920 Rural School Leaflet. 



Will you not encourage your boys and girls to seek expert informa- 

 tion along lines that interest them? 



Here is another letter. Note the interest taken in sounds. 



Dear Miss McCloskey 



I was down in the woods I could hear a squirrel. I heard a partridge 

 drumming I could hear the crows cawing, 



I could hear the cars. When I was down in the woods I could hear 

 a funny hush through the trees. I could hear a man shooting a gun. 

 I heard a dog bark. I heard a man chopping wood I heard the leaves 

 when I would step in them. And when the man would chop a tree down 

 I could hear the twigs break off the tree. 



When the man would chop a limb off I could hear them strike the 

 ground. 



Yours truly, 



Glen McGrath 



Glen really caught the spirit of the out-of-doors and the letter sent 

 to us was worth composing and well worth receiving. 



We hope each teacher will realize it is most important to this work 

 that we receive letters from the children. We can not answer all the 

 letters personally but we shall try to acknowledge the receipt of them. 

 The teacher should always send us his full name and address with 

 each set of letters. 



Quotations. — It is valuable for the pupils to commit to memory good 

 quotations. These will be remembered and enjoyed in all the years to 

 come. Many a long journey has been made pleasanter by recalling 

 bits of poetry learned long before; and many a monotonous piece of 

 work relieved in the same way. Charles Eliot Norton says: " What- 

 ever your occupation may be, and however crowded your hours with 

 affairs, do not fail to secure at least a few minutes every day for refresh- 

 ment of your inner life with a bit of poetry." In the Outlook to Nature, 

 L. H. Bailey says: " I believe in the power of poetry, — in its power 

 to put a man at work with a song on his lips and to set the mind toward 

 nature and naturalness." 



Books. — It is not often that the habit of reading can be acquired 

 late in life. Teachers should keep in mind the responsibility that rests 

 with them in helping young persons to know and enjoy good reading. 

 The companionship of books is important. To lead any young child 

 to find it is to do a real service that will count for him and for all who 

 know him. Teach boys and girls to read, to visit the libraries and old 



