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Rural School Leaflet 



a good well, plenty of hay and fodder, and a little repair shop connected 

 with the barn, where boys might learn something of the trades that are 

 necessary for a farmer to learn. Inside the school there should be, in 

 addition to the assembly room, a kitchen, dining-room, and bedroom, 

 where the children might learn to cook their own dinners, wash dishes, 

 set the table, make the beds, and take care of the home. In such a school 

 as I have in mind, also, the teaching of the book should connect it directly 

 with the interests and problems of the locality. If the school is in a 

 community in which dairying is prominent, there should be a vital con- 

 nection between dairying and what is done in the schoolroom; if in a 

 crop-raising, coal-mining, cotton-raising, manufacturing, or potato- 



The rural school building on the Cornell University campus 



producing community, the same kind of connection should be brought 

 about between the schoolroom and the community." 



At the beginning of the school year it is always well for a teacher to 

 have in mind some specific improvements to be made before its close, 

 and to keep a record of each when it is made. This will give opportunity 

 at the end of the year for a survey of the work accomplished. Such a 

 record will be of value in succeeding years. Perhaps the following 

 suggestions, many of which have come from rural teachers, will be help- 

 ful in planning future work: 



In every rural district there should be at least two meetings of parents 

 each year, at which times the teacher may present her plans for the pro- 

 gress of the school and ask for the cooperation that will be needed in order 

 to work them out. Perhaps the most important subject for discussion is 

 the improvement of school buildings and grounds. If at the first meeting 

 a few simple, essential suggestions are given, there will be less difficulty 

 later in getting additional help from the district. 



