life, that they help us to attain.]

Children are, as a rule, wholly dependent upon their parents for
their living. But during their period of dependence they are
gaining skill and experience, in school and otherwise, that will
later enable them to earn their own living and that of other
people who may, in turn, become dependent upon them.

As adult life approaches, there comes an increasing desire for
independence of others, to have possessions, own property, or
accumulate wealth. Our VOCATIONS, or occupations, by which we earn
a livelihood, come to occupy a prominent place in our thought, and
to a large extent control our activity. Doubtless most of those
who read this chapter have begun to think more or less seriously
about what they are going to do for a living. Some may be already
doing so, in part, or helping to earn that of their families. Boys
and girls who live on farms are especially likely to have a share
in the work by which the family living is provided; but most boys
and girls have more or less regularly "earned money," even if they
have not considered it necessary for their living. An inquiry in a
large, first-year high school class disclosed the fact that the
girls of the class, quite as much as the boys, were thinking of
their choice of vocation. More avenues are open to girls to-day
than formerly by which to earn their living outside of the family;
but even the management of a home is a business as truly as the
management of a farm or factory, and is an exceedingly important
factor in the earning of the family living.

What part, if any, do you have in helping to earn the family
living?