Where in the world do your students get their misconceptions-their superstitions about menstruation? From thousands of years of hearsay. As far back as Pliny, the menstrual function was blamed for blighting crops, rusting iron, killing bees. Such facts are an interesting part of a comprehensive teacher's manual on menstruation, "How Times Have Changed."

And they're an important part. For once your students are exposed to many superstitions, they recognize their own. Equally important is an exact understanding of the menstrual cycle-fully explained in this guide, with anatomical charts and diagramsand further explained, in everyday language, in a student's leaflet, "It's Natural-It's Normal."

This kit is complete-covering the whole subject of menstruation from the most ancient superstitions to the most modern development-internal sanitary protection. Send for it today.

Stories featuring the article by Dr. Boydston and myself in the Nov. 1955 issue of the JOURNAL were sent last month to more than 200 newspapers and radio stations by the Southern Illinois Athletics Publicity Office.

Special wire stories were sent to the Associated Press, United Press and International News Service with these services extending the overall coverage to more than 1,000 daily newspapers.

The Associated Press re-wrote the story our office sent them and sent a ten-paragraph article out on its national sports wire-the biggest sports coverage Southern Illinois has had this year.

ROSS MERRICK,

Asst. Dean, Col. of Educ.
So. Ill. Univ.

Mr. Merrick refers to the article, "How Will Widening the Free-Throw Lane Affect College Basketball?" ★

DEAR EDITOR:

I have studied Dr. Margaret Fox's critical report of the Kraus-Weber Tests of Minimum Muscular Fitness as reported in the JOURNAL, Sept. 1955, and should like to direct a few remarks by way of reply.

1. I do not, from a kinesiological point of view, understand the statement on the increase in psoas failures accompanying an increase in strength of abdominal muscle groups. The literature as far as I am able to determine does not support the idea that a fixed pelvis, due to the holding strength of the abdominals, will be a disadvantage to the work of the hip flexors. On the contrary, a fixed pelvis would appear to provide a more secure lumbar spine for the anchoring of the hip flexors. Movement described as hypertension of the lumbar spine is actually produced by a pelvis (sacro-lumbar joint) not held secure by contracting abdominal muscles. This is the psoas actually reversing its classically described action of hip flexion.

strength. This would seem to be a commonsense observation in view of the anatomy and kinesiology of the area involved.

3. The reference to growth changes as possibly affecting the high flexibility failures in American children interests me. In our study we found that in 32 retests of girls rated as deficient in flexibility only 9 were rated as still deficient after the exercise and games programs. Six weeks is not a long enough period in which one can expect growth changes to significantly affect the results of such a test. It seems sensible to believe that again it was exercise that accounted for the improvement.

4. Assuming that American children grow faster as a result of better nutrition, as was suggested, it is interesting to note the improvement in flexibility that we observed in six weeks time among both girls and boys from (49% to 29%; from 55% to 36%). Also, it would seem that American boys, because more of them fail the flexibility test, are better nourished and therefore grow more rapidly than American girls, because the latter have a lower rate percentage of failure (flexibility).

5. Anxiety has been reported as a cause for tension in muscles. If we think skeletal muscle contraction as tension and reserve the term anxiety to describe the multiple, and in many cases the unidentified factors which may act as stimuli to these muscles, the great number of flexibility deficiencies among American children takes on a slightly different meaning.

6. As to warm-up, or as was indicated, the desirability of providing additional trials on the flexibility test, I would comment as follows:

It is understandable to me that muscles should be tested "cold" if their elasticity is to be determined in an effort to know how they will respond in daily activities where no warm-up, as such, precedes the movements. It has been my experience that children and adults do not voluntarily engage ir activities when they cause an uncom fortable feeling in the muscles due to the demands calling for stretch in muscles that are foreshortened, either by over-development or anxiety, th latter imposed on children during long day at school with inadequate op portunities for large muscle activities

As I understand it, the purpose o the flexibility test is to determine th elasticity of the muscles (back an hamstrings). It is not to test th child's willingness to exert himself un der trying conditions (discomfort i stretching muscles). In some 16 year of coaching high school and colleg athletes, I have come to take a dir view of the athletic potential of thos individuals who must be motivated be yond the normal, inherent love for contest. Boys and men in good physica (Concluded on page 40)

FEBRUARY 1956, JOURNAL C

City.

.Zone....State..

think are the most important things to do in order to keep well and happy. The teacher, as a member of the group, contributes to the discussion and assures the final accuracy and completeness of the statements.

Pupil-teacher planning has many values and may be handled in different ways. The whole class may participate from the beginning; a small group may serve as a panel and begin the discussion; the teacher may have a pupil advisory committee who will be responsible for finding out what the other members need to know and are interested in learning. The advisory committee gets suggestions from the group, reports its planning to the group for approval, and checks its plan against the "map of values" furnished by a carefully constructed health course of study or a health text based on extensive curriculum research.

KNOWING WHY

As children grow older they become less and less satisfied with a bare statement of what they should do to be healthy; they want to know "why." Many youngsters say, "If teachers and parents would tell us why we should do these things, we'd be more willing to do them." Some children tell about learning health

tractive personality and personal

appearance.

Even more important to teen-agers is the example of their friends and others whom they admire. It is hard to resist the influence of the groupto be a good example instead of following their bad example. This tendency toward over-conformity in a group is something we must work to counteract.

