his classmates'
thinking first, and later from the history of science, illustrations are
drawn of the disastrous effect of such thinking, he will see the value
of seeking sources of information and several points of view before
forming his own judgment. In his study the child should be taught not to
be satisfied until he has tested the correctness of his judgment by
verifying the result. This is a very necessary part of studying. He
should check up his own thinking by finding out through appeal to facts
if it is so; by putting the judgment into execution; by consulting the
opinion of others, and so on.

Study may be considered from the point of view of the type of material
which is used in the process. The student may be engaged on a problem
which involves the use of apparatus or specimens of various kinds, or he
may need to consult people, or he may have to use books. So far as the
first type is concerned, it is obviously unwise to have a student at
work on a problem which involves the use of material, unless the
technique of method of use is well known. Until he can handle the
material with some degree of facility it is waste of time for him to be
struggling with problems which necessitate such use. Such practice
results in divided attention, poor results from the study, and often bad
habits in technique as well. Gaining the technique must be in itself a
problem for separate study.

Children should be taught to ask questions which bear directly on the
point they wish to know. If they in working out some problem are
dependent on getting some information from the janitor, or the postman,
or a mason, they must be able to ask questions which will bring them
what they want to know. Much practice in framing questions, having them
criticized, having them answered just as they are asked, is necessary.
Children should be aware of the question as a tool in their study and
therefore they must know how to handle it. In connection with this
second type of material, the problem of the best source of information
will arise. Children must then be made conscious of the relative values
of various persons as sources of a particular piece of information.
Training in choice of the source of information is very important both
when that source is people and also when it is books.

Teaching children to use books in their study is one of the big tasks of
the teacher. They must learn that books are written in answer to
questions. In order