But what about those children who are no longer in their infancy? How are they to be taught?
In practically the same way, with some modification of method.
Since the aim here is to present the subject from the beginning, the first succeeding chapters will deal with it as applied to the young child. Following this, methods for use with older children will be discussed.
Objects to be accomplished with the younger children in the study of the plant.
(1) To make them feel that the plants are living things with activities like other living things.
(2) To convey a clear idea of the true relation of seed to plant. This can be amplified later to cover the reproductive phenomena of human life.
(3) To give them a foundation for understanding the relation of father to child, when the time comes to explain that.
Some children naturally think of the plant as alive; they endow it with thought, feeling, and emotion; talk to it, consult it, caress it. Others do not. In both cases it is of value to the child to know the deeper truths concerning the life of the plant. In the one case it will steady sentimentality and guard against later loss of interest, in the other it will stimulate imagination and foster a high type of sentiment.