Cl)e ^utiubon ^otittits 



SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 



Edited by ALICE HALL WALTER 



Address all communications relative to the worli of this depart- 

 ment to the Editor, at 53 Arlington Avenue, Providence, R. I. 



FOR TEACHERS 



NEITHER the lover of birds nor the teacher of bird-study can afford to 

 neglect that still undeveloped and undervalued branch known some- 

 what vaguely as "nature-study," and this for two reasons: first, because 

 the study of birds properly belongs under nature-study, and, second, because 

 any accurate knowledge of the habits of birds involves some acquaintance with 

 other forms of animal life, particularly insects, as well as with vegetation and 

 various correlated subjects, all of which are included under nature-study. 



Not only the grade-teacher but the high-school teacher of biology, and even 

 the college instructor, should be in touch with the true meaning and value of 

 nature-study. "We shouldn't have to do so much work that belongs to the 

 grades," a high-school teacher recently observed in a discussion on this very 

 point, "if nature-study were taught as it should be." 



This strikes at the root of the matter. Nature-study is, by virtue of its 

 content, the birthright of every child in or out of our preparatory schools. It 

 is not biology, or even "milk-and-water" biology, and should never be taught 

 as such. It is simply a study to bring the child into true relations with nature: 

 first, by learning to see, to hea •, to smell and to feel the things about him, 

 and, second, by learning to fill his own place in nature without violating 

 those laws which are sacred to every living organism. 



There is a gradual awakening, at last, to the need of the lower grades for 

 inspired, spontaneous nature-study. Other studies may be taught from 

 books. Without enthusiasm and freedom from the printed page, nature- 

 study withers and decays. Equipment, training, experience and method even, 

 all go for little, unless leavened by a far outlook and sincere enthusiasm. 



It is not the subject-matter of nature-study which makes it difficult to pre- 

 sent, but the methods by which it shall be taught. Its subject-matter is as 

 broad as the universe itself, and attractive alike to the dullest and the quickest 

 pupil. 



How to teach this great subject is the important problem. As yet, its possi- 

 bilities as a cultural study have scarcely been outlined. 



Sometime, nature-study will occupy its true place in our grade schools, 

 ranking with arithmetic, geography and other prescribed studies in the curric- 

 ulum, and fulfilling its proper function, primarily, as a foundation for broad 

 culture, and secondarily, as a stepping-stone to high-school and college science. 



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