The rural school, its methods and management

Preface

The present treatise on school methods and management is intended for teachers in the elementary country schools and for those in normal and high schools who expect to go into the rural schools to teach. The writer has studiously avoided all suggestions especially applicable to the management of city schools, and has purposely confined himself to such plans and methods as will be suited to the country school. While consolidation is an important movement, and many more weak districts should be united, yet in many parts of the United States the time is far distant when the one-room country school will, or should, be discontinued. A one-room school in the rural districts, taught by a competent teacher, is still a good place for a boy or girl to get the elements of an education.

The United States Commissioner of Education reports that in the school year 1907-1908 there were five and one half million school children and one hundred thirtyfour thousand teachers in cities of four thousand or more population; in the outside districts, there were eleven milHon children and three hundred sixty-one thousand teachers. In the state of Kansas there are two and one third times as many children in the one- and tworoom schools and nearly five times as many teachers, as there are in the cities and towns maintaining graded systems of schools. From the above it seems safe to conclude that in the United States there are twice as

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VI

Preface many teachers in the rural schools and nearly twice as many children. But, up to the present time, the emphasis has been placed upon city school management and city supervision, and many of the suggestions offered do not fit rural conditions at all. It is the country teacher, especially, who needs instruction in management. The one-room rural school with the six to nine grades and twenty to twenty-five or more classes, is a much more complex institution to manage than is the one room of a city system. And if it were not, the city teacher is placed at a much greater advantage than the country teacher, for if assistance is needed, the city teacher may call to her aid the principal of the building, or he may consult the superintendent. On the other .hand, the country teacher must be at the same time teacher, principal and superintendent. When in need, she may on Saturday drive ten or twenty miles and interview the county superintendent; or, if in dire distress, at the risk of her reputation as a teacher, she may ask that the superintendent come to her school and assist in settling some difficulty.

But an awakening interest in rural schools is evident on every hand, and many are coming to believe not only that there should be better supervision in the rural district, but also that the boy and the girl of the country should have as good school privileges as the boy and the girl of the city. The environment of the country school is better, the health and vigor of the young people of the rural district make them more receptive of educational advantages; there is less to distract from the school and its interests; yet many of the schools of the country are far behind the schools of the city. The truth of this statement is proved by the fact that many farmers move to town every year that they may send their children

Preface

Vll to school. Again, six months of school in the country are not the equivalent of nine months in the city, and this is about the proportion of educational advantages offered in many of our states. In order that the country child may have as good school privileges as the city child, the country must have better schoolhouses and equipment; better supervision and more of it; longer terms of school; courses of study in harmony with rural conditions; and better teachers who have been trained for rural school work.

Besides school management the rural teacher needs to know better methods, especially in primary subjects. Realizing this deficiency, a few chapters in primary methods, by Miss Stone, have been added, which are adapted to the work of country schools.

Out of an experience of many years as a teacher in rural, village and county high schools, and as a teacher of teachers, have the pages of this book been written; and it is offered to the public with the hope that it may add its mite to the improvement of rural schools.

A SUGGESTION

While this book is intended primarily for elementary teachers, a more advanced study of the subjects contained in Part One may be had by supplementing the study of the book with the use of the reference bibliography which follows each chapter. Such a course, well done, will give advanced students quite a comprehensive view of Rural School Management.

HOKACE M. CULTER.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In treating so many subjects as are contained in this book, it is not to be supposed that any one or two persons can be authority on all. As the reader peruses these pages, he will observe that many persons have contributed to the contents of this book. To these the authors express their grateful appreciation.

But special acknowledgment is due Joseph H. Hill, president of the Kansas State Normal School, for his hearty encouragement throughout the preparation of this volume; to Professor R. H. Ritchie, head of the Speech Arts Department of the Kansas State Normal School, for his careful work in correcting the manuscript; to Professor Frank A. Beach, director of music of the Kansas State Normal School, for writing the chapter on Music; to Professor W. G. Lewis, formerly professor of physics, for the chapter on Nature Study; to Mrs. Emily K. Hoelcel, for many helpful suggestions and for her work in criticising the chapters on Methods; to Mr. C. J. Brown of Louisiana for valuable suggestions; and to Wilhs H. Kerr, of the Kansas Normal School library; to the Smith Heating Company and to the Waterman-Waterbury Heating Company for illustrative material, and to many others who have so kindly made suggestions and contributed material for the various chapters of the book. They are deserving of a share of credit for whatever merit this volume may have and for whatever success may attend it.

