160 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



The Trail School is little more than a name, plus 

 results. There is no organization, no staff; no 

 opening, no closing. It has no courses of study, 

 no set times for study, no set tasks, no grade cards. 

 The children follow any interest that appeals, and 

 when it appeals. They are never asked to pursue 

 anything distasteful, in fact, any given subject 

 or for any given period. There are no recitations 

 and no examinations. Competition, as ordinarily 

 known, does not exist. There are no prizes for 

 excellence, no honours for advancement. 



Each child is too busy acquiring additional facts 

 to concern himself about having more or less than 

 his companions. He is not studying for a prepara- 

 tory school or for college. We strive to see to it 

 that these children continually use their faculties, 

 honouring facts rather than authority. Books we 

 highly prize, but their place is made wholly second- 

 ary and incidental. 



Information given the children is tied up with 

 life, connected with neighbours, and given a place 

 or a part in things going on. The following will 

 show our usual way of answering a question : 



Walking along the summit of a rocky ridge, we 

 rounded a cliff and came upon an aged and pic- 

 turesque tree. One child asked what all wanted 

 to know, the name — what kind of tree it was. 

 We speculated concerning the life of this old tree; 

 wondered concerning storms that had struck it. 

 We noticed that its arms were long — so long that 



