A SURVEY OF NATURE -STUDY IN NEW JERSEY 



By EMMELINE MOORE 

 State Normal School, Trenton, N. J. 



In general, it may be said, that nature-study is not yet prop- 

 erly amalgamated into the curricula of the schools of New Jersey. 

 But viewed in the light of experiences through which other 

 States have passed, this unsettled condition of things is not 

 unusual or exceptional. 



In some sections of the state a lethargic attitude toward the 

 subject has prevailed for a long time; in others, the over-ambi- 

 tious program in nature-study has fallen into a state of innocuous 

 desuetude; and in still others, the energy of teachers and super- 

 intendents has been expended largely in dodging the issue. 

 Nevertheless a majority of the leading educators of the State 

 have recognized, from the first, the value of nature-study and 

 have persisted in giving it a place, even though it has not always 

 been an adequate one, in the school curriculum. 



Despite the general indifference in certain localities, it is 

 apparent that the State has made slow but definite progress in 

 nature-study. Moreover, it is a significant fact that the recent 

 wave of industrial education has very materially accelerated 

 the pace throughout New Jersey. 



Reports from county and city superintendents show that 

 nature-study appears in a more or less general way in all but 

 three counties of the State. A deplorable condition brought to 

 light by these reports is that very little nature work is being 

 done in the smaller towns and rural districts, places where it 

 should from the very nature of the subject receive the most 

 attention. In many schools, also, where' nature-study is 

 scheduled it is dropped in the upper grammar grades. 



As a rule there are outlines or syllabi, infinite in variety and 

 purpose. In some instances these are based on a topic of local 

 interest. In other cases the work is apportioned to cover a broader 

 field by giving attention, and very properly so, to the biological, 

 geographical, and physical phases. In still other outlines, 

 the work is vast enough in scope to do credit to a university 

 course. It is evident, too, that much work which passes for 

 nature-study resolves itself into reading, language, or drawing 

 lessons. 

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