1048 Rural School LeafLei*. 



caressed by the winds. The minnows play in the pools. The soft 

 weeds grow in the shallows. The grass and the dandelions lie on its 

 sunny banks. The moss and fern are sheltered in the nooks. It comes 

 one knows not whence; it flows one knows not whither. It awakens 

 the desire of exploration. It is a realm of mysteries. It typifies the 

 flood of life. It goes " on forever." 



" In many ways can the brook be made an adjunct of the schoolroom. 

 One teacher or one grade may study its physiography; another its 

 birds; another may plat it. Or one teacher and one grade may devote 

 a month or a term to one phase of it. Thus the brook may be made 

 the center of a life theme." — L. H. B. 



If the children will keep a record of their observations in a book which 

 they might call the " Brook Book," their combined study will prove 

 valuable not only for the class but for children who come to the school 

 in future years. We should be very glad to receive copies of Brook 

 Books made in rural schools this year. 



In preparing the Brook Book the children should study the follow- 

 ing: The extent of the brook; the width of the brook; something about 

 the brook bed; the shore lines; the trees and wild flowers that grow 

 on its banks; the animal life within it; the farm lands that lie in the 

 neighborhood of the brook; the country homes near and the persons 

 that live in them; the finest farm near and why it is the best. 



Some of the boys and girls may like to press some of the wild flowers 

 that grow near the brook and add these to the Brook Book. Study of 

 this kind gives a real living interest and will be a source of pleasure to 

 the children through the coming years. 



Let the boys and girls commit to memory some passages about brooks 

 by authors who have known and loved these water ways. I would 

 suggest " The Brook," by Alfred Tennyson, " In the Haunts of Bass 

 and Bream," by Maurice Thompson, in which are the lines 



" Bubble, bubble, flows the stream. 

 Like an old tune through a dream." 



" Green River," by William Ctillen Bryant, is a good poem to learn 



If there is no brook near the school building, some ideas similar to 

 the above may be followed in connection with A Hillside, A Country 

 Road, A Bit of Woodland, A Fence-row. 



Bread-Making. — Whether the children live in the city or the country 

 they should know something of bread-making. In private homes 

 one eats but little really good bread. If intelligently taught, girls will 



