Rural School Leaflet 801 



the building a fit place for the children. They have helped to paper the 

 walls, and by means of paint and other inexpensive materials they have 

 demonstrated the satisfactory results that come from labor. If the children 

 take part in cleaning and improving the school building, they will be more 

 interested in keeping it in good condition. 



Books. — It is most important that children in the country should have 

 some good literature. Very few children in rural districts have much 

 opportunity for reading, and when these boys and girls go out into the 

 world they soon learn that it is difhcult for older persons to become ready 

 readers. The habit of reading should be encouraged in every possible 

 way. The children should have books that appeal to the imagination, 

 such as fairy tales, books of travel and adventure, and the like. They 

 should also have books that relate to the great out-of-doors, such as the 

 works of Burroughs and other nattu-alists. The older boys and girls should 

 know that there are good books written along the lines of everyday farm 

 practices and interests, and some of these books should be added to the 

 Hbrary. 



Poetry. — Every human life is enriched by a knowledge of poetry. It 

 keeps the heart young and the spirit attuned to the higher life. It creates 

 a taste for beautiftd, deep, holy things. Teachers do not always realize 

 how soon young children cultivate this taste if the teacher shows 

 interest. I have seen rural boys and girls look forward to the hoiir when 

 they recited together selections from Shelley, Wordsworth, and the others; 

 or poems that have a human interest, such as " Snowbound " and " Hora- 

 tius at the Bridge." They should be encouraged to commit to memory 

 passages from poems that are worth while. 



Out-of-door knowledge. — Every boy and girl, whether in city or country, 

 should be in sympathy with the out-of-door world. There can be no greater 

 contribution to mind and spirit and no greater resource for all future time 

 than the knowledge of natural objects and phenomena. The country 

 child has opportunity in all out-of-door study. This opportunity should 

 be used in every possible way. 



Agriculture. — It is most significant that at the present day persons of 

 education and wealth who have had the opportunity to investigate all 

 forms of education for their children are choosing agriculture as funda- 

 mental to preparation for life. It provides work with hands and mind 

 in a v/holesome, interesting form. To develop a practical agricultiu-al 

 work requires the essentials that make for successful life: creative power, 

 keen observation, accuracy, perseverance, attention to details, a business 

 sense, an appreciation of the needs of plant and animal life, a love of beauty, 

 a kinship with the out-of-doors. With a wise teacher, the fundamentals for 

 such development could be given on a half acre of groiuid connected with 



