“But if the child chooses the material, the subject will lack continuity: what then?
Nature is not consecutive except in her periods. She puts things together in a mosaic. She has a brook and plants and toads and insects and the weather all together. Because we have put the plants in one book, the brooks in another, and the bugs in another, we have come to think that this divorce is the logical and necessary order.
If all the things mentioned above are taught, then the life of the brook will be the thread that ties them all together. It is well to introduce the pupil to a wide range of material, in order to increase his points of contact with the world.”
Liberty Hyde Bailey
I think there is a lot of wisdom in the above words written by Liberty H. Bailey in The Nature-Study Idea (1909).
He gives us two illustrations in order to understand the connective idea of nature study led by our children.
The first is a mosaic where the pieces are fit together to make a beautiful image.
The second is a thread, weaving our study together within some focus area.
What a wonderful way to remind ourselves of the way our children will build a love for the natural world and its Creator.
This old book can be found at Google Books: The Nature Study Idea by L.H. Bailey. Sidenote: Anna Botsford Comstock dedicated the Handbook of Nature Study to Liberty Hyde Bailey which I found very interesting.
I love this quote! It’s true about almost everything. We try so hard to separate math from science and from everyday life for that matter. Learning is so much more natural and logical when we combine things the way they are combined in real life.
Thanks for sharing!
I believe that statement has a lot of value. While I do provide a structured curriculum for my kids, we have reduced our formal school week to three days instead of five to give them more time to follow their own interests.
This is very interesting. Something I really need to wrap my mind around because it is set to be “organized, in order and list-like”. This can be good for some things in life, but not ALL things! I need to separate my mindset for planning things and non-planning things! Thank you for sharing this 🙂
This is an awesome concept!! And it totally sums up my thoughts this year on science and nature study! What I think is cool is that I can make the Creator the “thread” that ties it all together! As we study each of these elements, we are continually drawn back to Him! I love homeschooling…what great opportunities it affords us!
Thank you for sharing. My husband repeatedly tells me to keep things in balance. It is very easy to get drawn in one direction and lose sight of the whole, but all things are best kept in a healthy balance. This quote is a good reminder to keep the whole picture in mind. Blessings!
Question: On Nature Hour posts, we’re not following your schedule at the moment–do you want the link on the current nature hour post or do you want me to find a previous post that more matches up with what we’re doing?
Cara,
You can leave your link on the post that pertains to your subject.
It really doesn’t matter all that much. I will always come on over and check out what you are doing.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
A great piece from the corpus of Bailey’s writing. Bailey with Comstock also helped writing Nature Study Leaflets. You can download these timeless lessons at the Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum’s website at:
http://lhbm.south-haven.com/USING%20LIBERTY%20HYDE%20BAILEY%20IN%20THE%20CLASSROOM.htm
John Stempien, Director: Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum