How is this done? Take the case of John Frena, who occupies a place of no particular distinction in the fifth year of the Gary schools. John’s school day (from 8:30 A. M. to 4:00 P. M.) is divided equally between regular work (reading, writing, geography, etc.) and special work (play, nature study, manual training and the like). A day of John’s school life reads like this:
First period—Playground, games, sports and gymnastics, under the direction of an expert.
Second period—Nature study, elementary science and physical geography.
Third and fourth periods—Reading, writing, spelling and language.
Lunch hour.
Fifth period—Playground (as before).
Sixth period—Drawing and manual training.
Seventh and eighth periods—History, political geography and arithmetic.
During his school day, John has played, used his head and his hands, and alternated the work in such a way that no one part of it ever became irksome.
Next week, music and literature will be substituted on John’s program for drawing; the following week manual training will replace one period of play. The four special subjects (drawing and manual training, music and literature, nature study and science, and plays and games) rotate regularly. Each day, however, includes four periods of this special work and four periods of regular work.