2514
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
[No. 82

to Maoris, as, for example, clothing of the kind usually worn by
young Maori children, as well as those that are worn by the girls
themselves. Information is given elsewhere as to the materials
supplied by the Department for sewing purposes.

Materials and stitches should not be so fine as to strain the
children’s eyesight. Children of weak eyesight should not be given
any exercise that will be injurious to their eyes, and in serious
cases they should not be expected to do sewing at all.

In cutting out it is not necessary to devote time to making
elaborate patterns. What is required is a method which imparts
correct proportion, and which tends therefore to be practical.

Fancy-work of various kinds is not required. Darning and
patching should be included in the work of the higher standards.

(v.) Domestic Duties.

15. Wherever it may appear to the Department expedient, ar-
    rangements will be made for the instruction of the elder girls in
    domestic duties—viz., plain cookery, laundry work. Teachers who
    may be prepared to give instruction in these subjects will be al-
    lowed full liberty, subject only to the approval of the Inspector as to
    the course. Teachers must, however, bear in mind that the object
    in view is the practical instruction of Maori girls, and the dishes
    taught are to be suited to the wants of the Maori people in the neigh-
    bourhood. Hence it is desirable that practice in cooking by means
    of the camp oven should be given occasionally. It is important
    that thorough instruction be given in cleanliness, order, and
    economy. The Department will be prepared to assist in the direc-
    tion of supplying material and utensils. A list of the dishes pre-
    pared in class must be submitted to the Inspector at his visit, and
    instruction must be given in the first principles of the subject.

Subject to the approval of the Department, instruction may also
be given in washing, starching, and ironing; and in this case also
the Department will assist in supplying materials. Teachers must
bring before the Inspector proposals for the establishment of classes
in these subjects, and each case will be considered individually.

NATURE-STUDY.

16. The primary purpose of nature-study is to train children in
    the careful observation of surrounding objects and common phe-
    nomena, and to set them to ask themselves questions such as “What
    does this mean, and how does it act, and why?” With this view
    nothing can, strictly speaking, be considered as nature-study unless
    it includes an actual study of things themselves by the individual
    children; models, pictures, and books may be valuable aids, but
    are not substitutes for it. All that is here included in the pro-
    gramme under the heading of nature-study cannot be so treated,
    yet even where, from the character of the topic, the appeal is neces-
    sarily and essentially to the imagination of the children, this
    dominating principle is still to be kept in mind. Wherever it is
    possible, direct observation is to furnish the method of approach; the
    realm of the unknown is to be entered from the domain of the
    known.

In the earlier stages the lessons in nature-study are not dis-
tinguishable from lessons in geography; in method and substance
the subjects are identical. Later, when the mental horizon is
widened, and direct observation is no longer available, the lines
diverge; but animal and plant life within the range of the children’s
experience and the direct study of physical processes and natural
phenomena remain throughout so far matters of first importance
that it has not been deemed necessary to introduce any distinction
of title to mark the introduction of new features of method and
new objects of attention as the children advance.

In the smaller schools it may not be found possible for the
teacher to include under his time-table a definite course of in-
struction in all the matters that are essentially appropriate as
vehicles for nature-study. A regular series of set lessons, for in-
stance, on specific objects of natural history may be more than the
time at the teacher’s disposal will permit; yet, even where definite
lessons are not given, the idea and spirit of the study may be carried
out in other ways. Much may, and in all cases should, be done