CHAPTER II 

 THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF NATURE-STUDY 



THE child should be given such educational material as 

 suits his childhood interests and needs. This does not mean 

 to let him learn simply what he likes and in his own way. 

 He may like what is not good for him. The experience and 

 wisdom of his parents and teachers must be used in shaping 

 his education. The child's and the adult's view of education 

 need not be incompatible. The child should be so educated 

 as to live as completely as possible his transient childhood 

 years, but by the foresight and experience of his elders he 

 may also receive discipline of mind and character, and be 

 supplied with the knowledge necessary for adult life as well. 



When the mind is applied to the study of natural objects 

 and phenomena all its powers receive some discipline. In 

 the first place there is the power of observation, perhaps not 

 the highest faculty, and yet a very necessary and fundamental 

 one. For through the power of perception we learn of things 

 outside of ourselves. An infant devoid of this power could 

 not develop mentally. But this is the first faculty exercised 

 by the normal child. He begins in the cradle to observe 

 things by touching, hearing, seeing, tasting, and smelling 

 them. This is his first education. It is a well-known fact 

 that any of these senses can be made keener and more accurate 

 by practice. Contrariwise it is true that they become dulled 



