Uncle Robert's aim in education is to fill each day with acts which make home better, the community better, mankind better; to take from God's bounteous and boundless store of truth and convert it into human life by using it. His method is simple and direct, founded upon the firm rock, Common Sense. It may be briefly stated as follows: 1. A strong belief in the sacredness of work--that work which inspires thought, strengthens the body as well as the mind, and develops the feeling of usefulness. 2. The images the children have acquired and the inferences they have made are used as stepping stones to higher and broader views. 3. So far as it is possible, each child is to discover facts for himself and make original inferences. 4. He understands the limits of children's power to observe and the demand on their part for glimpses into, to them, the great unknown. So he tells them stories of those things which lie beyond their horizon, in order to excite their wonder, intensify their love for the objects that surround them, and make them more careful observers. In this way a hunger and thirst for books is created. 5. He watches carefully the interests of each child, adapting his teachings to the differences in age and personality. 6. Some questions are left unanswered in order to stimulate that healthy curiosity which can be satisfied only by persistent study--the study that begets courage and confidence. 7. He makes farm work and farm life full of intensely interesting problems, ever keeping in mind that the things of which the common environments of common lives are made up are as well worthy of study as are those which lie beyond. Uncle Robert's enthusiasm has for its prime impulse a boundless faith in human progress, brought about by a knowledge of childhood and its possibilities. He believes that every normal child, under wise and loving guidance, may become useful to his fellows, moral in character, strong in intellect, with a body which is an efficient instrument of the soul; in other words, truly educated. Those who read Uncle Robert's Visit should read through the eyes of Susie, Donald, and Frank. The reading, so far as possible, should be accompanied by personal observation, investigation, and experiment. FRANCIS W. PARKER. CHICAGO NORMAL SCHOOL, August 31, 1897. CONTENTS. I. UNCLE ROBERT'S COMING II. FRANK DRAWS A MAP OF THE FARM III. THE NEW THERMOMETER IV. WITH THE ANIMALS V. IN THE FLOWER GARDEN VI. SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW VII. THE BAROMETER VIII. A WALK IN THE WOODS IX. THE BIRDS AND THE FLOWERS X. THE THUNDERSHOWER XI. THE VILLAGE XII. A DAY ON THE RIVER XIII. A RAINY DAY XIV. THE WALK AFTER THE RAIN XV. THE BIG BOOK TOPICAL ANALYSIS OF UNCLE ROBERT'S VISIT. NOTE.--The direct study of earth, air, and water involves the study of plant, animal, and human life. Popular opinion has given the name of geography to these correlated subjects. CHAPTER I.--UNCLE ROBERT'S COMING.