The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1876-10-07
WHAT Is A KINDERGARTEN !

WHAT Is A KINDERGARTEN
FRTBELS SYSTEM OF EDUCATION BRIEFLY
EXPLAINED.
The work of cultivating the human mind
is one of such supreme magnitude and i'm.
portance, that every plan tending to its per
lection deserves earnest consideration and a
fair trial.
The thoughtful, real educator resembles
a wise husbandman, who does not cling tc
old methods merely out of respect for theil
age, but adopts all the scientific improve,
ments made both in material and method
Within the last sixty years, great change
has taken place in the principles and meth
DDS of dealing with the youthful mind.
The principle of compassion has been dis,
carded, and the superior power of lore &C,
knowledged and employed. The cane and
rattan, though not yet entirely abandoned,
have been largely superseded by better
methods of Observation-Disclosures and en-
enlargement allied to firmness being found
more potent to lead than those weapons
were to drice.
The dry and uninteresting, because unin
telligible, lessons committed to memory
repeated parrot. wise and readily FORGOTTEN
have been proved injurious and creative
of a distaste for the requirements of knowl-
edge itself This must be ascribed to the
fact that the voice of nature and revela-
ton touching education has found new
! listeners and eSpounders, among whom
Comenins, Rousseau, Pestalozzi Stowe,
Bell, Lancaster and Frmbel stand forth
conspicuous as the benefactors of child
hood, the excellence of whose ideas and
efficiency of whose plans-hrst tested and
carried ont il private schools and inStitu-
into public schools also.
To the last named and least known of
these modern educators, we desire to invite
attention, in presenting reply to the oft
ten?' in order that every parent and friend
of children may learn from our answer
where their little ones may grow, learn and
be happy, while gradually advancing in the
hcalthful exercise Of their faculties, and in
the delightful requirement cf krowied dye.
Frederick fTp,bei, the founder Of the
kindergarten system of education, was
born in Germany, and became Il pupil of
Pestalos4i, and an ardent admirer of his
method of teaching. FrDbel, however,
soon discovered the want of something
better calculated to interest and engage
the active powers of the youngest ynii-
dren. He carefully s.uaiea the child in it's
spir!taai, rioral, intellectual and animal
nature. He perceived, by the old systems
of instruction, the harmonious a3t, ! laaual
development of al. the faouitios was not
secured, but that the memory was often
overtaXed, the moral sentiment neglected,
or the physical powers stunted, while the
inventive or creative faculty innate in every
child remained undeveloped. lie watched
nature in the vegetable king DOM, where
plants grow ireelI in good soil and pure
air, needing but the aid of the cultivator
for their perfect development. in Leauti-
full accordance with the teachings of ma
turs, lie found, too, the Scripture precept:
"Train up a child in the way he should
60" with its encouraging promise: ''and
when he is old he will not depart from it. ~
He thus arrived at the conclusion that the
teacher of youth sho,titi not attempt to
, force the mind, but simply use the right
means and materials by which knowledge
may be obtained direct the awakening
faculties, form the habits, educate the feel
ings, and pre2er.e pure atmosphere and
good influences around the tender human
| plant,
"We must begin at the beginning, said
Frnbel, after having devoted nearly a life
time to the education of scholars beyond
childhood. "Too mEcclh 4a4 "a be undone
in la.e,. yeats, thaS has been done wrong
from the outset" He, therefore, addressed
himself to mothers, to the whole female
sex, to whom the care of infancy is com
mitted. In his book of . Mothers Cosset
ing Songs" Frederick Fr,, bel is.id down
! his v.oas on lntant EDUCATION.
4 For the age from three to seven he de-
vised his " kindergarten" as an ilterne
diate step and Connecting ink between the
chiidss nome life and the school. which
brings the child into contact with children
of his own age, enhances his pleasure il
| following the same pursuits with them, anG
plants the seeds of sociable virtues Dur
ing his life time FrHbel was understood
and appreciated only by a few superior
minds. In order to make his ideas more
| widely known, this unssliisli man prac
ticed much self denial, and travelled man,
miles, frequently resting on the green swarc
at night "with an umbrella for his bee
room and a knapsack for his pillow. ;
Toward the close of his life his labors wcrt
rewarded with sgccass, ior Ne iiYed to Sc,
many q h,ndergartens p Child Gardens
as he called them, established in Germany
What, then, is Kindergarten It il al
institution provid,ng smpioyments and ex
arci.es FOR the healthful and harmoniou
development of ali the faculties of chill
dren of from , to : years of age. FrTber
motto is: "Play is the work of the child
The toys used, Frubel termed "gifta
The first and second gifts az USED for tn