Construction Work for Rural and Elementary Schools Part 13

By this time the ground was in condition to be worked. Which should we do first, spade it up, or lay it off? We decided that we would first dig up the entire plat and level it. Now, in s.p.a.cing off, should we begin at the center or from opposite ends? The advantages of each method were strongly advocated, and finally, the children themselves concluded that it would be easier to measure for the center and s.p.a.ce off from that point.

Stakes and cord had been brought. Children stood at the sides and ends of the garden. The middle points of the sides were determined and connected with a cord, and likewise the two ends. The intersection of the cords was the center of the plat and here a stake was driven.

Attaching a cord to this stake two feet along the cord was measured and a small stick tied there. Using the cord as a radius, a circle was made and the middle bed staked off. Next the three-foot path to opposite ends was marked off, then the center one-foot path to opposite sides.

This much accomplished, s.p.a.cing the rest of the plat was easy. Two small boys, with lines and stakes, marked off the remaining portion and when the ends were reached the measurements were found to be accurate.

The paths between the beds were next made and the ground prepared for planting.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A SUGGESTION FOR RECESS HOUR]

After spading, leveling, and thoroughly pulverizing the native soil, we added a top layer of foreign soil as a fertilizer. The latter came from a compost heap of street sweepings which had been standing two years and was supposed to be nutritious. As it turned out, however, this soil contained little nutriment and was productive of more fine weeds than fine vegetables, and it required much labor to fight these enemies.

Now came the seed-planting, which was intensely interesting to the children. Rows twelve inches apart were marked off across the beds and the seeds planted according to the relative height of the plants which they would produce, those that would grow tallest being placed next to the fence, and the rest graduating to the center; thus:--

Fence Corn Pole Beans Peas String Beans Lettuce Radishes Lettuce Parsley Flowers

First came corn, three grains to a hill, the hills twelve inches apart.

Then pole beans, three beans to a hill and these hills separated twelve inches. Next we planted two peas in a hill and made the hills six inches apart. The string beans were planted just as the peas had been.

Then came a row of lettuce, next radishes, a second row of lettuce, and last parsley. The end of the bed was left for flowers. On Arbor Day, in the cla.s.sroom, we had sown tomato and lettuce seeds in boxes, that we might have the plants ready for transplanting when our outside soil was in condition. The lettuce plants turned out satisfactorily, but, for some unaccountable reason, the tomatoes were a failure. To replace the latter, we took a corner bed in the garden, divided it into three sections and planted tomato, onion, and cabbage seeds. In five weeks the tomato and cabbage plants were large enough to transplant, and, as the radishes and lettuce matured and were used, tomato and cabbage plants were put in the vacant places.

Two pumpkin seeds were planted in each bed, but if they both came up, after the plants had reached a good size, the weaker one of the two was weeded out (as the bed was too small to support both) and the stronger one left to bear fruit.

Why had we planted onion seed? One of the boys had brought an onion and asked if he might plant it in his bed, and if it would produce other onions. I explained to him and then allowed him to plant the seeds in the supply bed at the same time that he planted the onion in his own bed. The onion planted produced seed, while the seeds sown yielded the small sets for the next year's planting. Thus by the act of one child the fact was clearly demonstrated to the cla.s.s that fruit produces seed, and seed produces fruit.

The supervisor had given us a wren-box, made by a child in a more advanced cla.s.s as manual work. The children were delighted with the gift; they built a framework around a stout pole in the center bed and set the wren-box on the pole. They then suggested that a vine should cover this framework. Consequently, j.a.panese morning glories were chosen as the vine and the remaining s.p.a.ce in the bed was filled with marigolds, nasturtiums and coleus.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A GARDEN IN THE YARD OF A CITY SCHOOL]

The seeds being planted, the work in the garden was at a standstill until the plants appeared, then systematic visits began. The cla.s.s was divided into three groups and two children were a.s.signed to a plat. We worked in the garden on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for half an hour each day. Thus, each group had its day once a week regularly.

Finding that it was impossible to direct satisfactorily more than twelve children at a time, I devised the above plan, which worked admirably. To go to and come from the garden took a half-hour, and with half an hour's work there the child was away from the cla.s.sroom one hour a week. This allowed ample time to keep the beds in order, for two children were apportioned to a bed, and these two went on separate days, so that each plat was worked twice a week.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GARDEN BEDS AROUND THREE SIDES OF THE PLAYGROUND]

The first crop of peas and of beans were gathered as vegetables. When the plants ceased to bear a second planting was made and the yield from this was left to mature as seedlings. When ripe, the seeds were gathered and carefully put away in the sectional seed-boxes which the children had constructed for the purpose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ANOTHER SECTION OF THE SAME GARDEN]

The children took care of the garden during vacation, gathered the vegetables as they ripened, and with pardonable pride carried them home to their parents. The parents, in turn, were gratified and as much interested as the children. Several of the boys had individual appliances made by their fathers for use in the garden. Often on Monday mornings would come the account of the Sunday walk with mother and father, the visit to the garden and how much the parents admired it.

One instance occurred which proved the value of this garden work and showed how devoid of a knowledge of vegetable growth many city children are. I noticed a boy digging around the root of his tomato vine as though he were searching for something. I asked what he was doing.

