Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-08-09
KINDERGAKTENS.
Fr@bel's system Of object Eduen.

FLUoeib system OF OhJect Euuea-
t1on.
I'VE must begin at the beginning"
said Fre5el, after having devoted nearly
q lifetime to the education of scholars
beyond childhood. TOO much has to
be done in later years, that has been
done wrong from the outset" He there.
fore addressed himself to mothers, to the
whole female sex, to whom the care of
infancy is committed.
For the age from three to seven be de.
vised his Kindergarten" as an inter.
mediate step aud connecting link be.
tween tho child's home life and the
school, which brings the child into con-
tact With children Of his own age, en-.
bances his pleasure by following the
same pursuits with them, and plants the
seeds Of sociable virtues. During his
| fetime Frebel was understood and APP
preciated only by a few superior minds.
In order to make bis ideas more widely
known, this uDselfsh man practiced
much seltdenial, and travelled many
miles, frequently resting on the green
sward at night, with an umbrella for bis
bedroom and a knapsack for his pillow"
Toward the close Of his life his labors
we're rewarded with success, for he lived
to see many Kindergartens" (ehild-
gardens, as be called them) established
10 Germany.
What, then, is q Kindergarten 1t is
an institution providing employments
and exercises Ter the healthlul aud har-
monious development of all the faculties
Of children of from three to seven years
Of age. Frebel's motto is. Play is the
work Of the child" The toys used,
Frebel termed gifts" The first and
second gifts are used for the child ia the
nursery-and mothers and nurses who
know their use and value, readily COM
mend them to others. The third, fourth,
fifth and sixth gifts belong TO the Kin
dergarten." These gifts consist of boxes
Of cubes, vsEiously divided, which are
used to give pleasant lessons in mum.
bers, or the elements Of arithmetic, in
form and invention. They develop the
constructive faculty, and with the aid of
stories, anecdotes and useful iuforma-
ton, according TO the teacher tact, are
made to convey much simple instruction
concerning the laws of nature and CON-
mon things. Little children cannot, in
accordance With their nature, sit still for
any length Of time, even to look and
iisten-their constant anxiety TO have
something TO do, and hence the many
employments for the fingers and feet, az
well as for the eyes aud ears, which FIo.
, bel suggested, meet in an admirable
manner the child's wants. Active
games, with songs of the most Innocent
and instructive kind, form q part of the
daily exercises Of the Kindergarten"
Kindergarten education is fast gaining
ground in America, the only obstacle to
its mote rapid spread being the want of
competent, thoroughly trained Kinder.
gartens.
A considerable number of Kindergar.
tens are in successful operation in New
York, Boston, Brooklyn, Newark and
other Eastern %eities, as we'll as in the
Western States. They are mostly con-
nected with private institutions, in some
cases with parochial schools, Catholic
and Protestant. In st. Louis and else
where the Kindergarten system has
been engrafted upon the public school
system.