Jan. 10.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 45

For the purpose of reinforcing the children’s interest in their work and widening their outlook it is recommended that, as opportunity offers, the instruction in needlework should be accompanied by and intimately associated with talks on kindred topics, such as the following, having in special a direct bearing on household economics, thus:—

JUNIOR AND MIDDLE DIVISIONS.—Care of materials and tools; source of materials; neatness in dress; colour, care of clothing; use and design of articles made; making of textiles; primitive weaving.

SENIOR DIVISION.—Use of sewing; colour with regard to dress; dress for different seasons, &c.; raw materials and their processes of manufacture; relative cost in general of fabrics in common use; good and bad materials; good taste and economy in dress; harmony in colour and texture; health and clothing; choice of materials, styles, and colours; folding and general care of clothing; shopping, &c.

HOUSECRAFT.

STANDARDS V, VI, VII, OR FORMS I, II, III.

A comprehensive scheme of instruction in Housecraft includes cookery, housewifery, and laundry-work, but it is not complete without a further course in home organization. The time allotted to the different parts of the course and the order in which they are taken must depend to some extent on the premises and equipment available, but as a general rule about twice or thrice as much time should be given to cookery as to laundry-work or housewifery, it being a more difficult subject and requiring much more practice.

1. Cookery should include a study of the processes of cooking, planning of meals, dietetic value of foodstuffs, economy of time, labour, and materials. It is very important that the girls should do a large amount of practical work, and this should invariably occupy the greater part of the lesson. Theoretical instruction in the dietetic value of foodstuffs and the mechanism of digestion should not exceed that necessary for the general understanding of the methods practised and of diets suitable for different persons.

2. Housewifery.—The character of the work will depend on the premises available, and where there is only a classroom the course has to be considerably curtailed. It should include the study of the source and action of dust, dirt, stains, and decay, with methods for their prevention and removal; the care of kitchen fittings, utensils, crockery, glass; the nature and cleaning of hard and soft metals and different wooden surfaces. In general this work can be most effectively dealt with concurrently with the instruction in cookery and laundry-work.

3. Laundry-work should include a study of the processes of washing, finishing, ironing; the origin and nature of the materials which are laundered; appropriate cleansing and stiffening agents, and the use of simple disinfectants. This work should provide opportunities for linking up on the one hand the hygiene of the class-rooms to the practical carrying-out of home duties to ensure proper cleanliness, and on the other hand the science work on solution, &c., with the use of various cleaning-agents, to ensure proper correlation of the school courses.

4. Home Organization.—If suitable premises and a suitable teacher are available the preceding courses should be followed by one in home organization. Home organization is based upon the foundation work of cookery, housewifery, and laundry-work. At first the girls will have studied one subject at a time; now they will deal with the management of a home where many operations must be going on at once. The daily and weekly cleaning and occasional turning-out of the home will be carried out concurrently with the cooking, household washing and mending. In addition the furniture and furnishings, arrangement of these, household accounts, home nursing and mothercraft may be included under suitable conditions.

NOTE.—The appendix dealing with housecraft and manual training generally will be found in a separate pamphlet.

WOODWORK.

INTRODUCTION.

The following outline of the instruction in woodwork is inserted in order that teachers whose pupils are being taught at manual-training centres shall be acquainted with the general lines on which the instruction is expected to be given. The portions of the syllabus that are printed in italics are to be taught by the permanent school staff, the remainder by the special instructor. Each instructor is expected to draw up a definite scheme of work, one copy of which is to be sent for approval to the Senior Inspector of the district, and a second copy to the Superintendent of Technical Education, Education Department, Wellington.