"I want to see if there are any small tomatoes there," he replied. As the fruit of the radish had come from under the ground he expected to find the tomato there, too.

The value of educating the child through his self-activity was proved in several instances, one of which I will mention. A large boy of the fourth grade, though a poor student, was placed on the list of garden children and proved to be the most industrious and active child of the group. Why? His father was a baker; the boy worked in the bakery until eleven every night; slept until four, then arose and delivered goods until eight, and was in the cla.s.sroom at nine. Is there any wonder that this child lacked energy as a student? When he was removed from the confinement of the cla.s.sroom the pure outside air acted as a tonic, his interest was awakened and his work well done.

This same child, whenever relieved of home duties out of school hours, spent the time in the garden instead of devoting it to play. He hauled a quant.i.ty of sh.e.l.ls with which to pave the paths, and brought all the sod we needed to form a firm edge around the center bed. Can there be any doubt that this boy was benefited?

There is a social side to this industrial outside work which is superior to that of the cla.s.sroom.

First: The teacher has but a small number of children under her care at one time; consequently, she is enabled to learn more of each individual nature.

Secondly: The child is under no apparent restraint, so expresses himself freely and shows his natural self.

Thirdly: The boys and girls mingle with one another with the same freedom that they have on their own playground.

In the two months spent in the garden not a single child took undue advantage of the privileges allowed, and the opportunity afforded the teacher for the study of child-nature was of great value.

Some one might ask, "While garden work is being done, does not the work of the cla.s.sroom suffer?" No, it does not. When cla.s.ses are taught in sections, this outside work may be fitted in as a sectional part and the routine be kept intact.

In summarizing, the lessons developed from garden work were these: Science (soil physics and seed germination); geography; arithmetic; spelling; English; drawing, and construction. The greatest benefit to the teacher was the chance to study the child under natural conditions.

The greatest benefit to the child was his awakening to a knowledge of things by personal contact. I sincerely believe that the after-life of each one of these children will be the richer for this experience of outdoor study.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GATHERING THE VEGETABLES]

In some of the school yards the pavement near the fence has been removed, and the s.p.a.ce divided into small beds for gardening. Many of these gardens make a fine showing and you will find here three pictures of such a yard, ill.u.s.trating what may be done within the limits of the playground of a city school. When you consider that between six and eight hundred children play in this yard at the same recess time every day, you can appreciate what it means to yield a portion of the limited s.p.a.ce to vegetables and flowers; and, since these plants are never molested, how much the children are pleased to have their playground so decorated.

Nearly all the garden products may be correlated with the cla.s.sroom work. The kindergarten children use peas in construction. The peas raised in the garden may be applied here. The first-grade children use lentils in construction. Why not as well use pumpkin seed and grains of corn--the product of the garden? Every cla.s.s enjoys having a Jack-o'-lantern at Hallowe'en, so here again the pumpkin from the garden comes into play. In the construction of miniature wagons and wheelbarrows of paper, peas may be soaked and used as axles for the wheels. Both peas and beans may be soaked and given to the small children to string for chains, thus teaching number and s.p.a.cing. Every layer of husk (beneath the outside one) from the ear of corn may be dried and made into a basket by the more advanced pupil.

If a city teacher, with opportunities so limited and numberless disadvantages, can accomplish even a little in this line for the children in her charge, how much more should the teacher of the rural school accomplish when she has s.p.a.ce at her command, children in the environment of country life, and seemingly all things that tend to work together to produce good results!

So much interest is shown in this phase of industrial work all over the country that I doubt that there is anywhere a teacher who does not wish to add the study of it to the curriculum, unless she is already working along these lines. Feeling sure of the sympathy aroused in every teacher's heart, I have included among the ill.u.s.trations of this article three scenes from rural school life. (See pages 113, 115, and 117.)

In connection with these pictures let me say a few more words to the rural teacher. You may think yourself much poorer than your city co-worker, but the fact is that you are the one of affluence, she is the struggler. You have all about you the materials that a city teacher can secure only at second hand. All the riches of nature are at your command--the birds that nest at your door, the fishes that swim in the brook, the gra.s.ses that grow by the roadside, the trees of the forest, and the flowers that spring up everywhere; the ground s.p.a.ce for your garden; the intelligent child of country environment who does not need to work the garden to learn how vegetables grow, but who does need to work it for the education, the aim and object of school gardens. If you are not interested in such work, try doing it once because you should.

Next year there will be no should; love will lead you on.

I have the same feeling in my heart about the school garden that the poet who wrote "The Little Fir Trees" must have had about them. Each stanza winds up with

And so, Little evergreens, grow!

Grow, grow!

Grow, little evergreens, grow!

I would say:

And so, Grow, school gardens, grow!

Grow, grow!

Grow, school gardens, grow!

The three pictures, "Studying Nature," "A Flower from the Country" and "A Suggestion for Recess Hour," came to me from a country school. They speak so vividly for themselves that I feel that each one carries with it its own message and appeals so strongly in behalf of the deepest love of nature in even the youngest child as to point to the possibilities of what might be when this love is fed and made to grow with the physical nature of the child.