son why schools should be supported at
public expense was in order that good citizens should be trained there.
History and civil government were put into the course in obedience to
this theory. Another step was taken when physiology was added, because
it was an acknowledgment that the schools should do something to train
youth in the individual art of living. Still another step was taken when
manual training and domestic science were brought into our city schools,
because these studies emphasize the fact that the schools must do
something to train workers. And finally we have at present the idea
gaining a strong foothold that the schools must train the child to fill
its place in the world of men; to see all the relations of life; to be
fitted to live in human society. This idea really embraces all of the
other ideas. It implies that the schools shall not only teach each
individual the elements of knowledge, that they shall train for
citizenship, that they shall train men in the art of living, that they
shall aid in preparing for an occupation, but that they shall do _all_
of these things, and do them not merely for the good of the individual,
but for the good of society as a whole.

And not only is there a feeling that the pupil in school can be brought
into closer touch with the life of the community, but that the school as
an institution can be made more useful to the community as a whole. This
double thought has been expressed in the phrase, "Make the school a
social center," and practically it is being slowly worked out in
numerous city schools. How far can this idea be developed in the country
school?

The purpose of this chapter is not to deal in the theory of the subject,
nor to argue particularly for this view of the function of the school,
but rather to try to show some methods by which the rural school and the
farm community actually can be brought into closer relations. In this
way we may perhaps indicate that there is a better chance for
co-operation between the rural school and the farm community than we
have been accustomed to believe, and that this closer relation is worth
striving for. Five methods will be suggested by which the rural school
can become a social center. Some of these have already been tried in
rural communities, some of them have been tried in cities, and some of
them have not been tried at all.

1. The first means of making the rural school a social center is through
the course of stu