88o Rural School Leaflet. 



FOR ALL TEACHERS 



In December there will be a meeting of the Science Teachers' Asso- 

 ciation of New York State at Syracuse. There will be at the same 

 time a meeting of the New York State Teachers' Association. For 

 these meetings we hope to have some exhibition work along the lines 

 of Nature-Study Agriculture which has been prepared by the children 

 in our public schools. We hope that all the teachers who are working 

 with us will help us to make this exhibit a success. We shall be glad 

 to receive compositions, hand work, collections and the like that relate 

 to out-of-door life. It is hardly necessary to say at the present time 

 that we do not care to have the children make collections of birds' wings, 

 birds' eggs, or stuffed birds. We do not feel that for children in the 

 grades an insect collection is of special value. Our work stands for 

 the study of things as they exist in nature until such time as the student 

 specializing in some lines of work needs dead specimens for classifica- 

 tion and scientific study. We should like, however, collections of seeds 

 and plants neatly mounted, collections of stones, birds' nests, nests of 

 wasps, all kinds of insect homes such as galls and the like; several kinds 

 of galls can be found in the fall on the golden rod, oaks, wild rose bushes, 

 and other plants. We should also like specimens of hand work, par- 

 ticularly that relating to the out-of-doors and schoolroom equipment, 

 such as kites, markers for garden plats, bird houses, sleds, skees, book- 

 shelves, tables, terraria, window boxes, and the like. To give a bit of 

 encouragement to the work, we shall send a book to each of the ten 

 schools sending us the most complete exhibit. 



CHILDREN'S LETTERS 



We want to encourage the children to write letters to the University, 

 but we feel it may decrease their interest in the out-of-doors if the matter 

 should be forced in any way. If they can become interested in persons 

 at the College of Agriculture who want to help them to know more about 

 countr}^ life, they may be glad to write of some of the things that interest 

 them. We feel, however, that many of the best young naturalists will 

 not like to be obliged to tell their experiences, for children are not usually 

 fond of writing letters. If during the year each pupil working with us 

 should write three letters, we shall feel sufficient effort has been made. 

 Let the children write whatever they care to. We shall not judge their 

 scholarship or the teaching in the school by these letters, but they may 

 help us to keep in touch with the child's point of view, and enable us to 

 plan our work the better to meet his interest and ability. 



