THE TEACHING OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 471 



and to emphasize it even in the earliest 3'ears of school life. With 

 the accumulation of experience and with the increased emphasis 

 given in school work to the so-called " socializing " of the child, the 

 tendency unfortunately has been to allow the pendulum of practice 

 to swing far away from rational physical geography, until in many 

 instances school geography has come to be, not "a study of the 

 earth in its relation to man (and life)," but a study of man, with 

 occasional reference to the earth. 



There is no doubt that both extremes have been unfortunate, and 

 that the cause of physical geography, as well as that of industrial 

 geography, has suffered through over-advertising and exploitation. 

 It will only be a question of time, however, wlien the interest of the 

 moment, passing to some other subject in the curriculum, the pendu- 

 lum will return to its normal position, and all phases of school 

 geography will receive their due amount of attention, and no more. 



In the mind of the writer, physical geography has a right to a 

 large amount of consideration in elementary schools. It must not, 

 however, be taught as an end in itself, but as a means to an end, and 

 that end, in the upper grammar grades, should be the causal under- 

 standing of geographical conditions over the world. Physical geog- 

 raphy also has a place in the work of beginners in geography; but 

 its place is not all-important. It must be brought in slowly as an 

 entering wedge that shall be driven dee[)er as needs may require 

 during tiie succeeding years, but wliich shall not be driven " home," 

 perhaps, until the later intermediate 3^ears. 



There are a few guiding thoughts that one planning a course of 

 study may well bear in mind, which seem to have their bearing on 

 the vexed question under consideration. In tlie first j^lace, neither 

 the geographical expert nor the pedagogical enthusiast is necessarily 

 qualified to decide upon the place and amount of attention that ])hys- 

 ical geography is to receive in the scho<d curriculum. The geogra{)her 

 may think only of the scientific ordering of his subject-matter, and 

 may be over-anxious to train embryo scientists rather than to train 

 children scientifically, so that they will understand and thiidc about 

 the geograpliical conditions about them and be ready and able to seek 

 for new information and fuller knowledge. Tlie child may, in conse- 

 quence, be top-heavy from an overload of scientific study of land 

 forms and climate. 



On the other hand, the teacher who believes that child study lias 

 already proved to us the supreme interests of children at all ages, or 



