SELECTION AND SEQUENCE OF MATERIAL. 315 



he does not get it he loses interest. After a change 

 he may return to the old material with added in- 

 terest. His interests are extensive, rather than inten- 

 sive. 



As the child grows older, as he gains a larger stock 

 of facts, as he learns to relate these facts, and begins to 

 realize the complex interrelations of nature, the depen- 

 dence of each phenomenon upon all about it, his inte- 

 rests become more permanent, and he learns, or should 

 learn, to concentrate his attention. Then he is fitted 

 for more thorough, detailed work. His work should 

 now become intensive rather than extensive. He 

 should study much rather than many. 



The mental acquisitions as well as the interests of 

 young children lack permanence. Much of the work 

 has to be repeated over and over again before it makes 

 a lasting impression. This is less the case in what is 

 gained through the senses, as in nature study, than in 

 what is merely memorized. But the matter which is 

 most essential needs to be presented and studied again 

 and again. Particularly in parts of the work requiring 

 considerable power of discriminating between essentials 

 and non-essentials and some breadth of view, as in the 

 grouping or classification of plants or animals, children 

 will not grasp it all nor master it all at first, no matter 

 how carefully the work is done. It must be repeated 

 again and again, the children gaining more each time. 

 For this reason it will be found helpful, particularly in 

 the earlier years, to study important or difficult matter 

 for two or sometimes three years, each successive year 



