X PREFACE 



has contributed many and valuable suggestions, notably 

 with reference to the grade plan, to the school garden, and 

 to the problem of cleanliness of the schoolroom. Thus to 

 Miss Henry and the teachers in the Upsala Street School 

 the book owes much of its definite character. To Pro- 

 fessor Brooks, of the Johns Hopkins University, I am 

 also under obligations for counsel as to the general plan 

 of the work. For help in final revision of the text and 

 proofs and preparation of the illustrations I am under 

 great obligations to Mr. Lyford, and for assistance with 

 the proof I wish to express my indebtedness to Miss 

 Henry, Miss Dolbear, and Mr. Stickney. 



Finally, I acknowledge my debt to Clark University for 

 opportunity, and to Dr. G. Stanley Hall for suggestions 

 which called my attention to nature study. The further 

 I went, the more it seemed to me that the sources from 

 which must flow the future development of science in 

 this country all lie in the quality of the work done in the 

 public schools. In freshness, in lively interest, in origi- 

 nality, nothing equals a child ; and it has long been con- 

 ceded that at no time is progress in learning so rapid as 

 during the first three or four years of life. The secret 

 of this, it has seemed to me, lies in the fact that touch 

 with nature at first hand, original research, if you please, 

 is the very breath of mental life. How may this splendid 

 growth process of infancy be prolonged through life .■■ The 

 best answer to the question that I am at present able 

 to offer is the book itself. 



C. F. HODGE. 



Clark University, Worcester, Mass., 

 January 21, 1902 



