Manhattan Trade School for Girls, New York; New York (N.Y.); School management and organization
Aim: To furnish the worker with a background for her trade and to help
her to see her place in the working world of today. 1. A generalized
view is taken of the main steps in the early progress of the race. 2.
Textile materials are discussed as to their values, their uses, their
cost, the processes of their manufacture, the comparison of foreign and
domestic goods, with reasons for the differences, and the connected
problems of arithmetic which the students will meet. These subjects help
the girl to "get next" to what she is working with every day and to
arouse interest in her personal connection with the subject. The English
girl whose father was once employed in a lace house in London brings
mounted specimens of that sort of handwork to the class; the Hungarian
brings hand-spun articles from her mother's bridal outfit; the Italian
presents a skein of raw silk taken from the family's treasure box, and
the girl from Roumania brings an embroidered bed cover. The student
whose mother does not believe cotton ever grew on bushes asks that she
may verify her own statement by taking home a real cotton ball. A Labor
Museum is being collected to give reality to the instruction, and
exhibits from it, which show the steps in the manufacturing of the
fabrics and of other familiar articles, are put up in the classroom when
needed. A bulletin board provides for the numerous clippings brought by
the students or teachers.
Arithmetic
Aim: The fundamental aim of arithmetic is to give the pupils working
methods for the problems that occur in trade practice. To make the
correlation clear to the girls, workroom methods of presentation and
phraseology and the customary materials are used. Sewing and operating
students make hems, tucks, and ruffles to actual measurements; novelty
girls cut and arrange cards for samples in accordance with their
workroom demands; and millinery students work out the measurements for
hat frames as closely as varying styles permit.
With the fundamentals of trade problems established, arithmetic is
further developed along special lines of trade to meet the demands of
the business world. The trained worker should not only be skilled in the
manipulation of tools and materials, but she should be able to compute
her own problems, such as estimates for garments, how to cut materials
economically, the cost of one garment or article as related to the cost
of many of the same kind, the prices, and similar trade questions. The
ability to deal with these subjects adds materially to the value of a
skilled worker.
The central scheme of the course is to lead the pupil to prompt and
accurate mental calculation. This is stimulated by frequent oral drills
in trade problems and business problems involving short methods of
computation. The extent and progress of this work are regulated by the
ability of the class.
The following outlines show the adaptation of arithmetic to the
different trades:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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