PART II

OUT-OF-DOOR LIFE FOR THE CHILDREN

I. GROWING TIME

Meals out of doors--For dwellers in towns and suburbs-- Possibilities of a day in the open--No story-books 42

II. ‘SIGHT-SEEING’

How to see--Educational uses of ‘sight-seeing’--Discriminating observation 45

III. ‘PICTURE-PAINTING’

Method of--Strain on the attention--Seeing _fully and in detail_ --A means of after solace and refreshment 48

IV. FLOWERS AND TREES

Children should know field crops--Field flowers and the life- history of common plants--The study of trees--The seasons should be followed--Leigh Hunt on flowers--Calendars--Nature diaries 51

V. ‘LIVING CREATURES’

A field of interest and delight--Children should be encouraged to _watch_--The force of public opinion in the home--What town children can do--Nature knowledge the most important knowledge for young children--Mental training of a child naturalist--Nature work especially valuable for girls 56

VI. FIELD-LORE AND NATURALISTS’ BOOKS

Reverence for life--Rough classification at first hand--Uses of ‘Naturalists’ books--Mothers and teachers should know about Nature 62

VII. THE CHILD GETS KNOWLEDGE BY MEANS OF HIS SENSES

Nature’s teaching--Over-pressure--Object-lessons--A child learns from _things_--The sense of beauty comes from early contact with Nature--Most grown men lose the habit of observation 65

VIII. THE CHILD SHOULD BE MADE FAMILIAR WITH NATURAL OBJECTS

An ‘observant child’ should be put in the way of things worth observing--Every natural object a member of a series--Power will pass more and more into the hands of scientific men--Intimacy with Nature makes for personal well-being 69

IX. OUT-OF-DOOR GEOGRAPHY

Small things may teach great--Pictorial geography--The position of the sun--Clouds, rain, snow, and hail--Distance-- Direction--East and west--Practice in finding direction-- Compass drill--Boundaries--Plans--Local geography 72

X. THE CHILD AND MOTHER NATURE

The mother must refrain from too much talk--Making a new acquaintance--Two things permissible to the mother 78

XI. OUT-OF-DOOR GAMES

The French lesson--Noisy games--_Rondes_--Skipping-rope and shuttlecock--Climbing--Clothing 80

XII. WALKS IN BAD WEATHER

Winter walks as necessary as summer walks--Pleasures connected with frost and snow--Winter observations--Habit of attention--Wet weather tramps--Outer garments for-- Precautions 85

XIII. ‘RED INDIAN’ LIFE

Scouting--‘Bird-stalking’ 88

XIV. THE CHILDREN REQUIRE COUNTRY AIR

The essential proportion of oxygen--Excess of carbonic acid gas--Unvitiated, unimpoverished air--Solar light--A physical ideal for a child 92

##