Whilst the elements of number, form, and language, may
be taught by
the means and after the manner recommended in the preceding chapters
on the respective subjects, there are other branches of knowledge which
might enter into the scope of nursery instruction with great advantage
to the children.
As an introduction to botany, I would make the children acquainted
with the progress of vegetation, not from words, but from
observation. I would have three or four garden-pots filled with
mould, introduced into the nursery at a proper season of the year; the
children should be asked, what is in the pots.--"Dirt," or
"mould,"
will of course be the reply. They should then be shewn the seeds which
are to be deposited in the mould, and assuming in the eyes of the
children a prophetic character, the mother or governess should inform
them of the process of vegetation, and that about a certain time a
pretty flower will make its appearance in the pots: the seeds should
then be deposited in the mould, and the pots placed in a proper
situation. It would not be improper to let the children themselves sow
the seed; thus convincing them of their power of being useful, and
becoming the instrument of so great a wonder, as the transformation
of
a seed into a flower. During the time the seed is lying unperceived
beneath the mould, the children should frequently be sent to look "if
the pretty flower has come up," or questioned as to what they
were told concerning it. At length the green shoot will make its
appearance, just peeping above the mould, to the no small surprise and
gratification of the little observers. They will mark with attentive
eagerness the progress of its growth, the appearance of the bud, and
the gradual development of "the pretty flower," till they
are fully
convinced of the wisdom of the parent or teacher who foretold
all which has happened, and made acquainted with the process of
vegetation, not from words, but from observation. Certain it is, that
such a lesson could not be wholly useless. In the first place it might
be made the means of impressing them with ideas of the Almighty
power, highly conducive to piety; secondly, it would beget a habit of
observation; thirdly, it would be likely to produce a love of flowers
and the vegetable world, favourable to their future pursuits in the
science of botany; and, lastly, it would inspire their little breasts
with a love and respect for the parents or teachers who were wise and
kind enough to teach them so many true and wonderful things.
As an efficient and amusing introduction to natural history, I would
have every nursery provided with a microscope, by means of which the
minds of the children might be excited to wonder and admiration at the
amazing beauty and perfection of the insect world, and the astonishing
construction of various substances, as seen through this instrument.
So far would this be from begetting habits of cruelty, that it would
be very likely to check them. Many children who would be loath to
torture a large animal, such as a cat, a dog, or a bird, feel no
compunction at ill-using a fly, because it appears to them so
insignificant an animal; but had they once witnessed, by means of a
microscope, the wonderful and perfect conformation of the insect, I
am
persuaded they would be less inclined to make the distinction.
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