38 The Nature-Study Idea 



not study nature. The book should be a guide 

 to the animal or plant: the animal or plant 

 should not be a guide to the book. 



The teacher may need the help of a program 

 or consecutive purpose. The program, how- 

 ever, should not be a tabulated series of regula- 

 tions or a hard-and-fast system ; but there should 

 be some underlying educational principle or in- 

 tention running through every item of it. The 

 work may be informal and free without being 

 aimless. 



This immediate purpose or plan may be to 

 teach the progress of the seasons; the common 

 implements and simple handcrafts; the plant 

 life of the neighborhood; the bird life; the usual 

 insects; the heavens; the weather and its rela- 

 tions with man and animals; something of the 

 farming or industries of the region; one's own 

 mind and body and how they should be gov- 

 erned in the interest of good health; or some 

 other theme that will tie the work together. In 

 practice, the work will almost necessarily be 

 consecutive because the teacher will feel himself 

 competent in two or three lines and will devote 



