justify such a study is sometimes made from the standpoint of the pupil's personal need in assisting in the selection of new pieces of furniture for the parental home and of the future need in selecting furniture for her own home. But, after all, success in providing an attractive and convenient home depends more upon the harmonious combination of colors and materials and the satisfying daily arrangement of furniture and accessories than upon whether or not the furniture is of a definite period or style. It is upon the former that emphasis should be placed in planning and directing a unit in home furnishing if it is to be of the most service in the everyday experiences of the pupils.

The unit in clothing selection provides further opportunity for valuable art training. The main purpose in this unit is to develop in the pupils an ideal of being becomingly dressed at all times and an ability to choose and combine articles of clothing into attractive daily ensembles. It is evident that if such a training is to be of real service to the pupils in meeting their daily clothing problems they must work as much as possible with actual garments, clothing materials, and clothing accessories. The pupils may be expected to bring some of the needed garments and accessories from home, the teacher may borrow some from the stores, and whenever possible the pupils may be taken to the stores. Such an experience as the last named is most true to life and is described elsewhere under the topic "Field trips." (See pp. 53-55.)

Many teachers question whether or not to include some study of historic costume. Since the unit in clothing selection is designed to give the pupils an ability to solve their daily clothing problems, the practice of having the pupils make sketches, tracings, and mountings of costumes of different periods is undoubtedly of little value. It is not only time consuming but can contribute very little to the development of judgment in selecting and combining articles of modern clothing into suitable and becoming ensembles. There is even a danger that such a procedure may stifle rather than stimulate interest in beautiful and harmonious clothing combinations for everyday use. However, certain features of those costumes which have withstood the test of time and have been revived and adapted again and again in modern dress designs may justly claim some consideration. A few well selected and mounted illustrations of these historic costumes in color may stimulate an interest in art and a desire to know more about the influence of dress in the early periods upon the designs of to-day as well as contribute to better appreciation of color.

Section VI

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL

When you understand all about the sun and all about the atmosphere and all about the rotation of the earth, you may still miss the radiance of the sunset.--Whitehead.

PURPOSE

In home economics teaching there is an increasing recognition of the importance of illustrative material as a teaching device. There is no greater opportunity for effective use of it than in the teaching of art related to the home. Since one of the major objectives of such a course is to develop an ability to select the most suitable materials and articles, and since there is such a variety from which to choose, it is essential that materials which will give the pupils contact with good things and adequate experience in selection be provided. Another important objective is to develop ability to make successful combinations and arrangements. Since it is not yet possible to use real homes as classrooms, it is advantageous to bring some of the home into the schoolroom.

Some outstanding advantages of the use of illustrative material are:

1. It focuses attention upon a single example and affords opportunity for common interpretation and discussion.

2. It furnishes visual as well as audible instruction.

3. It provides contact with actual materials not in an imaginary form, but as found in real life. (The use of doll-size houses with furnishings is questionable for their construction is too time-consuming and they are too much in miniature to furnish standards or to interest girls in real problems.)

SELECTION AND SOURCE

What are the factors governing the choice of illustrative material? The following ones have been adapted from a study by a graduate student at the University of Nebraska. The material should--

1. Make a psychological appeal by--

_a._ Coming within the experience of the pupils. _b._ Being suited to their age and previous training. _c._ Possessing pertinent and attractive qualities.

2. Afford wide opportunity for independent choice.

3. Be simple and adapted to the standards of the community.

4. Be reasonable in cost.

Teachers of art have a double problem in the selection of illustrative material in that they must not only choose those things which meet the above standards, but they must eliminate those in which there are unrelated factors which cause a lack of clarity. Quality rather than quantity should be the guide in making selections, for a small amount of well selected and arranged illustrative material is usually more effectively used than a large unorganized collection. Having determined upon the pieces of material that are desirable, the next problem is where to obtain them. Every teacher of art should build up her own personal collection of materials to supplement what can be procured from other sources, for one teaches best from her own material. At the same time, the teacher has a responsibility in guiding the selection of some pieces which should be provided by the school as permanent illustrative material. Still other pieces which it is inadvisable for either teacher or school to buy may be borrowed for special purposes. Chart 3 lists the general types of illustrative material and indicates possible sources of this material.

Chart 3.--_Types and sources of illustrative materials_