INTRODUCTORY. 



"And now comes to your mind the vital and practical question; 

 "How shall we present this nature study to our pupils?" "Shall 

 our already over-crowded daily program become further congested 

 by the addition of a new subject?" The good sense of the teach- 

 ing profession says 'No.' "Shall we throw out something and 

 put Nature study in its place?" Again the answer is 'No.' 



"Nature study comes not to destroy but to fulfill. It is not a 

 single subject to be classified and scheduled for so many hours 

 per week to be measured as to volume and quality by set recita- 

 tions and 'final examinations and percents. Since the moulds are 

 all full, why not let this one thing keep its natural form and 

 comliness?- 



"Some people take beautiful, fragrant apples and laborously con- 

 vert them into "buttar. " Shades of Pomona! And there are 

 teachers who would take Nature Study, flower of all the pedagog- 

 ies, having the dew of its youth and the beauty thereof, and system- 

 atize it till it fits into some scheme. 



"There is nothing formal or conventional or systematic about the 

 ideal Nature study lesson. The teaching of sciences is good in its 

 proper place. But this is the teaching of children. 



"Put away formality. Come down from your platform for a 

 little while. Sit down among the children with some interesting 

 thing in your hand and in theirs. Lead them to tell all that can 

 be learned about it by close observation. Lead them to find out 

 the significance of what they see. Do not exploit your own know- 

 ledge of a subject until all other resources are exhausted. It is far 

 more important to awaken an interest in the subject than to store 

 the mind with facts about it. Make Nature Study a recreative 

 exercise. It is not neccessary to have stated times for its recur- 

 rence. Fill in odd moments with it. It is wonderful to note the 

 revelations of truth and beauty which we get from the careful ex- 

 amination of the common, every day things that we used to con- 

 sider beneath our notice. 



"A very little botany will prepare us "to read the secret of a 

 plain weed's heart," and in such study we continually add to the 

 resources of life to our capacity of appreciation and enjoyment of 

 all that is going on in the great world out of doors. Knowledge 

 gained at first hand is doubly valuable, for with the knowledge al- 

 ways comes an educational blessing. And this blessing you know 

 how to bestow upon the children whose steps it is your privilege 

 to guide. 



" 'How much time shall we devote to Nature Study? 7 You 

 must answer this question yourself. If you have the nature love 



