ESTHETIC AND ETHICAL VALUE 17 



Call attention to the changing beauty of the landscape. 

 Let the children tell what they enjoy in it. Point out more, 

 if they are old enough to appreciate it. Show them the 

 play of light and shade, the harmony of the colors, the sub- 

 dued hues, the neutral tints of forest and meadow, of moun- 

 tain and fading perspectives. The sky, with its varying 

 cloud effects and changing light and color from sunrise to 

 sunset, in calm and in storm, should appeal to all. The 

 teacher should be careful not to go into rhapsodies over these 

 beautiful phenomena, but should simply seek to remind 

 the child of them, and to point out those features missed by 

 the children themselves. It is well to remember in this 

 appreciation of nature that much depends upon the attitude 

 and mood of the observer. The teacher should try first to 

 bring herself and her pupils into the proper receptive or sym- 

 pathetic attitude. 



Poets of all ages have felt the influences of nature, and 

 have interpreted it for others, or have shown them its gran- 

 deur, beauty, and mystery. Their works are especially 

 enjoyed by those who love nature themselves and have had 

 similar experiences. Others learn from them what to look 

 for and enjoy. 



There is a great wealth of prose and poetry that may be 

 used judiciously in developing in children an appreciative 

 spirit toward nature. Thus, occasionally, interest may be 

 aroused in a nature lesson by first reading some selection 

 suitable for the occasion. Or, perhaps better, after the nature 

 lesson such selections used in the reading lesson would 

 bring out a human aspect, or an aesthetic or spiritual element. 

 The poems of Wordsworth, Bryant, Longfellow, Celia 

 Thaxter, and F. D. Sherman, and the prose of Emerson, 



