74 NATURK STUDY. 
Nature Study in School 
BY WIRUIAM H. HUSK. 
With many teachers it is an unanswered question, ‘ ‘ What 
can I teach my pupils about nature and how can I doit?” 
There are some that do not need to ask that question. There 
are some who care little about it. It is to help the first 
that Naturk Study goes forth. 
Previous to the school age the child gets most of its in¬ 
struction from Nature herself. There is no system, no 
course of study, no co-ordination; or rather, there is the best 
of co-ordination with everything in the child’s life. As a 
result there is interest, joy and accumulation of knowledge 
that exceeds that of the school life in the same time with 
its systematized course of study. It is a serious problem 
that confronts the teacher who honestly attempts to imitate 
Nature as a teacher. In one New England town noted for 
the excellence of its schools, nature study has been taught 
for years. The schools were among the pioneers in the 
work. A visit to a primary school when the subject was 
in its glory showed great enthusiasm of the teacher as she 
dissected clams and taught her babies the anatomy of in¬ 
vertebrates. A subsequent visit discovered an apparent 
weariness on the part of the teachers which seemed to tell 
of a disappointment with the work. Such a result was not 
strange. The instruction had been too scientific. The 
children were ready to love Nature. They had loved her 
for years ; but they were not ready to dissect her and clas¬ 
sify her members. Such work belongs to a later period. 
The statement has been made, and I believe it, that it is 
what the pupil loves and not what he knows as he leaves 
school that will be of use to him in after life; and the ques¬ 
tion that confronts teachers is, How can we present Nat¬ 
ure to the children so that they will love her? We must 
