Geographical knowledge should progress from the known to the unknown, from the familiar to the unfamiliar. The world is the home of mankind. We can best understand the larger world by a preliminary consideration of our own small intimate home. We therefore begin to study geography with an account of the child’s immediate environment. The school stands for the common home of the class. From the school we gradually widen out our teaching to include the immediate neighborhood with its buildings, and finally the whole town or community.

We study the various types of people whom we meet every day, and the industries in which they engage in their efforts to obtain the three main necessities of human life,—food, clothing and shelter. The animals and plants sharing the world with man and contributing to his sustenance next focus our attention.

The home neighborhood has its physiographical features distinguishing it from other places and influencing the life of its inhabitants. The land and water divisions in the immediate environment are studied as types, while those not closely related to our home are reserved for consideration as each one occurs in its local geographical place in the course of study.

We must know something of direction in order to conveniently locate the streets, buildings and physiographical features near our home. Finally, we will try to realize the great size of the earth, of which our home is but a small portion, by a consideration of the relationship of our community to the rest of the world and to some of this world’s great diversities.

As geography is a study of cause and effect, the early lessons should be mainly oral. Later, in order to obtain a broad knowledge of geographical data, not one but many books should be read. This little book aims to serve as a bridge between the oral lesson and the descriptive text-book. The presentation of many questions leads the pupil to think out cause and effect, and to connect his present knowledge with the realm of the unknown. Special care has been exercised to present facts only when facts are [p8] absolutely necessary, and only after allowing the pupil the opportunity to first exercise his own reasoning faculties in obtaining the information.

The excursion is an essential part of every geography course, and every effort should be made to use this effective means of teaching.

Four types of valuable exercises may be suggested in the use of this book:

1. The pupils may read the questions orally and give the answers orally.

2. They may read the questions silently, answering them orally.

3. They may read the questions orally and write the answers.

4. Finally, they may silently read the questions and write the answers.

All definitions have been carefully avoided as tending to hamper the free acquisition of ideas.

PART I
TOPICS

PART II