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Part I RURAL SCHOOL MANAGEMENT CHAPTEB

PAGK

I. The Rural School a Laggard 1

II. School Site and Grounds 5

Choosing the Site — The School Grounds — A School Plant.

III. The House 13

The Need of Better School Buildings — Three Types of Houses — Equipment.

IV. School. Hygiene and Sanitation . . . 28

Precautions against Germs — Correcting Physical Defects — Lighting and Seating — Ventilation.

V. The Teacher — His Qualifications .... 45 Physical Equipment — Mental Equipment — Attention to Business Details.

VI. The Teacher — His Personality .... 56 The Development of a Strong PersonaUty.

VII. The First Day ... • • ^^- ^ ; ; ^^

Preparation for the First Day — Methods ot Procedure for the First Day.

VIII. The Daily Program . . . • • • • 71 The Study Program — Arrangement of Classes.

IX. The Recitation . . • ■ ■, : v ,, • ^^ Purposes of the Recitation — Mechamcs of the Recitation.

X. The Recitation (continued) . . ■ / , • .• ^^ Devices of the Recitation — Methods of the Recitation — Induction and Deduction.

XL Teaching Pupils How to Study v. i • * ^^^

Stages in the Art of Study — Hints on Studying.

XII. Play and Playgrounds . ■ . c r. ^ au ^A ^^^

The Function of Play — How the School bhould Provide for Play.

ix

X Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

XIII. The Library and Its Uses 125

Acquiring a Library — What to Buy — Using the Library — Suggested Plan of Organization for Small School Library — A Working Library for Country Schools.

XIV. School Government 143

Aids to School Government — The Infliction of Punishments — Corporal Punishment as Viewed by the Courts — Placing Pupils on their Honor — The Psychology of Motor Activities — The Use of Incentives.

XV. School Ethics 159

The Need of Ethical Teaching — Methods of Ethical Teaching.

XVI. Agriculture in Rural Schools .... 169 Overcoming Obstacles — Outline of Work for a Rural School — A Lesson Plan — School Gardens — Contests and Clubs — The View Point of the Country.

XVII. Duties of the Teacher . . . . . . 184

To the District — To Pupils — To the County Superintendent — To the Neighborhood — To Self.

XVIII. The Opportunity of a Rural Teacher . . 200 The Lesser Opportunities — The Great Opportunities — What Has been Accomplished by Teachers in Country Schools.

XIX. Consolidation . 222

Changed Conditions — Origin of the District Unit — Evils of the District System — The Larger Unit — Reports in Regard to Consolidation in Several States — Standardization of the Schools — Requirements for a Standard School.

Part II RURAL SCHOOL METHODS

I. Primary Reading . 245

Importance of Reading — Kinds of Reading — Methods of Teaching Reading.

II. Primary Reading {continued) 254

The Combined Method — Practical Suggestions.

III. Language Work 266

Elementary Grammar — Language Proper.

Contents xi

CHAPTER

PAGE

IV. Busy Work, What and How 282

Busy Work for Younger Pupils — Busy Work for Older Pupils.

V. Numbers 295

The Number Idea — Objects of Number Teaching.

VI. Learning to Write 310

Teaching the Beginners — Materials — Discussion of Methods.

VII. Drawing 319

How to Begin — Perspective — Scene Drawing — Suggestive Drawings for the Different Months — Paper-cutting and Design.

VIII. Music 337

Importance — Equipment — Teaching in Groups — Appreciation of Music.

IX. Physical Science . .349

Interest of the Subject — Lesson I: Why Hot Air Goes Up the Chimney — Lesson II: Physiology — Lesson III: Air Pressure — Subjects for other Lessons — The Fairy .Children of the Ocean;

X. Geography 360

Suggestions for Oral or Primary Geography — Map Study — The Text Reinforced — Advanced Geography.

PART I RURAL SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

Chapter I THE RURAL SCHOOL A LAGGARD

Some writers and lecturers are inclined to picture the rural school of to-day in a decadent and dilapidated condition. They would lead us to believe that the country school of our forefathers was a much better school than the country school of the present time. Although there are a f«w respects in which the schools of three or four decades ago were better than the schools of the present, the truth seems to be not that they were, necessarily, better schools, but that they were more nearly on a par with the conditions of country life.

