In order to put this plan into operation, a meeting of women interested in the school should be called and if, after the plan has been laid before them and fully discussed, enough women are willing to open their homes and act as instructors, then it is safe to proceed. The subjects should be divided, and a scheme somewhat as follows may be arranged:
| Mrs. A. bread and biscuits |
| Mrs. B. pies and cakes |
| Mrs. C. canning and preserving |
| Mrs. D. gems and corn bread |
| Mrs. E. desserts and salads |
| Mrs. F. cookies and doughnuts |
| Mrs. G. vegetables. |
Six has been found a convenient number for a class, though ten is better, if the homes can accommodate that number. Half-past three is a good time for the classes to meet, as they then may be concluded by five o'clock, thus leaving the housewife free to prepare her evening meal. The day of the week should be chosen to suit the convenience of the instructor. The classes may meet once a week.
Arriving at the home of the instructor at half-past three, the pupils are seated in the most convenient room, and the lesson is given. During this talk the pupils are given not only the recipe, but details as to materials, the preparation thereof, the degree of heat required, the common causes of failure and, in fact, everything that in the mind of a practical cook would be helpful to the class. Notes are taken, and afterwards properly written out and examined by the teacher of the school.
The instructors prepare the food for cooking, and sometimes, as in the case of rolls and so on, they cook the food in the presence of the pupils. When white bread is to be baked, the pupils are asked to call, a few minutes after school, at the home of the instructor, to watch the first step—setting the sponge—and again the next morning before school to see the next step—mixing the bread—and again, about half-past eleven or twelve, to see the bread ready for the oven and, finally, on the way back to school, to see the result—a fine loaf of well-cooked bread.
The pupils try the recipe carefully in their own homes, not varying its terms until they are able to make the dish successfully. When they can do this, they are free to experiment with modifications, and there should be no objection to receiving help from any source; in fact, it is a good thing for the daughter to get her mother to criticize her and offer suggestions in the many little details familiar to every housekeeper, but which cannot always be given by an instructor in one lesson.
By this method the pupils learn in their own homes and handle real cooking utensils on a real stove heated by the usual fire of that home. If it is a good thing—and no one doubts it—to learn Household Science in a school where everything that invention and skill can provide for the pupils is readily at hand, is it not worth while to enter the field of actual life and, with cruder implements, win a fair degree of success?
At the end of five or six months, after the pupils have had an opportunity to become skilful in making some of the dishes which have been taught, it may be well to have an exhibition of their work. Each pupil may, on Saturday afternoon, bring one or more of the dishes she has learned to prepare to the school-house, where they may be arranged on tables for the inspection of the judges. The dishes exhibited should be certified to as being the work of the pupil with no help or suggestion from anybody. Of course, work of this kind cannot be undertaken by the "suit case" teacher. The teacher who packs her bag on Friday at noon, carries it to school with her, and rushes to catch a train or car at four o'clock, not returning to the district until Monday morning, has no time for this kind of service.
Occasionally the entire class may meet with their instructors in the school-room. An oil-stove and the necessary equipment may be obtained, and a demonstration may be given by one of the instructors. By this means much valuable instruction will be given that is not included in the regular course. At this time also many things may be discussed that pertain to the growth of the movement and the general well-being of the pupils.
The plan is flexible and may be modified easily to suit different localities. It calls for no outlay on the part of the school trustees; nor are the instructors necessarily put to any expense, as the articles prepared in giving the lessons may be used in their own homes.