CHILDREN OF MY TRAIL SCHOOL 181 



so helps the imagination as the influence of nature 

 on the child's mind. When Captain Scott was 

 dying in the Antarctic ice-fields he wrote to Mrs. 

 Scott: "Make our boy interested in natural historv 

 if you can." 



Agassiz has said that a year or two of natural 

 history would give the best kind of training for 

 any other sort of mental work. 



Long ago Tyndall emphasized the fact that 

 first-hand facts and materials are infinitely more 

 valuable than those brought to us. Burbank has 

 repeatedly said that intimate contact with nature 

 is necessary for children. 



A trail school may be had anywhere. In any 

 nook where nature reigns she tells her story to all 

 children brought to her and they hear her enthu- 

 siastically. But a leader or teacher for each school 

 is the rub. Nature will appeal to children and 

 actively interest them unless blocked by the leader. 



A witty woman once said that the way to interest 

 children in good books is simply to expose children 

 to them. The chief means of interesting children 

 in nature is to expose them — to bring them into 

 contact with outdoor things. Every child has 

 an inherent interest in the outdoors, which with a 

 little tact may be tied up with any other interest 

 desired — books, a specialty, or with any and every 

 phase of life. 



