Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-07

titude on the part of the parents. This
Is immensely more important than any
amount of direct teaching. If the par
ents are afraid of the rain and thunder.
fear to soil their clothes, dread to walk
in a swamp. are afraid of dust and mud,
are scared at mice and bugs and snakes,
shudder at the dark, see no beauty In
things that are not pretty or striking,
and are upset by trif1ing inconvenience.
1t will be the greatest wonder If their
children turn out to be real nature-lov-
ers. Bear in mind that / speak of both
parents; this is important. for it very
often happens that the influence of one
parent alone is not suf1lcient to overcome
the handicap of the custom slavery OF
which l have been speaking. 1t is all
well enough to put the emphasis on the
necessity Of teaching the children this
and that; but the pith Of the thing lies
farther back.
This brings to me the question of what
an attitude of mind-a mere willingness
to observe and appreciate the things that
are. l am convinced that few persons
have this attitude. Few persons care ITO
lieve what they see without injecting
their own wishes or desires into it The
work of the school teacher may help to
bring this about, but this attitude ought
to exist in the child even before 1t is
sent to school.
reach the child TO See.
The next thing to do is to open the
child's mind to see sonnet hing accurately
and thoroughly. 1t Is not at all neces-
sary to begin with any theory of the de-
velopment of the child mind or any
scheme Of pedagogy; teach the child to
see. The kinds Of trees, insects. birds,
the flowers in the garden, the domestic
animals, the crops on the farm-any of
the natural nhfoCfS ah0nf him ma ho
taught to the child. This study should be
related to the life that the child is liv-
ing. This is why the mere study of
specimens and the common mode of dis
secting often fail of useful end. Again.
the study should relate itself to the
welfare Of the organism that is studied.
1t is by no means enough to know the
trees, but this Identification knowledge
grows and the place 1t grows in and
how 1t scatters its seeds and what uses
it is put to.
I am sure that frequent calling at
tention to the habits Of life Of trees
and birds and fishes and the peculiarities
Of weather and of the confguration of
the fields, and all that, will do very
much to put the child right toward his
environment, and lead him into a desire
to know in detail.
Revolt Against Collecting.
No real nature-love is possible, how
ever, unless the person knows objects.
He must actually and really know the
kinds of birds before he can understand
them or be interested in searching for
them. A very great part of the essence
of nature-love is the keen desire to find
kind that Is new to one-to add one
bird or one beetle or one tree to his
list. There has been a revolt against
collecting. No doubt very much Of the
old collecting was lifeless, but it is just
as bad to go to the other extreme and
sit all day in the laboratory. I like the
school idea of making an herbarium of
one hundred plants. If only the pupil
learns something about the plants be-
sides their names.
Unfortunately. many of us are too
much engrossed in q multitude of things
to allow much time for direct teaching
of the children. We leave the teaching
to professional teachers, and then have
no voice. Or exercise none. in the choice