The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-03-24
I Teaching Nature Study
In The Public Schools

each. leacher tho necessity OF having
every child taKo par. In the work, 50
that he feels he Is part owner Let
the children prepare the soil. II this
is partially done In the lal excellent
opportunity Is offered to study the eff
feet OF freezing and thawins upon tho
soil. Study the soil to find i is neads.
Nature study books and leaflets abound
In simple experiments that are helpful
| to the teacher.
Classroom work will be much more
Interesting IL children see Its connec-
ton with practical everyday affairs.
| Here Is an Y excellent opportunity to
make ltS"alive.' See TINT the indoor
mathematics is of practical outdoor
| use. Freedom of speech induced by
| outdoor work offers an exccllen. field
to test ones success as teacher Of
| English,
| All things In nature may be classed
4 ms nature study material, but some
| things lend themselves better to study
| than others, and some are better
adapted to one age than another.
i teacher should plant such material IN
i the garden that will be OF actual value
4 in the schtbl, she should look upon
the garden us nm additional room to
the building. a room equipped with the
i living. STRUGGLING things, the plant
i the carthworr. the robin, the gold
/ finch, the harmful and helpful insccts
Fortunate ] s the school where there
& is sufficient ground for each child to
y have n small plot Here the entire
4 work of measuring and laying OFF the
plots the soil preparation the plant-
\ ing, the cultivating. etc, arc done ny
q the child. The harvest which belongs
to him depends whony upon his cr-
3i3forts. It produces In he city youth
y respect for labor. de has seen that
v results come to him only by constant
! hard work and attention. His neigh
Dor has worked equally hard. To OBJ
tain the fruits OF his labor he must
} | protect his own. He must likewise
. respect his neighbors rights II he
: hopes to have his property rights rn-s
$ spectcd. Vandalism In n community
: may be prevented by this form of po-
> sitlvc teaching far more successfully
; than by the negative method thou.
i shalt not "A neighborhood under the
g writer's immediate attention had been
. much annoyed by flower vandalism.
9 Not only the neighbors gardens had
Y suffered but the school yard itself had
G bean three times destroyed and re-
: planted during the summer vacation.
t The case was not one of simply steal
< ing flowers but plants had been up
I rooted from the ground and thrown
e aside to dle--pure wckcdncss actuat-
c ing the offender. In the fall hundreds
y OF bulbs were put into the ground for
8 spring blooming. What seemed most
e unfortunate they reached their height
!, OF blooming during the Easter yaca-
], ton a few days before vacation the
|. teachers talked most earnestly to the
h children about the difficult work they
y had had in preparing the SOIL and
it planting the bulbs; of the efforts they
II should make during vacation TO pro-
lc tect their plants. as they were theirs;
1, tI,., no aonp q hoy
"a be careful not to run pm the lawns nor
IN touch the flowers in the neighbors
I'd yards, For two years nothing has
s. been stolen nor uprooted in the gar
10 den, and there has been a vast i'm
A provcment in he neighborhood DIR
u Hodge, In Nature Study and Life, says
10 "If your neighbors' boys steal your
w peaches and grapes, do not give hin
m tho Jail, but give him peaches ant
Of grapes to grow Here is another in
a. stance Of moral training to be derived
is from the garden. ASclnss was shown
It. how to stretch che garden line, max,
We tho furrow and place the tiny radisl
y; seeds at given distances apart In II
>r. In shorter time than it takes to writ
ey It. ono boy had finished. In n few day
n his sins found him out. Instead o
he little plants standing in long even
a. planted lines, his seedlings occupied
CHI space that his hand could cover. Sur
ed prised and chagrined, he asked per
,st mission to rchoe and replant hls p4o
est Throughout the season the lesson ma
lat It's effect, for though his garden wa
an ono Of the best. his harvest was al
ere ways week or two late.
sOne has always been led to believ
ch that the drudgery of farm and Ear9e
In tends to denden the sensbilittcs. TIL
lot may be so If the work Is uone mechar
ley ically, without tho exercise Of reaso
lr- | or Judgment, by much the sam
a method that the carpenter measure
MS, boards. A. child may be led by near
ms. of simple experiments to delight
@by cultivating the top soil, for he liz
or learned tho value Of soil mulch II
OK Imagination enables him to picture Il
mo tiny capillary tubes In the soil afford
tho ing q means for tho water to pass III
Ia ward and out into the air If IL
Sos mouths of the tiny tubes are open ar
DOL no delights to think that as he us
mi tho rake he is making great destru
nal ton at tho mouths of the tubes, thu
ost keeping the water in his garden
ool he learns OF the IRE processes IN Plat
md by simple experiments ne understan
rod tho reasons for wedding or riddir
ihis garden of plant robbers.
nor Tho first requisite of "A good ga
lch denor and teacher Is patience. r
zeal suits are slow, both in plant life al
nd. in the community to appreciate the 9
the ucational value of this practical natu
tors study. A teacher must guard again
,ust becoming absorbed in the growth
zero nlnnts alone, ana must always Ke
,ply before MN that the hnportant tact
re- of growth in garden is tile CHI
,ach himself--growth in the moral ply
tho cal and intellectual being.
1Ve-f 1si. ----s----------------- "a
the AsNN t. TN:.1.,+ yKyNrl,