The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1906-01-19
NATURE STUDY FOR OUR souo.

cAAsAN "AA o1h SGHOOTn
There is growing tendency anon.
our best educators toward making NJ.
ture study a prominent feature OF n.
work of the public schools. Come h
think of it. this Is very sensible thin.
to do, for surely there is no better tvna
of education than training the cbiIdrs,
to become lntelligently familiar With
the common things of llfe-the thiuc.
with which they will have to do an
their lives long This practical knowl.
edge about common things is withaI
one thing in which all children are sura
to manifest deep interest. The child
must be taught, but instead of doing r.
wholly with books and oral lessons WHY
not get closer to natures hidden treas
ures and mysteries and let them learn
from her? To Illustrate, take pri-
mary school Of thirty scholars ranging
from six to twelve years of age. LET
the teacher select days when the weath.
er is suitable, say one afternoon each
week, and let these be devoted to out
ernoon out is In April These are resur.
rection days. Let the lessons these
days be on the increasing power of the
sun, the melting SHOWS, the rushing
rivers and where they go; the migra-
tory wild fowl, their kind, where they
winter and where they nest in summer;
the south wind, the feecy cloud pie
lures, how they come and where they
go; the birds, first harbingers of spring
and their kind. Later the plowed field,
the sowing of seed, where, how and OF
what kind; the budding trees, first flow
ers, rain and why it falls Show them
a pillow and the farmer blowing; differ
emit soils-clay, sand, loan; the harrow,
the seeder. Let the plowman take your
place as teacher and explain 1t all to
them. Another day take them to the
river Take the fishes, the aquatic
plants and the insect life, the way wa
ter runs. Tell them about eddies, cur
rents, overfiows, waterfalls and water
power Tell them how the water pow
er Is used and go into the mill. The
miller will explain how he makes the
water grind the wheat into -four. Lat
er, when summer has arrived. take
them into the cool. shady woods. The
insect life, the leaves, the grasses, the
flowers, the birds, the cool spring gush-
ing from the rocks, the thundersterms,
the electricity, the hail, the summer
winds and the birds and their nests
ali around you is an endless variety Of
practical themes. Take them to q
creamery and let the creameryman
tell them how butter Is made Take
them to the depot and let the engineer
tell them of the locomotive, tender,
freight train, switches, whistles. signal
lights and power of steam. The OPP !
orator will tell them of the telegraph.
wires, battery, the mysterious clicking
and how messages are sent Take
them to the briekyard and let them
see clay turn into bricks and how the
tile is made. Follow up, as the sea-
son passes, the ripening grain. the
reaper, the harvest, the thrasher. Now
are ripened fruits and nuts, an endless
variety of interesting and useful OBJ
ject lessons. Arithmetic, geography
and philosophy as studies may all be !
interviewer In these outdoor lessons
by the apt teacher. This half dag
would be very beneficial, welcome
change to both those who teach and
those who are taught, and the amount
of practical information thus so pleas
antly obtained would be worth as much
rs all the other lessons Of the week put
together Give the child an outdoor
education for one-fifth of his school life.
and we believe that it would show far
better results than the same amount of
time devoted to the study Of books.