In many respects, the twentieth-century rural school is far in advance of the schools of the nineteenth century. The houses are better, and better equipped; the teachers, though younger, are better educated; the curriculum is richer and more nearly adapted to the needs of child life; the school term is longer and the advantages of school are more nearly within reach of every child. There remain comparatively few of the old log or sod schoolhouses of pioneer days. Modern furniture has replaced the uncomfortable and unhygienic furniture made by our forefathers. The painted blackboard has given place to a good composition blackboard or to real slate. There are more maps, charts and illustrative material than were in use in the old school.

The true basis of complaint is not that the rural school has not improved, but that it has not kept and is not keeping, step with the onward progress of our civilization. It is a laggard in the race with its sister, the city school.

While city school boards have been willing to expend large sums of money for good locations for buildings, in some instances paying fabulous prices for land and even going to the roofs for garden space and play room, the rural school has been expecting some one to donate land for a site, and has been willing to go to an unfavorable location in order that forty or fifty dollars might be saved to the district. The city schools have planted flowers and trees, have made lawns and watered them, and have hired janitors for the whole year in order that these might be properly safeguarded. On the other hand, to a great extent rural communities have considered these things all right for the city, but have not even given them a thought as being a part of the country school equipment.

While the cities have been, and are still, putting thousands of dollars into beautiful school buildings, equipped with every modern convenience, sanitary and comfortable to the highest degree; the country has thought itself well equipped if it had a structure of the ''Box Car '^ type. Little or no thought has been given to lighting and heating according to modern methods. Although the city has been using single desks in its buildings for years, and is trying adjustable chairs and desks of latest pattern, the rural schools seem to think that the double desk is the only one manufactured. The city has invested much thought and no little expense in the architectural beauty of the buildings; the country seems to think that if the building is painted, sufficient money has been expended.

The Rural School a Laggard 3

While the city has been spending money freely in order to install sanitary closets, the country has just passed the stage of two-closets-in-one-building style, and has just reached the place where every school ground has two outhouses, one for each sex. No city plans a building without providing for a system of ventilation. Often a large part of the expense is for heating and ventilation, — some even washing the air before forcing it into the schoolrooms. Yet, up to the present time, the friendly cracks have furnished inlets for most of the fresh air in country school buildings.

While the cities are demanding well educated and thoroughly trained teachers, often not accepting a teacher until he has proved himself by two or three years' experience; the country has been giving these teachers opportunities to make their initial trials in its schools, and, if they are successful, it has allowed them to go into the city, simply because the city would pay more than the country was willing to pay. This has resulted in giving the city the advantage of the experienced teacher and, as a rule, the teacher of strong personality.

While the cities are spending millions for playgrounds and their equipment, the country has done almost nothing along this line. The cities are buying land in the heart of the most populous districts, establishing play centers there and furnishing superintendents and directors of play. Up to the present time most people have thought that play has but one beneficial result, — that of furnishing exercise to the individual, and that the country boy and girl get plenty of exercise in their work, and therefore need no play. '' The country is dominated by work.^' It has lost, in large measure, the play spirit and has too often substituted evil and vice; until no longer is the country a safe moral retreat for boys and girls.

While the cities, under great disadvantages, have been teaching nature, the country has done Uttle, though surrounded on every hand by nature's handiwork. While all city schools, worthy the name, have libraries more or less well equipped, many schools of the country have ,no semblance of one, not even a dictionary. While the cities long ago realized the importance of consolidation and concentration of forces, in order that expert supervision might be employed, the country is just beginning to realize that the consolidated school is a desirable type for rural communities.

' But there is a brighter day coming for rural education. School men everywhere are thinking, talking and planning for the rural school. It is beginning to be realized that there are advantages to be derived from life in the country which cannot be duplicated by city life; that the country school, though a laggard, has some good features which, if utilized, make for good citizenship and noble manhood. No well informed person can deny that the product of these country schools has resulted, in many instances, in the highest type of American manhood and womanhood. All that seems to be needed, in order to bring the country school to a degree of efficiency commensurate with its opportunities, is an awakened sentiment on the part of country people which will demand for the rural schools of this country, (1) a better and more efficient organization, (2) closer and more effective supervision, and (3) more competent and better trained teachers.

As stated in the preface, it is not within the province of this book to treat all these subjects; but rather to limit the discussion to methods and management, adapted to rural conditions, so that the young teacher who goes into the country may be forewarned and forearmed.

