1. 1. How the Old Woman Looked. See The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Volume I, page 35.
  2. 2. The House in the Tree. See Swiss Family Robinson, III, 141.
  3. 3. A Forest Scene. See Pictures of Memory, IV, 128.
  4. 4. Sheridan’s Horse. See Sheridan’s Ride, IV, 223.
  5. 5. Christmas. See The Fir Tree, II, 68, and Christmas in Old Time, VI, 356.
  6. 6. A Scene of My Childhood. See The Old Oaken Bucket, VII, 11.
  7. 7. My Old Kentucky Home. See poem of the same name, VII, 179.

For Exposition:

  1. 1. The Character of the Boy, Tom. See Tom, the Water Baby, Volume II, page 215.
  2. 2. What Kind of a Man was Viking? See The Skeleton in Armor, V, 327.
  3. 3. Exaggeration and Falsehood. See Baron Munchausen, V, 403.
  4. 4. On the construction, meaning, and sentiment in “Home, Sweet Home.” See VI, 221.
  5. 5. The Strength of the Gorilla Compared with that of the Elephant. See A Gorilla Hunt, VII, 247, and Elephant Hunting, VI, 385.
  6. 6. The Wit of the Visitor. See Limestone Broth, VI, 467.
  7. 7. A Character Sketch of Alice and John. See Dream Children. VIII, 335.

For Argument:

  1. 1. Was the Second Traveler in the Right? See The Two Travelers, Volume I, page 109.
  2. 2. Were the Three Men Perfectly Healthy? See We Plan a River Trip, V, 443.
  3. 3. Was the Punishment of the Ancient Mariner Just? See The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, VII, 29.
  4. 4. Was it Sensible for Casabianca to Remain on the Burning Ship? See Casabianca, VIII, 313.
  5. 5. Should Warren Hastings Have Been Convicted? See The Impeachment of Warren Hastings, IX, 32.

CHAPTER XV
Journeys Through Bookland in Its Relation to the School—(Continued)

Nature Study

Nature study to be most valuable must be in reality the study of nature. Its beginnings are in observation and experiment, but there comes a time when the child must go to books for information and enlightenment. The purposes of nature study are to awaken a spirit of inquiry concerning things in the immediate vicinity and thence in wider fields; to develop observation, comparison and reason; to give interests that will charm the possessor through life; to introduce the elements of the natural sciences. Enthusiasts have made the study of nature the basis of all school work, the correlating force in all studies. Such an idea has merit in it, for it is certain that lessons begun in the observation of living things and the phenomena of nature speedily ramify into language, reading, geography, history, and even mathematics.