232 METHODS IN TEACHING 



which nature has surrounded man, as the physiographic and 

 mathematical features; under the latter belong the condi- 

 tions with which man has surrounded him- 

 Divisions of ir ... 



Geography self > as those Plaining to commerce, agri- 



culture, government. Development of civ- 

 ilization is to a great extent dependent upon environments ; 

 but a child begins his study at the other end of the evolu- 

 tion, with results instead of causes, with the realities around 

 him that are the results of man's efforts, passing later to the 

 natural conditions and laws that govern his surroundings, 

 and that promote or retard his development. The newer 

 teaching recognizes what the older treatment overlooked, 

 that the study of geography must be based upon material 

 within the experience of the child, for all knowledge is con- 

 crete or it has a concrete standard of comparison. In order 

 to secure this knowledge, to widen the child's mental hori- 

 zon, to add to the sum of his experiences, to establish units 

 of comparison, two ideas have come to take the lead in the 

 methods of prominent teachers of geography, the excur- 

 sion and the establishment of a type form. That is, obser- 

 vation and representation. 



Seeing is more than believing to the child; if it is the 



right kind of seeing, it is also knowing. In geography, the 



excursion is seeing, it is getting informa- 



Excursion t ^ on at ^ rst nanc *- Two thoughtful objec- 



tions are urged to the excursion, the diffi- 

 culty in maintaining discipline and the great amount of time 

 needed. Does not true discipline, however, take cognizance 

 of the real child, training him for his life work? The 

 excursion tends to put the real child under the eyes of the 

 teacher, an opportunity not lost by an observant, sympa- 





