Rural School Leaflet 



1105 



like. Books and bulletins may be used for reference and suggestion, 

 but the real education in this work will result from actual experience in 

 the out-of-doors. The school enterprise must be planned in such a way 

 that it will appeal to the young folk as important. Farm boys and girls 

 are not much interested in doll gardens on the school grounds. 



In coimtry districts there is much need of a home garden on the farm, 

 and the boys and girls should take care of this. Fresh garden vegetables 

 for the home table will contribute to the well-being of the family. The 

 teacher who encourages this effort is doing a fundamental work in a com- 

 munity. There is need for a home fruit-garden. An interesting work 

 would be to find out the most desirable variety of grape for the locality 

 and teach the children how to procure and plant a cutting. 



Boys and girls, with help at home and the encouragement of the teacher, 

 can do much in rai.sing poultry. Some teachers have fostered a small poultry 

 enterprise at the school. This has aroused interest in home poultry. 



It is not the amount but the character of work done in nature study 

 and elementary agriculture in the rural school, that is important in edu- 

 cation. Studies in these subjects for young children should lead to out- 

 of-door interests and activities, in which the boys and girls take part 

 because they enjoy them. Teachers often hesitate to introduce such 

 subjects from a mistaken feeling that the children may know more about 

 them than the teachers themselves do. It is true that many boys and 

 girls have some knowledge of the natural world and of agricultural practices, 

 but, for the most part, this knowledge is superficial and general, and they 

 need to see that there is much that they have never learned. Teachers 

 and children can work together and learn together, and this is, perhaps, 

 the very best way. A large nmnber of rural teachers are accoinplishing 

 excellent results by suggestion and encouragement in this work for the 

 most part outside of school hours. Simple competitions in outdoor 

 quests in natural history, and in some farm or home practices, will bring 

 a wholesome interest into the schoolroom for days and often for weeks, 

 and will result in a closer relation between the children and their sur- 

 roundings. If encouragement is given in practical lines of study, the 

 parents will often become interested, and the school and the home will be 

 working together in the education of the boys and girls. 



