i 2 66 Rural School Leaflet 



boy won $3.50 at the county fair for a mounted collection of weeds. It 

 was surprising how interested the parents became. I would often refer 

 some question to the parents by requiring the child to ask for information 

 about the locality of some tree, weed, or other object, and would ask 

 the opinion of the parents on many points. 



" I was anxious to bring the home and school close together. We 

 organized a real school society called ' The 3 M's;' our motto is, " Better 

 minds, better muscles, and better morals." The object is to develop the 

 three sides of the nature. A club song and yell were composed. We 

 have buttons of gold, red, and blue. I gave the girls sewing lessons to 

 make pennants. We have quarterly election of officers. This election 

 awakens great interest, as it is considered an honor to become officers 

 because they have supervision of the school garden and always assist 

 in the management of the socials and entertainments. We gave one 

 play which was arranged specially for ' The 3 M's,' to show the object 

 of the club. We generally give our entertainments at the school build- 

 ing, but this was given at the church by request. The play was written 

 to bring out the thought that the mission of ' The 3 M's ' is to brighten 

 up the dark spots in our town. They certainly gave their song and yell 

 with a vim and true school spirit. They acted the three scenes without 

 a mistake. The parents certainly felt proud of their school club. 



" After observing school garden work under the direction of Mr. 

 Hawkins at the normal school, I was very anxious to have one in my 

 school. We have very large school grounds, therefore a garden would 

 not deprive the children of their needed playground. Our school garden 

 has been a decided success. We have both vegetables and flowers in 

 one garden. Nearly every child here has a home garden besides. The 

 money for all the seeds has to be earned by each individual, who reports 

 how he or she earns it. We send flowers to the sick and vegetables to 

 the fair and we also have an exhibit at school. What remains we feed 

 to our school pets, our doves and rabbits. We have many bird houses 

 on the grounds. We feed our school squirrels during the winter. 



" I find the school garden no trouble during vacation, but rather a tie 

 to hold the school and home closer. I make occasional visits to the 

 garden during my vacation and never find it neglected. It gives the 

 children a sense of responsibility and moulds character by demanding 

 self-reliance. It gives the children practical training for the eye and the 

 hand. Each child keeps a record of the development of the garden in 

 a book called the ' Garden Book.' Each child writes for a seed catalogue 

 and uses the colored pictures in relation with the lessons on each crop 

 in one garden. For example: we have a detailed study on corn, and all 

 notes, observations, drawings, and developments are placed in the garden 

 book. The diagram map and complete record of all crops are made in 

 the book. In this way we study practical agriculture. This brings 

 school and home into closer relation by giving the child application in 

 the home garden of what he has learned at school. I ask advice of the 

 parents and always consult with them, making them feel that our school 

 is trying to learn and gain information from all points. We receive 

 the bulletins from Washington, Geneva, and Cornell. The children are 

 delighted with their intercourse with the State College. The parents 

 made a special effort to have the children go to hear one of the lecturers 



