OBSERVATION DRILLS

It is usual to expect the child to observe without any special training, on the supposition that because he has all his senses he will see and hear whatever is to be seen or heard, and yet we should know that those who have eyes to see frequently do not see, and those who have ears to hear, frequently do not hear. Indeed it might be more exact to say that people as a rule see and hear only dully, without observing details, or without having them make any impression on the mind.

The musician detects fine differences in shading of tone that pass entirely over the ordinary listener; the artist notices the contour of the face, the color, setting and distance apart of the eyes and the details of other features that no one without his training sees.

We say repeatedly that the child should get his education not from books, but from the world about him, by observation at first hand, and yet we do not teach him to observe, expecting that it is all sufficient to present things to him and let him do the rest. The result is inefficient study, wasted time, wasted materials, wasted opportunities.

The way to open the child's mind to observe the

world without, is to practise him in observing that world through the different senses. The habit of observing and discriminating once formed by exercise and drill is the first step in learning that vague artthe advantage and importance of which every one recognizes and acknowledges but for which few have been able to give a receipt - how to study. The next factors in "how to study" are attention, concentration, association and memory, and these habits will, therefore, be practised in their order.

It is not reasonable to postpone teaching the child how to study till after he has been or is supposed to have been studying for years.

Special exercises for training in observation through taste and smell are chiefly valuable on account of the mental attitude of close observation and discrimination engendered, rather than on account of any intrinsic value, slight at most, which the ability to differentiate tastes and smells may have. This statement is not true, however, of the other senses, touch, sight and hearing, where the training is of the greatest possible importance as an acquisition in itself.

29. Tasting

Observation, Discrimination

Prepare glasses of water, as follows: Pure, salt, sweet, sour (use lime or lemon juice), bitter (use extract of bitter almonds).

Give each child a straw and have each in turn close his eyes and taste the plain water. Or, fill a medicine dropper and directing,

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Open your mouth and close your eyes," put a few drops on the tongue of each. Ask the children to,

"Taste the taste," make up their minds what it is, and when all have had a taste and not till then, tell what it is.

Tell them they are not to answer till asked personally. Ask several others in turn and if each says "Just plain water," or "Water," ask those thinking the same to raise their hands. (Children at this age are prone to raise their hands indiscriminately so that due allowance must be made for this form of affirmation, and reliance is never to be put upon it.) If the class is not too large, each pupil may be called to the teacher's side to whisper his opinion in her ear. firm the opinion by saying,

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"Yes, it is water," then repeat the same process using the salt water. If some say "Salt water," and some "Sour water," or "Plain water," in response to the second test, ask those that think one thing and those another to arrange themselves in groups, standing, sitting, or raising their hands, accordingly, before announcing which is correct. Proceed in the same way with glasses of water diluted with some fruit or other syrup, as chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, raspberry, pineapple, orange, peach, cherry, peppermint, winter

green. Care should be taken to give only a taste of each flavor and not enough to upset the stomach.

30. Smelling

Observation, Discrimination

Use fresh flowers or small glass vials filled with some or all of the following, and entirely cover each vial with paper so that the contents cannot be

seen:

Extract of carnation, violet, geranium, rose; orris root, celery seed, coffee, sage; oil of cedar, lemon, cloves, nutmeg, peppermint, wintergreen, turpentine, lavender.

With very young children it will be necessary to state the name of the flower, or spice, or herb before passing the vials for smelling and this may have to be repeated a number of times before a real test in discrimination is possible.

Have the vials passed about and judged as in the previous exercise. Use not more than five the first day. The sense of smell becomes easily fatigued so that one is hardly able to distinguish differences if more than five are smelled in rapid succession. If, also, a child has a cold, he will be unable to do himself justice.

Have the glasses used in the previous taste exercise passed about to each child in turn and allow him three "sniffs" with the eyes closed. For this purpose it may

be necessary to strengthen the solution somewhat. Forbid any comment whatever till each child is asked to name what it is, on completion of the round, as in the case of the taste exercise.

Explain in regard to the use of perfumes, that those of fresh flowers are occasionally permissible to girls and women, being in keeping with the idea of feminine character, but that they are very bad form for a boy

or man.

31. Feeling Fabrics

Observation, Discrimination, Information

Prepare squares, the size of a pocket handkerchief, of different materials, as follows:

Velvet, wool, silk, cotton, linen, satin, sateen, burlap, corduroy, buckram, felt, canvas, cheesecloth, chamois, leather, pantesote.

In this lesson take the first half dozen pieces and pass each in turn to the children, saying,

"This is velvet," "This is wool," "This is silk,' and so on, and have them feel and examine each piece with open eyes and then with eyes closed.

Discuss the appropriate uses of the different materials - which are suitable for summer clothes, which for winter; which for shirts, handkerchiefs, collars, trimmings; which for curtains, upholstery, etc.

Blindfold each child in turn and test, to see which can identify the greatest number without mistakes.