1026 Rural School Leaflet, 



NOTES 



What can the teachers of New York State do to 

 help in developing the interests of country life ? This 

 is the problem that the State College of Agriculture 

 wants to assist in working out" with the thousands 

 of teachers by whom better living in the country 

 must be taught. 



Agriculture has to do with the entire out-of-doors 

 and with the preparation of the people to find the resourcefulness of it. 

 The resources of the out-of-doors must appeal to the educational, the prac- 

 tical, the aesthetic, and the spiritual in man. Children living both in city 

 and country have to do with country life problems and therefore should, 

 to a certain extent, be trained to meet many of them. For this reason 

 valuable results ought to come from the present syllabus sent out by 

 the Education Department for uniform instruction in nature-study and 

 in agriculture throughout the State. This instruction provides in the 

 lower grades for out-of-door study largely from the point of view of the 

 naturalist and in the more advanced grades from the point of view of 

 the agriculturist. 



But while teachers in both city and country will be able to work out 

 the lessons suggested, it is the teachers in the country who will have the 

 best opportunity for country life lessons. The material is close at 

 hand and the country child has special need of this training that he may 

 make the most of the opportunities he has for educational development 

 through his environment. 



There must be spirit in all this teaching. School begins in the harvest 

 time. Every field is teeming with interest. What can the teachers 

 do to make use of the material at hand for developing the boys and 

 girls? Corn, potatoes, apples, fruits of all kinds, vegetables, nuts, give 

 material for awakening the senses, — touch, sight, smell. Quickening of 

 the spirit to the sounds of autumn will do much. No season gives 

 greater suggestion for color, for mystic atmosphere. No skies are 

 more wonderful than fall skies; no rains more glorious; no winds more 

 musical. So much does our educational work often warp the senses 

 of the children that they finally lose what they have in early childhood. 

 Let our work in nature-study keep and strengthen the kinship to 

 nature that is the birthright of each child. 



Wholesome competition is valuable in schoolroom work. Divide 

 the school into small groups, four to ten in each, and allow each group 



