wkight] NATURE-STUDY FOR THE CITY CHILD 99 



everything in life. How closely we must always be associated 

 with these first great principles. What a delight to have a love 

 for them. All would not care equally for the work, but why 

 should we want them to? We do not want all cut by the same 

 pattern. And at present this is what we do in trying to press 

 each child into the common mould. All would gain something, 

 though for some it would be indirect. Here is greater chance 

 for individual expression. Here is an additional opportunity 

 to watch the children show their natural tendencies, and so aid 

 in guiding them. Let us give the children an occasional chance 

 to browse, for it is then that the much desired personality has a 

 chance to develop. The city boy who will grow up wishing to go 

 "back to the farm" will have a chance to gain a few ideas to fit 

 him for such a step. Furthermore, the language of these sur- 

 roundings will reach those who speak no English. Here they 

 will see real living objects and want to know about them. 



Many of the best lessons will go on without a word spoken by 

 the teacher. When this is over, the time will be ripe for the regular 

 lesson. Many things the children can observe and will observe 

 when directed, but other things must be told them. The teacher 

 must have a wealth of knowledge even when she gives but a few 

 facts, and this knowledge must be a part of herself. This was 

 impressed on me in trying to give a fish lesson to a group of second 

 grade children. We had the fish in the center of our little group. 

 Then followed the volley of questions on my part. How does it 

 swim? How does it turn around"" How does it breathe? How 

 does it eat? What does it eat? Why does it live in water? 

 Then came the thought, what else is there to see? Perhaps the 

 children learned a little in that lesson. As a teacher, I learned a 

 great deal. The vital part of that lesson could not be expressed 

 in questions and answers. Was that fish a living, breathing, 

 essential part of the lives of those children, or was it merely an 

 object of curiosity set up in a glass dish for the children to observe 

 and, in a figurative way, pick to pieces? The best part came 

 while the children were watching and asking the questions them- 

 selves. As a teacher I gained an interesting and educational 

 keynote from the explanations the children gave each other. 

 Sometimes the lessons will be very short. When one has but 

 little material, don't wear that little out, stretching it to cover 



