The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-02-11

~ ~
acquire knowledge.
THE EDUCATTvE VALUE OF CAREFUL
OBSERVATION.
The boy who has learned to see,
who has been given a question and
has secured an answer from nature
herself has gone a long way towards
acquiring that ability which distin-
guished Huxley, Darwin, Edison,
and Marconi. Shall I not also add
that this ability TO see things for
ones self, and to interpret what n
sees, is the essential quality of a sue
cessful commercial life? 1 do not
believe in luck. I believe that in.
the long run one person has about as
many chances at success as another.
We have all seen men miss oppOr-
tunities. The lucky man is the n
who sees and then interprets. Skill
acquired in one direction ia useful in
another, particularly in allied rela'
tions. He who has learned TO OBJ
serve accurately is already an edu-
GATED man. Ii is this power, self.
cultivated, that has brought brilliant
success to 50 many self made men.
BEAUTIES OF NATURE STUDY.
Nature study is utilitarian it is
also aesthetic. It disoloses richness
OF form, activity and color 1T touches
the sympathy and the Imagination.
In youth it disclOses a vista that is
ever TO become more beautiful as in.
timaoy with nature grows a joy in
childhood, a pastime and study in
manhood, and a source of wealth of
cherished material for more mature
reflection TO solaoe the hours of ad-
vanoing age.
HELPS THE CHILD IN OTHER sTUDIEs
In addition to it's intrinsic value,
nature study conduces to studious
habits. 1 know many Il boy who has
been the despair of his teachers, but
who has become devoted to study
through inherent interest in science.
1t is not the exception, but the rule,
that children love phenomena more
than abstract rule. Arithmetic and
English will be rendered much easier
for both teacher and pupil if corre-
lated with nature study. In order
to write compositions the primary
need is to have something to say. A
far better composition will be made
By the primary school pupil writing
upon a subject Of which his mind is
full, than by the high school grad
uate attempting to write an Elmer
sOnian essay on spring. Students
and successfully if the aim be &c tell
something that they really wish to
tell. You must do with the students
as nature does with man: Let him
feel the need, before you give the
aid. A child is slow to store up
strength for future wants. He will
readily employ arithmetic for i'm
mediate use, but it is drudgery to
master a method that will find no
application until the distant future.
Reading, writing, and arithmetic,
the tools TO further educational
progress, may be taught with greater
efficiency, even in a course of most
limited time, if properly co ordain.
ated with nature study.
NATURE STUDY LIKED BY h Chill
DREN.
Have you ever given attention TO
children's ne wspapers and maya
zines? They are controlled chiefly
by a dOllar-and-cent policy. That
kind of literature which pleases both
child and parent best, that which
sells the most magazines, finds place
Have you ever noticed the great
preference as recorded in the une-
quivooal role, that the child mind
shows for plant and animal stories?
Every juvenile magazine has them,
frequently accompanied by quite
elaborate articles or science observa.
sion. Some magazines, notably st
Nicholas and The Youths Compan
ion, have found it profitable to dc
vote a de 1artment to nature study.
These evidences I regard as the most
emphatic, unbiased expression of
the popularity of nature study among
children.
WHERE THE DIFFICULTY LIES.
The great nature study question Of
to-day is not its value, efficiency, or
d~esirability 4; all modern educational
thought concurs in the affirmative
nE that nnastinn Il IL 70 thnr nnna