MOTHERS’ CLUB.
If the Community is really to influence the lives of its children the co-operation of the mothers is of course quite as essential as that of the children themselves; indeed, the Community must include the mothers, and they must feel that its methods and its difficulties are their own.
It is obviously impossible for the mothers of the children in the School to devote their lives to training their children. They are too poor, too hard-worked, and too ill-trained themselves. Often enough, too, they are wage-earners, and no amount of maternal instinct can overcome these difficulties. It is useless to say to them that they must train their children; they cannot do it. But what they can do, and delight in doing, is to share the ideals and the interests of the Community in which their children are living. If they can contribute to the Community their own suggestions and observations, and can understand and watch the methods employed, and sympathise with them, then the gap between home and school will be bridged over, and the children will be at peace.
In order to encourage this co-operation of the mothers with the School, a Mothers’ Club was opened at Easter, 1914, which has proved a very great success. The Club was open on Wednesday evenings and the average attendance was 17. A sewing machine was available and the members could get tea and refreshments at cost price. The members paid 3d. a term, and elected their own Committee, Secretary, and Treasurer, and provided newspapers for themselves from the fund. One member of Committee acted as “responsible member” each week, and the Club was so popular that it is now kept open three times a week.
In addition to these weekly meetings another monthly one is held at which the mothers discuss with the Directors the methods of the School and the care of the children. These discussions are deeply interesting to the mothers, and help them to take their share in the Community interests.
The following subjects were chosen by the members of the Club in the order given:
Obedience and how to get it.
What are our ambitions for our children?
The use and abuse of patent medicines.
The effect of Bank holidays and unsuitable amusements on children.
Children’s bad habits.
Besides these meetings of the Mothers’ Club, which will probably develop still further as the children grow older, the mothers take a great deal of individual interest in the School, and of course the greatest pride in their own children’s achievements.