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It would seem as though to know how to observe was very simple and did not need any explanation; perhaps you think it will be sufficient to be in a classroom in a school and to look and see what happens. But to observe is not as simple as that. Any methodical observation which one wishes to make, requires preparation. Observation is one of those many things of which we frequently speak, and of which we form an inexact or false idea. It should be sufficient to consider what occurs in all the sciences which depend upon observation. The observers in the various sciences must have a special preparation. For instance, one who looks through a microscope does not see what exists there unless his eye is prepared. It is not sufficient to have the instrument and to know how to focus it; it is also necessary to have the eye prepared to recognize the objects. Thus we might say in this case that a sensorial preparation is necessary. When Fabre describes his observation of insects, he really gives us a description of his long and patient preparation for observation; and he also describes the virtues and attributes, necessary to acquire in order to be able to observe. He must forget himself, and he must be at the service of the insects. He must rise in the morning at the hour when the insects begin to move. He tells us that he was very fond of smoking and yet he puts away his pipe, for fear that the smell of the smoke might affect their manifestations. Then, should there not also be a preparation in order to observe the child? Perhaps the scarcity of observations made upon children is due to the lack of preparation for such observations.
