1376 Rural School Leaflet 



Every boy and girl should have a vegetable garden at home. Later 

 in the year the editors hope to send a special leaflet on gardening to all 

 rural schools, in which this work will be discussed. 



Books. — One of the greatest needs in the country school to-day is that 

 boys and girls should have an opportunity to become intelligent readers. 

 Interest in good books will open up the world in far-reaching ways and will 

 give a resource for the future that all boys and girls in the country should 

 have. The rural school library need not be large, but it should be well 

 chosen according to the age of the pupils, and should contain a few works 

 of history, travel, poetry, and fiction, and a few good reference books in 

 nature study and agriculture, for boys and girls living in the country should 

 have intelligent knowledge of country surroundings. (See page 1433.) 

 The value of reading aloud to the boys and girls cannot be overestimated. 

 If the teacher will begin by reading fairy tales and stories that have an 

 absorbing interest, she will gradually be able to read aloud some of the other 

 kinds of literature that will be of lasting importance in the lives of the 

 young persons. Some teachers have read passages from the works of John 

 Burroughs, farmer and naturalist, and have afterward lent to the children 

 the books from which they read, thus giving to the pupils a new interest 

 in good literature and a desire to imitate one whose life is spent in joyful 

 appreciation of the out-of-doors. A brief talk on the work of John James 

 Audubon and the reading aloud of some sketch of his life, will increase 

 the interest in the study of birds and will also awaken an appreciation of 

 one who sacrificed much to do his work fundamentally and well. It will 

 be well to have the pupils commit to memory at least one good poem 

 during the year. Memorizing verse often develops appreciation of it, and 

 poetry should be a part of the education of every individual. 

 i, Exhibitions. — A most valuable way of arousing the interest of young 

 ■persons in any new work is to have exhibitions. There is educational value 

 in such endeavor, as the children nearly always make their very best effort 

 in preparing the individual exhibits, and they have opportunity to compare 

 their work with that of other pupils. The small school exhibits are doubt- 

 less as valuable as any, and the children should be encouraged to prepare 

 for them. An exhibit of fruit or com or of the eggs and feathers of poultry, 

 or a general nature study exhibit, will bring about a broader interest 

 than will many formal lessons in agriculture. Often schools prepare 

 exhibits for the county fair, and some for the State fair. Many send ex- 

 hibits to the State College for Farmers' Week. This year it is hoped that 

 each rural school in New York State will send at least one nature study 

 exhibit and two ears of com. (See pages 1378 to 1398.) These should be 

 sent to Ithaca by January 31, addressed to Edward M. Tuttle, College of 

 Agriculture, Ithaca, New York. 



