NATURE CALENDARS 



By CHESTER A. MATHEWSON, Brooklyn Training School for Teachers 



The prime object in the construction of these calendars 

 is to stimulate the observation of common normal ob- 

 jects and processes out-of-doors. Incidentally many other aims 

 are fulfilled — individual field-work, self-expression keeping act- 

 ive the ''tentacles of inquiry" of the child's mind, and the ap- 

 plication beyond the doors of the school of numerous nature- 

 study lessons learned with the teacher. 



Teachers in various grades and in different schools will find 

 it convenient to use diverse means to attain these ends. They 

 may have the simple blackboard calendar with symbols to in- 

 dicate rain or snow, fair or cloudy, hail, warm days and cold, 

 etc. In the upper primary grades this may be varied by having 

 symbols to represent observations following chronologically the 

 progressive changes incident to spring or the retrogressive 

 changes incident to fall. These again may be constructed indi- 

 vidually, by groups, or by entire classes. The first is perhaps the 

 best, but the teacher can exercise more control and supervision 

 over the latter, and it may therefore be more efficacious in arous- 

 ing the interest of the average pupil. Nature writers have long 

 emphasized the necessity of teaching the subject by actual con- 

 tact with nature, but many teachers without special training and 

 others whose training has been too "special" have failed to see 

 the chance afforded in calendar work for giving the pupil a 

 background of the first-hand nature lore which may be used ef- 

 fectively in the class-room. 



Not all of our materials in nature-study are equally good 

 for the calendar studies ; on the other hand some are exceptional- 

 ly useful. The teacher who is on the alert will soon find out what 

 materials are most suited to her class, and plan accordingly. 



One of the very best subjects for such study is the trees. 

 In our cities trees seldom reproduce themselves, and they are 

 subject to manifold dangers unknown to them in their natural 

 habitat. Whatever can be done by way of arousing interest in 

 them and spreading knowledge about them may further their 

 growth and preservation — and who is there who does not pre- 

 fer to live where there are trees in plenty along the streets ? Trees 

 afford good materials for this work because of their ubiquity, 

 their perennial character and their size. Whether we are asking 

 a fall calendar or one in the spring, the trees are always at hand 



