IT IS not necessary that nature study should occupy any one period in the school day. There are many times when a teacher can give a few minutes to some out-of-door line of work, and the results are often much better than if carried on through an extended period. There are live subjects that can be used during every month of the year, and I think that winter affords quite as much material in its way as does any other season. Children should be taught the joys of all seasons so that they may not grow up with a dislike for winter and a generally unwholesome attitude towards certain kinds of weather. Every joy of the out-of-doors in winter should be a part of their lives. The enjoyment of snow and rain and all kinds of storm and wind should become a part of their education, and they should be taught to get the best out of all the changes in the face of Nature.
There are so many subjects of widespread interest at this season, that no teacher should limit herself to those suggested in the following lessons. So long as she uses live material and teaches nature study from the standpoint of the thing itself, it matters not what the study is so long as she herself finds interest in it and can inspire interest in others. Let us plan to familiarize the children with the out-of-doors in any simple, definite way that may suggest itself. Let the lessons be accurate. It is not necessary that they should be complete. If the spirit of patient inquiry is stimulated, the work will be worth the while.
There should be in every schoolroom a nature study corner, that is, a place in which specimens for study can be neatly placed and cared for. Children should be taught to put plants in water when they take them into the schoolroom and not to lay them down
carelessly on the teacher's desk. If there is a table in the nature study corner, two or three of the children may be appointed as a committee to care for it. Above the nature study table, it will be well to have five or six books which the teacher and older pupils may consult when necessary. The following books have been suggested to me by teachers who have used them in the study of plant and animal life: "Bird Life," Chapman; "Bird Neighbors," Neltje Blanchan; "Insect Life," Comstock; "Field Book of Amercian Wild Flowers," Schuyler Matthews, or "How to Know Wild Flowers,'' Dana; ' 'Our Native Trees," Keeler.
