A turning pole for boys may be made by setting two posts in the ground, six or eight feet apart, and running a 1 or 1¼ inch gas pipe through holes bored in the tops of the posts. The cost of such a piece of apparatus should be as follows, assuming that the necessary work will be done by the teachers and boys: Two posts, 4″ × 4″, 8 ft. long, 50 cents; one piece gas pipe, 8 ft. long, 15 cents.
Teeter boards may be made by planting posts ten or twelve feet apart, and placing a pole or a rounded 6 × 6 on top of them, and then placing boards, upon which the children may teeter. Individual teeter boards may be made by placing a 2 × 8 board in the ground, and fastening the teeter board to it by means of iron braces placed on each side of the upright piece. The cost of the above apparatus would be, for several teeters: Two upright posts, 6″ × 6″, 5 ft. long, 93 cents; one piece, 6″ × 6″, 12 ft. long, $1.22; four teeter boards, 2″ × 8″, 14 ft. long, $2.50. For individual teeter: One piece 2″ × 8″, 16 ft. long, 56 cents—to make upright piece 4 ft. long and teeter board 12 ft. long; two iron braces and four large screws, 25 cents.
A very attractive and desirable piece of apparatus may be made as follows: Secure a pole about ten or fifteen feet long. To the small end attach by the use of bolts one end of a wagon axle, spindle up. Upon the spindle place a wagon wheel, and to the wheel attach ropes, about as long as the pole. Place the big end of the pole in the ground three or four feet, and brace it from the four points of the compass. The ropes will hang down from the wheel in such a way that the children may take hold of them, swing, jump, and run around the pole. The one described was rather inexpensive. A telephone company donated a discarded pole, a farmer a discarded wagon wheel and axle. The only expense was that of paying a blacksmith for attaching the wheel to the pole and the cost of the ropes—about $2. It furnished one of the most attractive pieces of apparatus on the playground.
An inexpensive swing may be constructed by placing four 4 × 4’s in the ground in a slanting position, two being opposite each other and meeting at the top in such a way as to form a fork. The pairs may be ten or twelve feet apart, and a pole or heavy galvanized pipe, to which swings may be attached, wired, nailed, or bolted to the crotches formed by the pieces placed in the ground. The cost of this apparatus will be: Four pieces, 4″ × 4″, 14 ft. long, $1.25, one piece galvanized pipe, 3″, 12 ft. long, $2.50.
Boards of education could well afford to purchase one or more basketballs, and a few baseballs and bats for the boys. These things more than pay for themselves in the added interest which boys and girls who have them take in the school. For much of the apparatus suggested above the wide-awake board of education and teacher will see opportunities to use material less expensive than that suggested. And to such persons many pieces of apparatus not specified here will suggest themselves to fit particular needs and opportunities.
General instruction in agriculture
A great fault with the district schools has been an inclination to think that anything close at hand is too mean and common to be considered as subject matter for instruction. The thought has usually been that the school would prepare the learner for some brilliant calling away off where things are better and life is easier and more beautiful. As a result, the country schools have been educating boys and girls away from the farm. The new method is that of educating them to appreciate what is under their feet and all around them, through an intimate knowledge of the processes of nature and industry as carried on in their midst.
Plate XIV.
