Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson

“ It is very wonderful how quickly a child catches an idea. In his play, he reproduces big things on a small scale. He can make a satisfactory rain with a watering pot, so he will understand the vapor cloud made by a boiling tea-kettle. Most, if not all, of the properties of earth, air and water, can be made plain to a child by just such simple means always near at hand. Air is really no more difficult than the other two. The child already knows temperature, and wind, or air in motion. The little hot-air balloon and the flying bird are among his earliest objects of wonder. ”

“ The fact that air cannot be seen or felt, only adds to its interest to a child who believes in fairies.
As you read these nature studies in Home Geography, and try the experiments suggested, in doors and out, with the children, watch their minds expand, with new and interesting ideas, and open like flowers. The most important part of education is to get a child to see things accurately, and with such keen interest that he bubbles over to express himself in word, form or line. ”

“ A hard name often makes a simple thing difficult. Physical Geography is only land, water and air, and their effects upon each other. It is Home Geography to every child, no matter where he lives, and within his every day experience. ”