KNOWING HOW

Sometimes even though a person has the desire and the knowledge, he lacks the technique-he does not know just how to do the healthful thing. He must be taught the process. With little children, dramatization or role-playing of home and school situations may show just how, for example, to brush and rinse the teeth after each meal.

Elementary school children are always eager to act out plays and stories. Everyone may have a part in these dramatic readings. The good readers may read the more difficult parts and the narrative portions. Slow learners have a motive for reading short parts well. A non-reader can play a part that requires practically no reading. It is essential that these dramatizations be followed by discussion to highlight important points and help pupils apply their new knowledge to their own lives.

DOING THE HEALTHFUL THING

To get children to carry out an activity at school is relatively easy. All during the school day there are many opportunities to practice healthful living. After reading about ventilation, they can check to see whether their room is at the proper temperature. A committee may be appointed each week to see that the room is properly ventilated. After reading about the care of the eyes, they should check their own eye hygieneare they, for example, holding the book up rather than laying it flat on the desk or table? The noon lunch, of course, provides many opportunities for practicing good food habits.

At home, it may be more difficult to do the healthful things one learns about at school. Sometimes the children can educate their parents. Since

most parents are interested in hearing their children read, it is a good idea to let them take home their health books.

Pupils should keep health charts for themselves, not for the teacher or for a star or any other extrinsic reward; these charts will help them to get started on certain good health habits and show them the progress they are making. The keeping of a chart is often an aid to getting the act performed.

GETTING SATISFACTION

Finally, the child should get satisfaction from doing the healthful thing. We all need to get satisfaction from putting forth our best ef

fort and from doing the things we know we ought to do. There are wide individual differences in the sources of satisfaction. To the little child, the approval of his mother and his teacher is very important; the preadolescent prizes the approval of his friends much more than adult approval; the adolescent is eager to be liked by the opposite sex.

PROBLEM-SOLVING

These six steps in the learning process parallel quite closely the steps in the problem-solving method. Pupils should discover important problems with the help of the teacher. They may write compositions on such topics as:

My most serious health problem. Accidents I have had and how they might have been prevented.

What makes me most happy; what makes me most unhappy.

How I feel about growing up. They may make a food survey, study the causes of accidents or illness, or find out why children are absent from school. Many problems are brought out in group discussion or are highlighted by some event that has just occurred in the class or in the community.

In the lower grades, the teacher may make an experience chart summarizing the main points as the children give them. This chart may serve as a stimulus to reading, to organizing ideas, to seeing sequences of thought. Older pupils may have a class secretary who takes responsibility for recording their discussion

If the matter under consideration is a community health problem, a committee may be appointed to take action. When they have solved the problem, their satisfaction in accom plishing the task or reaching the goa may be reinforced by publicity in th school or local paper and by recogni tion and approval by the person who are important in their lives.

TRANSLATING KNOWLEDGE

All of these steps in the learnin process are important; none shoul be neglected. The trend is toward us ing a problem-solving method wit real-life problems in each grade. Thi is the way to translate knowledg into healthful living. ★

EACHING GOLF in a small in

door area presents many problems. One of the most common is the decline in enthusiasm once the students have received some instruction in the important techniques. They get the feeling that they have learned all there is and, consequently, the instructor has difficulty in maintaining a high level of interest.

For many years, the author tried everything to revive interest. But, no matter what was done, there was no success in snapping the students out of the doldrums until game situations were introduced.

However, even target games cannot hold the students' interest indefinitely. After a while, they yearn for actual play on a golf course. Since this is often not possible, the solution may be found in utilizing the targets already in use, approximating many of the conditions found on the golf course by means of a game called Target Golf. The students enjoy playing it day in and day out.

OBJECT OF THE GAME

of club. He proceeds in accordance with his ability to score on the targets until he holes out on the putting mat.

The number of strokes required to complete the playing of the hole represents the player's score for that hole. Each of the 18 holes must be played to complete the round of golf. The holes vary in difficulty, which makes it possible to bring into play all of the clubs in much the same manner as on a golf course. The player's score is determined by the total number of strokes required to play the 18 holes.

THE COURSE

An element of realism is introduced by having the completion of play of a set of targets represent the playing of one hole on the course. By varying the length of these imaginary holes, it is possible to utilize all of the clubs. The 18 holes listed, with their yardage and par figures, have proved very effective in this respect.

THE TARGETS

The targets may be painted directly on the wall or on light canvas. They should be arranged side by side, so that the longer shots may be played at one end of the room and the shorter shots may progress toward the other end.

For all shots 200 yards in length or longer, the target consists of a series of rectangles each within the other. The distance of the teeing-of mat to the target will depend on the length (or width) of the room. Both the drive and the fairway wood shot should be played at this target. Th numbers on this target represent th distance that the player's shot ha presumably traveled. (Note: If drive of 200 yards is beyond the leve of the class, all the distances on th targets may be revised accordingl and the course adapted to the skill o the class members.)

Target 1. Wood Shots (200 yd. or more)

200 YES

175 YDS. 150 YDS.

125 YDS.

100 YDS.

Tee

The targets for both the fairw iron and pitch shots are similar, c sisting of a series of squared-off There are three driving-off mats each of these targets. The one to used depends on the distance player has to go to complete the h The effectiveness of the player's s is indicated in percentage figu Thus, for example, if a player's s lands in the 40 per cent area of target, he gets credit for having g 40 per cent of the distance he set to cover.

1 See "Make Your Own Indoor Golf A by Anthony E. Orlando, in this JOUR Feb. 1955, p. 10.