Chapter n

SCHOOL SITE AND GROUNDS CHOOSING THE SITE

Selfish Motives. — Where the schoolhouse shall be located has been the source of numerous contentions, which, in many cases, have lasted for years. Ofttimes these contentions have set neighbor against neighbor, and have resulted in great detriment to the school interests, because they have been fostered by selfish motives and have not been based on broad economic and hygienic principles. In the selection of the present sites for schoolhouses, one idea seems to have prevailed, and that idea has been to get the schoolhouse as near to '^ my farm " as possible. Apparently, no thought has been taken with regard to the suitableness of the soil, slope of the ground, or its elevation or depression.

The Idea of Centrality. — Although the house should be located near the center of the district, there are other considerations. This principle of centrality is not so binding that, in order to place the house in the center of a district, it be located in a pine woods or in the middle of a pasture, where the children will be in danger of being maimed .by the cattle, and where it can be reached only by leaving the public highway; or that it be set on top of a hill where nothing except a few rocks have been able to remain, the thought being, no doubt, that since nothing else will grow there, surely the tree of knowledge will; or finally, that it be situated in a low, marshy place where the mud will be a source of annoyance and inconvenience for a large part of the year.

The schoolhouse ought to be located near a public road, in a place accessible to all in the district. The soil ought to be the richest the district affords, such, at least, as will produce grass, flowers and trees. This will preclude the

THERE SHOULD BE A PLOT FOR A SCHOOL GARDEN hilltop where there is no soil. It should not be in low swampy ground, but in a place well drained. The people should realize that as they are establishing a plant in which to grow boys and girls, everything ought to be of the highest quality available.

Size. — The regulation size of the school ground in one western prairie state is one acre. Provided that the school is small and there are no large boys and girls that need room for their various games, and provided that no attention is to be paid to experimental agriculture or

School Site and Grounds 7

school gardening, this is large enough. If the pupils are to play " ante-over/' " black man " and '' tag," this plot will do. But if there are to be flowers, trees, a place for the little ones to play, and a playground for the older ones, an acre is not enough. If there is to be a plot for a school garden, a piece of land for experimental agriculture and room for stables for the horses of those who drive to school, an acre is not nearly enough.

For a good-sized district school, there ought to be from an acre and one half to two acres; for a consolidated school or a very large district school, especially where agriculture and school gardening are to be taught, there should be not less than three acres. This will give room for the house, playgrounds for the little folks, tennis court, baseball diamond, stables and sheds, plots for agriculture and gardens.

THE SCHOOL GROUNDS

Plan of School Grounds. — Where feasible, the house should be situated at a crossroad. It will then be more accessible to patrons of the district, and a corner makes a better location for the grounds. The house should be placed near one corner of the lot, leaving a small L-shaped place between the house and the sides of the lot for trees, grass and flowers. A four-foot walk should lead from the road to the main entrance. This may be made by using two-by-fours for the edges, and filling in between with coal cinders and salt. This will in time pack into quite a hard surface, and is much better than no walk. The cost of such a walk is insignificant. Of course, cement or brick is the better material.

If the water-closets are to be separate from the building, a walk should lead to each from its side of the house.

The closets should face in the same direction as the house. In front of each and extending back on the sides next to the house, there should be latticework completely screening the doors from the road and the house. Morning-glories, or some other vine, may be planted to run over this latticework. Good screens may be made by using common boards in place of the latticework. These should be capped by a two-by-four and a strip of moulding, and the whole should be well painted. Vines here and at a window or over the coal house will add much to the looks of the yard. The well should be located at one side and convenient to the front door. The stables and sheds should be at the back of the lot.

Trees. — A school ground will not be complete without shrubs and trees. Why are there not more trees around schoolhouses? Simply because no one has been interested in having them planted. Who must make the start? The teacher will have to be the prime mover in the enterprise. Let the teacher call to his assistance the boys and girls of the school. Getting them interested in planting a tree is worth as much or more than the planted tree. Old men like to plant trees, young men do not seem to have time, or think that it will be too long before the tree will mature. The old men and the young people of the school can be interested in observing Arbor Day. In his book '' Among Country Schools," Supt. O. J. Kern has this to say about observing Arbor Day: " Let us observe Arbor Day in every school with appropriate songs and exercises; but let us not forget to plant when planting needs to be done. For schools whose premises are treeless the proper thing to do would be to dig rather than sing, if only one could be done in a day. What is the use of singing about trees and ending with that, when planting and caring for trees is needed?

School Site and Grounds

" No, Arbor Day has not been observed in the proper spirit, when some afternoon a Uttle boy recites, ' What Do We Plant When We Plant the Tree,' a class of girls sing, ' The Brave Old Oak,' and then all go to work on

THE UMBRELLA TREE A good shade tree of the South

the arithmetic lesson, leaving the ground as desolate as it was before.

