A boy in one of the Portland, Oregon, schools had trouble with his spelling, getting a mark of only 4-1/2 on a scale of 10. Soon after home credits were put into use by his teacher he came to her and anxiously inquired if he could help out his spelling grade with a good home record. The teacher graciously assured him that he could. The boy brought in each week one of the very best home record slips, and in some mysterious manner his spelling improved as his hours of work increased. He does not need his home record to help out his spelling grade now, for last month he received more than a passing mark, 7-1/2 in his weak subject. The knowledge that there was help at hand relieved his nervousness, and gave him confidence.
She ... worketh willingly with her hands ... and eateth not the bread of idleness. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
We are still paying a heavy price for slave labor; for instance, the idea that it is undignified to cook has come down through the ages of slaveholding, and has got into some people's blood. The school by taking into account home tasks can make them seem worth while and thus dignify their doing. Many persons do not work because their ideals are made at school, and their heroes are those who did not win honor at labor, or, at least, the labor of these heroes is not emphasized.
In the case of Mary, the work she did at home transformed her from a heedless girl into a sympathetic helper. She had the idea that too many young people have, that it is more honorable to study algebra than to wash dishes or to cook a meal. The minute that she saw that they were considered equal she no longer held back from the home work, and when in a constructive frame of mind she not only did the home work but did her algebra too. There is not a normal American boy who shrinks from a piece of work because he thinks it is hard. On the contrary, he likes the man's job, and seeks out the hard things and tackles them. He avoids the things he thinks are not worth while. So it becomes a matter of the child's point of view whether he likes his work or not. Too often it is the case that the child never hears it suggested that there is any merit in home work within itself. He has the idea that he goes to school to get an education, and works at home because he has to. Many parents frankly tell their children that they should study well at school so they can make a living "without working."