80 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 



Progressive work. — Throughout the entire course the 

 material selected gives ample opportunity to plan the work 

 along lines of certain fundamental principles so that it 

 will not be desultory, but progressive and cumulative. 

 To illustrate, the study of plant propagation is begun in 

 the primary grades where the children plant large, easily 

 grown seeds, water and care for the plants. In the inter- 

 mediate grades seed propagation is continued, but here 

 the children work out some of the principles upon which 

 germination and plant growth depend. Other methods 

 of propagation are taken up by the respective grades with 

 reference to the difficulties they present. Plants are grown 

 from bulbs, soft-wood cuttings, tuber and root cuttings, 

 runners, layers, taproots, buds, and finally in the grammar 

 grades by grafts and hard-wood cuttings. 



While adaptability to the child should always be the 

 first consideration in the choice of material and the method 

 of its presentation, the natural relations which exist among 

 objects and phenomena should not be lost sight of in ar- 

 ranging an outline. 



Instead of studying weeds, insects, mammals, etc., as 

 isolated topics, they should be taken up in connection with 

 special plants or animals with which they are closely asso- 

 ciated ecologically or economically. This organization of 

 material unifies the work and makes it much more valuable 

 from an educative standpoint. 



While the hope of fitting the nature work to the exact 

 needs of the child at every step in his development will, 

 perhaps, never be fully realized, yet, if the work is planned 

 and carried out along lines of the growing intelligence and 

 sympathies, it will fulfill its mission. It will leave the child 



