18 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE. 



upon . . . Anything like accurate or scientific knowledge of nature 

 which I may possess is of later date ; but my boyhood on the farm seems 

 to have given me the feeling and to have put me in right relation with 

 these things. Of course writing about these subjects also deepens one's 

 love for them." 



The proper order is nature first and then literature and art. 

 Clearly one of the teacher's duties is to introduce, at the appro- 

 priate time, the most beautiful and the most spiritual references 

 that he can find in literature to the nature-lessons studied. A 

 part then of the teacher's equipment should be a well-stocked 

 repertoire of the masterpieces in literature, and of the master- 

 pieces in art, that relate to nature. 



Choice Of Topics. — Pedagogically Nature Study stands 

 for a method of teaching rather than a quantum of subject 

 matter. A useful course may be made out of the geography, 

 physiology, arithmetic and agriculture taught in the schools. 

 The favorite lessons, however, particularly for the younger 

 classes, will be based on animate nature and these are the 

 lessons that may simultaneously exercise the sympathies and 

 train the observing and reasoning powers. Study of the 

 effects of physical forces, and of experiments upon inanimate 

 matter, will receive increasing attention as the classes become 

 more advanced. But a series of topics cannot be graded on 

 the basis of age or experience. There are some truths about a 

 kitten or a star, for example, that can be discovered with 

 pleasure by the youngest pupils while there are others that 

 will elude the search of the oldest. The choice of subject will 

 be determined chiefly by the interest the pupils have or can be 

 led to take in it, and the availability of the material. Mr. C. 

 B. Scott, teacher of Nature Study in the Oswego Normal 

 School, says that he lias always found the interest of the 

 children the best guide in the selection of material at least for 

 the younger classes. The method of treatment, including the 

 suiting of it to the conditions, is under the teacher's control 



