Duties, responsibility.—­Parents should be firm and just in their rulings; they should study the welfare of their children, and use every effort to train them to lives of usefulness and honor.  It is the duty of parents to provide their children with food, clothing, shelter, and the means of acquiring an education.  There is no other responsibility so great as the responsibility of fathers and mothers.  They are responsible for themselves, and the law makes them partly responsible for the conduct of their children.  Therefore, one of the highest duties of a parent to his children is to exact obedience in all right things, in order that the children may be trained to true manhood and womanhood.

[1]To the teacher—­Do not assign to the average class more than two or three pages of the text as a lesson.  Make haste slowly.  When each chapter is completed let it be reviewed at once, while the pupil’s interest is fresh.

See that the “Suggestive Questions” at the end of the chapter are not neglected.  If necessary, devote special lessons to their consideration.  Assign the “questions” to the members of the class, to be answered on the following day, giving not more than two “questions” to any pupil.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

1.  Name some of the restraints of home life.

2.  Why does the welfare of all depend upon the family government?

3.  Why do rights and duties always exist together?

4.  Name some bad habits.

5.  Why should children abstain from bad habits?

6.  What is true manhood?

7.  Are disobedient children apt to make good citizens?

8.  Should a father permit his bad habits to be adopted by his children?

CHAPTER II.

The school.

Introductory.—­When children reach the age of six or seven years, they enter the public school and become subject to its rules.  We are born under government, and we are educated under it.  We are under it at home, in school, and in after life.  Law and order are everywhere necessary to the peace, safety, liberty, and’ happiness of the people.  True liberty and true enlightenment can not exist unless regulated by law.

Definition and purposes.—­A school district or sub-district is a certain portion of the town or county laid off and set apart for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a public school.  It exists for educational reasons only, and is the unit of educational work.  The public schools are supported by funds raised partly by the State, and partly by the county or the township.  They are frequently called common schools or free schools.  It is the duty of the State to provide all children with the means of acquiring a plain English education, and the State discharges this duty by dividing the county into districts of such size that a school-house and a public school arc within reach of every child.