68 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [9 :3— ^lar., 1913 



cool weather ; and it makes us test our seeds indoors to insure 

 against delay and loss after planting. In a word, it has made us 

 better gardeners than we might otherwise have been under 

 easier conditions. 



Agriculture for Rural Schools 



Arthur D. Cromwell. 



Why should we teach Agriculture in the rural schools ? 



Because : — ■ 



The whole child and not his head only should be educated. 



We should teach more in terms of the child's life. 



We should go from the known to the unknown and abstract. 



We should enrich the course of study, by teaching more of 

 the concrete, by making our school problems the child's life prob- 

 lems, and by giving motive to school work. 



We should give strength through doing something worth 

 while. 



We should teach Agriculture because it makes for better 

 citizenship, economically, intellectual!)- and morally. 



Some Principles of Teaching School Agriculture. 



School Agriculture is the study of liow to make a living in 

 the country. This living is partly industrial or economic and 

 partly social ; therefore the study of school Agriculture should 

 include both the economic and social sides of life in the country. 



We should teach from things largely instead of from books. 



We should prefer "bulletins" to books for bulletins are apt to 

 be nearer up-to-date and may be so selected as to be applicable. 



We should teach things to do instead of things to know. 



We should teach subjects in their seasonal sequence or fol- 

 low the dominant home or community interests. This enables us 

 to get material, to get interest and co-operation of parents, and 

 to teach children to do things in a systematic and orderly way. 



We should have pupils make '"booklets" on the lessons or 

 subjects. The "booklets" enable us to make sure that the pupils 

 understand clearly, correlate the work with other subjects; such 

 as writing, spelling, arithmetic, geography, etc. The "booklets" 

 enable us to make sure that the pupils organize their knowledge. 

 Then, too, the "booklets" make attractive records of the work. 

 These records may be used for school exhibits at teachers' insti- 

 tutes, farmers' institutes, grange meetings, county fairs, etc. 



