ON STUDIES MOST SUITABLE FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 1G3 



would give them invaluable opportunities of studying things in the open 

 which previously they had only heard of in lectures or read about in 

 books ? 



The extent to which the children of the city may be usefully and 

 economically transported to the country for purposes of education remains 

 largely unexplored. The Sunday schools have demonstrated the possi- 

 bility of taking large numbers into the country for a single day's outing. 

 The Children's Country Holidays Fund and the various seaside camps 

 held during the summer show how to arrange for a few weeks of 

 holiday. 



These arrangements have in view chiefly the great need for fre.sli air 

 and holiday. But of definite, directed educational use of the country we 

 hear little as yet. The question of extending the advantages of a country 

 boarding-school education to the children of the poor is coming up for 

 discussion. One large city is already casting longing eyes on the country 

 school-houses standing empty during the holiday weeks whilst the town 

 children pine for fresh air. A good deal might be done by hearty co- 

 operation between city and county educational authorities. Schemes are 

 mooted for sending out whole classes of city children under their own 

 teachers for a few weeks at a country school. Some voluntary help and 

 organisation, with special funds subscribed ad hoc, will probably be 

 necessary to carry these schemes through. 



We hear of one London Board school taking its scholars far afield, 

 and a provincial Board school has shown what brilliant use may be made 

 of the school-journey. Some of our secondary schools are emphatic as 

 to the usefulness of such journeys lasting more than one day. In 

 Switzerland they have a nmch more recognised place as a part of 

 general education. In our own elementary schools the difficulties are 

 largely financial. 



5. Collections. 



The collecting instinct is sufficiently strong at the ages we are dis- 

 cussing. The collector is often a naturalist in embryo ; he is, therefore, 

 to be judiciously led into the paths of progress. In certain directions — 

 notably bird's-nesting — restraint more than encouragement may seem 

 necessary ; but numerous recent books illustrated by photographs of 

 birds'-nests show the possibility of teaching children to watch without 

 destroying. The general line is to wean a boy gently from mere collecting 

 to collecting with a purpose ; to collecting and observing, and then to the 

 collection of observations in a note-book kept for the. purpose. Collecting 

 is a great help to accuracy of observation, and the boy who brings back 

 a collection of pebbles from the seashore or of grasses from a hayfield will 

 know far more about what he carries in his hand than a schoolfellow who 

 has never ti'oubled to pick up anything. Children may be encouraged to 

 try how many different sorts of wild roses they can find along a country 

 lane, and to write notes on their differences. 



The collecting instinct is a great motive power, if rightly directed. 

 It should be used to solve special problems. And if prizes are offered 

 they need not be for the largest or best collection of wild flowers, but for 

 collections illustrating insect pollination, or seed dispersal, or climbing 

 plants, 



