One good motherly-looking country woman said: "Before this plan was started I got up in the morning and prepared breakfast for the family, and after breakfast saw to the preparation of the children for school. Now, when morning comes the girls insist upon my lying in bed so that they may get breakfast. After breakfast they wash the dishes, sweep the kitchen, and do many other things as well as make their own preparation for school. I think the plan is a success. My only fear is that it will make me lazy."
One father said: "I have two boys--one in the high school and Jack, here. It was as hard work to get the older boy out in the morning as it was to do the chores, and as Jack was too young to be compelled to do the work, I let them both sleep while I did it. Now, when the alarm sounds, I hear Jack tumbling out of bed, and when I get up I find the fires burning and the stock at the barn cared for; so all I have to do is to look happy, eat my breakfast, and go about my business. Yes, it is a great success in our home."
At this point Superintendent Alderman said: "Jack, stand, we want to see you," and Jack, a bright, manly-appearing country boy of fourteen years stood blushing, while we looked our appreciation.
One man told of the many things that his daughter had done, whereupon it was suggested that she might do so much that her health would be in danger. A pleasant smile flitted across the face of the father as he said, "Daughter, stand and let these men see if they think you are injuring your health." A bright, buxom, rosy-cheeked girl--the very picture of health and happiness--arose while we laughed and cheered.
To the question, "Does this work interfere with the work of the school?" the teacher pointed to the record of the school in a spelling contest that is being conducted in this county, and read "100 per cent for this month; 98.12 per cent for last," and said, "No, I find that the children have taken more interest in their work and are making more progress than before."
When alone, after time for reflection, I thought, "One swallow does not make a summer" and one school does not prove that this is a good plan. In Spring Valley the conditions are ideal,--a board of directors who do their duty, a citizenship that is far above the average, girls and boys from well-ordered homes of a prosperous people, a teacher who would succeed anywhere with half a chance, a wide-awake, sympathetic county school superintendent,--and yet I thought if this is good for the Spring Valley School, might it not be a good thing for all our schools? I have not reached a conclusion, but have had much food for thought, and am more than pleased with my experience and observation.