DICKERSON 



] NA TURK- S TUB Y IN CITY PRIMA R Y SCHOOLS I o 7 



The primary boy or girl must know not merely the isolated wild 

 flower and pussy-willow twig, the plants growing in pots and boxes in 

 the schoolroom, his own small garden in his back yard and the trees 

 of the city streets, he must know nature's great and glorious garden, 

 the country. He must know the fields where the daisies grow and 

 the bobolinks sing; the brook that winds through the meadow between 

 borders of willows and alders where the redwings nest, — the brook 

 that is a home for frogs and fish and a bathing place for tanagersand 

 all manner of birds; the woods low and dense and almost impenetra- 

 ble, or high and open with a carpet of wild flowers and ferns, where 

 the drumming of the woodpecker can be heard. 



The country presents nature in her own environment, and this is 

 what the child must know. After a trip to the country he can go back 

 to his schoolroom nature objects with new interest and new under- 

 standing. The country makes a profound impression on the city 

 child who seldom sees it. What he saw and did fills very many of 

 his waking and sleeping hours and he looks forward with keen antici- 

 pation to "going again to the country." He does not see the beauty 

 of the extended landscape, the harmony of blended coloring, the 

 distant line of woods against the sky ; he is too young to see and 

 understand the great struggle for existence that is going on all around 

 him, but with his alert senses, he will see or hear and find more 

 flowers, nuts, frogs, bird-nests, etc., than we could find in twice the 

 time. 



How can nature-study in the schools introduce the child to the 

 country? In a suburban school the matter presents no problem, but 

 in a school near the heart of the city the question becomes most diffi- 

 cult. The present solution in a city of moderate size is that occa- 

 sionally field trips shall be taken by utilizing the shortest street-car 

 routes to the country. On these expeditions the teacher should be still 

 the teacher. The practicability of field trips varies greatly. Some 

 teachers can take large classes successfully, the possibility of doing 

 so depending partly on themselves and partly on the class in ques- 

 tion. However, in the majority of cases, it is best to take a small 

 number of children, twelve being about as many as can be handled 

 with the best results. 



There are a few important points to consider in order that the field 

 work in primary grades shall be most successful: ( 1 ) The teacher 

 should know in advance the locality to be visited and what things are 

 to be discovered. (2) She should have in mind a well-defined aim 



