ADOPTION AND AUTHORIZATION

In accordance with the provisions of section 4 of chapter 1 of the School Code of 1915 (section 3242 of the Revised Laws of Nevada, 1912, and amendments thereof) defining the powers and duties of the State Board of Education. the within course of study for the elementary grades of the rural public schools of Nevada is hereby adopted and prescribed, and said Board hereby authorizes and instructs the Deputy Superintendents and all school officials and teachers to enforce its use in all such schools in accordance with the directions of this Board and of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

EMMET D. BOYLE,

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION:

Governor.

JOHN EDWARDS BRAY,

Superintendent of Public Instruction.

A. W. HENDRICK,

President of University of Nevada.

FOREWORD

The framing of a course of study for the rural schools of a State is no small undertaking. As the average school term in said schools in Nevada is only about seven and one-half months (it is less than seven in a majority of our States) and it is desirable for many reasons to provide for completing the commonly accepted eight grades of the elementary school in eight years, it was found necessary to eliminate considerable portions of some of the texts, retaining only the essential parts. These eliminations it has been felt could best be made in arithmetic, geography, and history; and accordingly this plan has been followed.

In the preparation of this course the State Board of Education has had the able assistance of Deputy State Superintendents G. E. Anderson, B. G. Bleasdale, James V. Comerford, Bertha C. Knemeyer, and George E. McCracken; and the valuable suggestions of several rural teachers; and it has utilized some of the many good features found in the course of study for other States.

In its preparation for use in the schools of Nevada the purpose has been to meet as far as possible at this time the advanced educational ideas of our country as to the needs of the rural elementary schools, and especially as to the needs of the schools having only one or two teachers. It is hoped that it may have a beneficial effect in enriching and strengthening these schools in making rural school work more practical and interesting, by adapting said work considerably to the needs and interests of the home and the community.

The arrangement of the work by subjects instead of by grades has been made with the purpose of bringing each subject before the teacher as a whole. The work of the elementary school is a unity, and the grade limits are only artificial dividing lines arranged for convenience of supervision. Intelligent teaching cannot be done by a teacher who is not aware of the relations of the particular part of a study she is teaching to that which has preceded and that which is to follow. It is believed that she will be more likely to acquire and have this knowledge under an arrangement by subjects than by grades, and, as in most of the schools of our State each teacher has to handle several grades, a large majority of the teachers will find this arrangement more convenient than otherwise.

Believing that the children of Nevada's rural schools are worthy of the best advantages for securing the highest and most efficient training given in public schools, and recognizing the need of more practical

work in the elementary grades, we have made an earnest endeavor so to arrange a minimum of needed work that all the subjects appropriate for these grades may be introduced and the work readily completed by normal children in an eight-year course of not less than eight months yearly. The hearty cooperation of teachers, school officers, and the general public is essential to the success of any educational system, and we earnestly bespeak such cooperation in the work for which this course of study is planned.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this course of study for the rural elementary schools is to set forth a simple, definite, yet elastic, plan of work to be followed from year to year until a practical common-school education is obtained.

I. Rural School Defined:

A rural school as understood in this course of study is defined as a school with one or two teachers. The classification is determined by the number of teachers, whether the school is located in agricultural or mining communities.

II. Specific Aims:

First-To include in the course the things that are required to be taught in the rural schools.

Second-To preserve and perfect the graded plan of the schools so that the work may be done to the best advantage and with the least possible friction.

Third-To distribute the work properly and to simplify and make more definite the use of text-books and supplementary books.

Fourth-To unify and economize the work of the schools.

Fifth-To enlarge the scope of effective aid now given by expert supervision. In no field of endeavor is efficient supervision so important and essential as in education. The Department of Education aims to keep in close touch with the work of the schools in order to give efficient aid and counsel to teachers and school officers.

This is largely the work of the Deputy Superintendents and is done through personal visitation and examination of schools supplemented by correspondence and a definite system of records and reports.

III. Work of a Grade:

The work of a grade as arranged in this course of study includes the minimum amount of work to be done in the school year of eight consecutive months of twenty days each.

IV. School Hours and Intermissions:

School is to begin promptly at 9 o'clock a. m., closing each day at 4 o'clock p. m., for five days each week. There are to be two recesses, not to exceed fifteen minutes each, and not to be less than ten minutes each; and an intermission of not more than one hour and a half and not less than one hour at noon.

Children in the first and second grades should have an extra recess