The kind of trees to be planted will be suggested by the trees that grow in the neighboring forests and are cultivated for shade in the dooryards of the neighborhood. In many parts of the middle west, the problem is not so much what to plant, as how to get the trees to live after they are planted. Of course where there is not rain during the summer months, and scarcely any during the winter, trees will not grow without irrigation. In the semi-arid districts there are three ways of growing trees: first, by watering them; second, by cultivating the ground, keeping down all the weeds and keeping the surface of the ground loose and mellow; third, by mulching with a heavy coat of straw or hay, or something that will conserve the moisture that falls. The first of these plans could be used for a few trees by having a windmill to pump the water; then, if the ground were so arranged that a ditch would lead the water from one tree to another, with a very little care the trees could be watered throughout the summer. The second way is hardly practical in the ordinary district, but the third could be easily carried out. One mulching a year would be sufficient.

The hardiest tree for the western plains is the honey locust. It will live through more drought, and will survive with less care than any other that has been tried. The catalpa also survives well under adverse conditions.

In planting trees, the playgrounds should be preserved. They should be planted around the outside of the grounds, in the corners, and about the outbuildings. Nature plants her trees in clumps, and Nature knows how to make them look well.

A School Site in the Timber. — In many parts of the South and in other timbered districts, the question is not so much one of planting trees and getting them to grow, as it is a problem of clearing a place for the schoolhouse. Too often the clearing is just large enough for the house, no room being provided for school garden and playground; nor is any thought given to the attractiveness of the place. What an advantage these conditions

School Site and Grounds 11

offer over those in the dry prairie districts where it is hard to get trees to grow! A little forethought, leaving a tree here and one there, digging and transplanting a fewnative shrubs and vines, rounding out this corner and covering that unsightly place, will produce a veritable Garden of Eden in the midst of a forest of trees and furnish a picture lesson for every home in the vicinity.

A SCHOOL PLANT

When the rural school comes into its own, when it furnishes the education which the country needs, when patrons and school officers realize the possibilities of the school, there will be, not a schoolhouse, but a school plant. This will consist of a plot of ground, a house, a barn, a home for the teacher, and such other accessories as the occupations of the community may demand. The house will be fitted for the occupation of a modern school, a place where the various lines of work needed under present changed conditions can be performed. Manual training, domestic science, basket- weaving, agriculture, etc., besides the usual program of the school, will enter into the consideration of the plans for the house and of the selection of the grounds. The teacher's home will be a neat modern cottage fitted for the use of the teacher and his family. The barn or stable will be for the accommodation of the teacher, and those who ride or drive to school. The plot of ground will consist of ten or more acres which will be used for playgrounds, school gardens, experimental agriculture, etc., and will make possible work along lines which will be significant. A gasoline engine, a pump, a dynamo and a pressure tank in the basement of the schoolhouse will make possible sanitary water-closets, and shower baths and electricity with all of its conveniences. With no extra expense, except for piping and wiring, these conveniences may be carried to the teacher's cottage. Somewhere on the grounds, either in the basement of the schoolhouse or in the teacher's kitchen, a motor could be installed which would run a cream separator, a churn or a Babcock tester, a washing machine, sewing machine, a vacuum cleaner, or whatever other machinery might be desired.

Under these conditions instruction could be given in the household arts, dairying, farm management, etc., by the teacher, or in case of a consolidated school, by some two or more of the teaching force.

In some instances there could be located on the school site a cannery, a drying kiln, a shop of some kind, or some other community interest. The school grounds should also be the place where the young people may gather for their games. Here should be the meeting place of the literary society, the Sunday school, the Farmers' Union, the Mothers' Club, etc. It should, in fact, be the social center of the whole community.

Barry, Hygiene of the Schoolroom (chapter 1). 1904. Silver, Burdett & Co. $1.50.

Brown, Ornamentation of School Grounds. This may be obtained from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Baton Rouge, La.

Fairchild, School Buildings, School Grounds, and their Improvement. This may be obtained from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Topeka, Kansas.

Foght, American Rural School (chapter 9). 1910. The Macmillan Co., $1.25.

Kern, Among Country Schools. 1906. Ginn & Co., $1.50.

Chapter HI

THE NEED OF BETTER SCHOOL BUILDINGS

When Garfield said, " A pine log with the student on one end and Dr. Hopkins on the other would be a liberal education," he uttered it to emphasize the importance of the teacher, but not to minimize the need of a proper house in which the teacher may do his work.