PRINCIPLES DETERMINING METHOD. 175 



Is the color of the upper and lower surfaces similar? 

 How are its veins arranged ? How far out into the 

 lobes do they extend? What kind of a margin does 

 the leaf have? How many main parts? What kind 

 of a base ? But from such work pupils get little train- 

 ing in real connected observation and description, and 

 no training in connected thinking. If they are really 

 observing their leaves, they cannot listen to the constant 

 string of questions ; if they listen to the questions, they 

 cannot observe. They cannot relate successive ideas 

 about the leaf and the essence of thinking is thus 

 relating ideas for ourselves because the teacher does 

 all of the relating, such as it is, and drags her pupils 

 with her. We cannot train children to observe and 

 think by such a process any more successfully than we 

 can teach babies to walk by carefully lifting their little 

 feet one after the other, and pressing each down at the 

 proper distance in front of the other. 



To train the boys and girls in connected, related ob- 

 servation and description, it is much better, with the 

 buttercup leaves in the hands of all the children, to ask 

 one pupil to tell all that he can about his leaf, have a 

 second and perhaps a third tell all about his own leaf, 

 noting any differences or errors of observation or of 

 statement, and adding as many new points as possible, 

 and then have the class correct and complete the de- 

 scription. In beginning such work, it may be wise or 

 necessary to have the pupils discover the features to be 

 observed, and then, under the guidance of the teacher, 

 arrange these in order, and formulate a plan for de- 



