, 1881-06-19
PED A. COG.

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their administration.
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PED A. COG.
We printed Wednesday communication
from ped \. Cog" who processes to have
taken deep Interest in the articles which
have appeared in The TRIBUNE oil the sub
ject Of Kindergarten and Manual Training
Schools There is tinge Of scorn i'll Pet
Il. Goys manner Of propounding question:
which we trust is not characteristic OF hls
school methods, because in cur opinion the
scornful teacher is not the best teacher.
Ped a, Cog inquiries:
Is the kindergarten age from to ], a. stated
in Sunday TRIBUNE? Was that Fr0bers !deas
/ No. The kindergarten age is from to Z
| we understand Fr0bel's 'tidea" to have been
| the deyising Of system for the physical,
mental. and moral training Of children OF
very tender age.
! In whit respects arc children who have been
70:
| tic educatlony
/ Prot. ". I. Harris, for many years Super
| in1endent Of the ST. Louis Public Scllonis,
and with whose reputation rs an educator
| Ped Il. Cog is probably acquainted, says:
''Of the twenty gifts which the kindergarten
| system offers, the -tirst six form group hay
ing the one object to fainiltarize the child
with the elementary notions Of geometry
He learns the forms of solids. the cube,
sphere, and cylinder, anu their various sur
faces; also. divisions Of the cube, and com-
binutions Of the cube ami its divisions, In
building various objects. lie learns count
;n,r a,,I eriy,o h1 he far af,h
and its divisions are made on scale OF an
inch and fractions of an inch, aud the squares
into which tile surface of his table Is divided
are square inches. Counting, adding, subtract
ing, and dividing the parts of the cube give
him the elementary operations of arithmetic
so far as small numbers arc concerned. and
give him very practical knowledge of them;
for he can use his knowledge, and he has de-
velopcd 1t step by step with his own activity.
1t Is always the dcsideratum In education to
secure the maximum Of self-uctivity i'll the
pupil. The Kindergarten gifts are the best
instrun,entalitieS ever devised for the pur-
pose Of educating young children through
snlf-activity. Other devices may TO thls,-
other devices have done it,-but Fr5bei's is
most successful"
It has, we believe. long been conceded as
one OF the FIRST if not the first, principles Of
pedagogy that 1.-THE pupil is educated not
by what others do for lin. but by what he is
led to do for himself" Fr5bei undertook
to apply this thcory-to found a system upon
it-for children. AS early as 1s72 it was
found that the graduates OF a kindergarten
tplay-schoon under the direction Of Prof. 4.
Donai, Of Newark, n. j., "took high rank in
the public schools, standing almost Invariably
at the head Of their classes" Fur further
reply to this question we beg to refer Ped 4.
G0g to the public schools report Of St Louis
for 1850; he will find it exceedingly inter-
esting.
Docs Tue TRIBUNE know that the kfndcrgar-
tens of st. Louis ure IN unuuAiisied Success.
otnorWtso than In providing pleasant places for
tha little children Of poor women while the lat
ter Are at work?
THE TRIBUNE only k71otcs what the edu-
Gators of st. Louis say about it. Prof. Harris
says: "As the kindergarten has now been
in operation for six years, and on very ex-
tended scale, the time has arrived when the
subject may be discussed in the light Of
experience, and satisfactory conclusions
reached as to the adviSabillty of continuing |
and extending the system thus far tieveioped."
And III conclusion he says: with these +!
suggestions I leave the subject, believing !
that they are sufficient to justify the direct |
ors Of our public schools in making the |
part of our school system. !
The advantage to the community in utilizing
lle age from ! to 9; III training the !
hand and eye, In developing habits Of ceanli- |
ness politencss, self-control, urbanity, i'll
lustry; in training the mind to understand
numbers and geometric forms, to invent COM
oinations Of figures and shapes, and to repre-
sent them with the pencil, these and other
'aluabte lessons In colnblna tion with their
elow pupils, and obedience to the rule Of
heir superiors,-above all, the useful sug-
,eSt1olS as to methods Of instruc tfon which
viii come from the kindergarten and
penetrate the methods Of the other schools
vill, think, ultimately prevail in securing
0 us the establishment OF this benefcent in
titution In all the city scnool systems Of our
ountry.''
In reply to Ped 4. Gog's interrogative sug-
estion that the kindergarten Is probably of no
sc beyond providing pleasant places for the |
title children Of 1oor working women,"
&c again quote Prof. Harris. He says: sit |
) difficult to tell which class (poor or ricl)
ne kindergarten benefits most. Society is
enetited by the substitution of d rational |
aiming Of the child's will during his transition
ertod. II he lisa child Of poverty, he is saved
), the good associations and the industrial |
nd intellectual training that he gets II he
child Of wealth, lie is saved by the kin
from ruin through self-indulgence
nd the corruption ensuing on weak manage |
|ent in the family. The worst elements In |
le community are corrupted and ruined
len who were once youth Of unusual direct /
e power,-children OF parents OF strong t
ills'' r
How many boys are in the manual training | t
nool ~ 81. Louis, SO often referred tn?
~ DOGS 5 It. lt 10 anything for the grIs? What is the
Mr. Atkinson speaks OF twenty boys at work.
lesc arc not all, are they?
II Ped \. Cog had read "the articles in
lie TRIBUNE" uerU carefully lie need not |