made yet stronger; they must be led in proper directions and fixed upon
appropriate objects. He must be led to appreciate the relation between
cause and effects--to associate together related facts--and to state
what he knows in a definite, clear, and forcible manner.

Object lessons, conversational lessons, lessons on animals, lessons
based on pictures and other devices, have been used to meet this demand
of the child's mental make up. Good in many respects, and vastly better
than mere book work, they have faults which I shall point out in
connection with the corresponding advantages of easy lessons in the
elements of science. I shall not quibble over definitions. Object
lessons may, perhaps, properly be said to include lessons such as it
seems to me should be given--lessons drawn from natural philosophy or
chemistry--but I use the term here in the sense in which it is often
used, as meaning lessons based upon some object. A thimble, a knife, a
watch, for instance, each of these being a favorite with a certain class
of object teachers, may be taken.

The objections are:

1. Little new knowledge can be given which is simple and appropriate.
Most children already know the names of such objects as are chosen,
the names of the most prominent parts, the materials of which they are
composed and their uses. Much that is often given should be omitted
altogether if we fairly regard the economy of the child's time and
mental strength. It doesn't pay to teach children that which isn't worth
remembering, and which we don't care to have them remember.

2. Study of the qualities of materials is a prominent part of lessons on
objects. Such study is really the study of physical science, but with