Vacation Schools Enroll 10,000 of Toronto's Children

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 196, 4 September 1937, Page 16

Vacation Schools Enroll 10,000 of Toronto's Children

TOEONTO. — About 10,000 Toronto children who are in the city this summer are attending a daily vacation school under the supervision of public health department in churches of almost every denomination during July. More than 200 men and women took advantage of the training school for leaders, recently, to prepare themselves for the care of these children. The schools keep the children off the streets, away from traffic dangers during the school A'acation period, give them opportunities to learn handcrafts and the right use of leisure time, and train them in the proper ways of living, explained Miss Mary Eadie, executive secretary. The programme includes

organised play, appreeiation of arts and crafts, as well as drama and nature. The handcrafts department makes gifts to be shipped to missions in the north for distribution at Christmas. Bahaviour problems are-dealt with, and. training given in the proper use and understanding of the Bible. Older students also receive instruction in the Christian Social Order. The teachers should be friends and; helpers,'it was stressed at the training school, and the schools should aim for expression, not suppression, with freedom of speech and action encouraged. The keynote of the study period should not be recitation, but informal conversation directed to develop the practical attitude of the pupil.