1 6 Handbook of Nature-Study 



them to closer observation and to a better and more natural expression 

 of their experiences. 



THE CORRELATION OF NATURE-STUDY WITH LANGUAGE WORK 



ATURE-STUDY should be so much a part of the child's 

 thought and interest that it will naturally form a thought 

 core for other subjects quite unconsciously on his part. 

 In fact, there is one safe rule for correlation in this case, it 

 is legitimate and excellent training as long as the pupil 

 does not discover that he is correlating. But there is 

 something in human nature which revolts against doing one thing to 

 accomplish quite another. A boy once said to m.e, "I'd rather never go 

 on a field excursion than to have to write it up for English," a sentiment 

 I sympathized with keenly; ulterior motive is sickening to the honest 

 spirit. But if that same boy had been a member of a field class and had 

 enjoyed all the new experiences and had witnessed the interesting things 

 discovered on this excursion, and if later his teacher had asked him to 

 write for her an account of some part of it, because sJie wished to know 

 what he had discovered, the chances are that he would have written his 

 story joyfully and with a certain pride that would have counted much for 

 achievement in word expression. 



AVhen Mr. John Spencer, known to so many children in New York 

 State as "Uncle John," was conducting the Junior Naturalist Clubs, the 

 teachers allowed letters to him to count for language exercises; and the 

 eagerness with which these letters were written should have given the 

 teachers the key to the proper method of teaching English. Mr. Spencer 

 requested the teachers not to correct the letters, because he v/ished the 

 children to be thinking abaut the subject matter rather than the form of 

 expression. But so anxious were many of the pupils to make their letters 

 perfect, that they earnestly requested their teachers to help them write 

 correctly, which was an ideal condition for teaching them English. 

 Writing letters to Uncle John was such a jo}^ to the pupils that it was used 

 as a privilege and a reward of merit in many schools. One rural teacher 

 reduced the percentage of tardiness to a minimum by giving the first 

 period in the morning to the work in English which consisted of letters to 

 Uncle John. 



Why do pupils dislike writing English exercises ? Simply because they 

 are not interested in the subject they are asked to write about, and they 

 know that the teacher is not interested in the information contained in the 

 essay. But when they are interested in the subject and write about it to 

 a person who is interested, the conditions are entirely changed. If the 

 teacher, overwhelmed as she is by work and perplexities, could only keep 

 in mind that the purpose of a language is, after all, merely to convey ideas, 

 some of her perplexities would fade away. A conveyance naturally 

 should be fitted for the load it is to carry, and if the pupil acquires the 

 load first he is very likely to construct a conveyance that will be adequate. 

 How often the conveyance is made perfect through much effort and 

 polished through agony of spirit and the load entirely forgotten ! 



Nature-study lessons give much excellent subject matter for stories 

 and essays, but these essays should never be criticized or defaced with the 

 blue pencil. They should be read with interest by the teacher; the mis- 



