St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-15

| M ,axasy&a NY &Cedar streets. The
| VSsTSSASA building, a very
! (L5M SSSYM handsome twO-StOry
| NES& frame structure, with
| ~ ~ RIM basement and attic,
| ms ETSSM was formerly occu-
| WYN AMJNSWE pied as a residence
| n >sXfMIvEI by Judge Palmer,
| IN. 6NllW but in the fall of
WW VHlgN 1885 the building and
->-% grounds were pur-
chased by the diocese for $4,000. The
situation is most delightful and the con-
vent easy Of excess, being within
block of the st. Anthony hill, Univer-
Sity avenue and West st. Paul street
ear lines, and short distance from the
lines. Though the building is located
in the very heart of the city,
the neighbOrhood is as quiet
as ii it were out in the suburbs.
This institution is conducted by the
Sisters of st. Joseph, and in manner
such as to reflect the greatest credit on
! all concerned, and especially on Mother
| Celestine, who is noted for her ability
both as manager and lnstructreSS.
| The convent serves three-fOld pur-
pose, that of residence for those sisters
of the order OF st. Joseph who are en-
gagged during the day teaching in the
parochial schools, an academy of music
and painting and kindergarten.
| THE FIRST FLOOR.
The reception parlOr is Oh the right
as you enter. This room is elegantly
carpeted, the ceiling is high and ele-.
gantly frescoed. and the walls adorned
with beautiful paintings in Oil and
water-colOrs. The furnishings of the
room are in keeping with the adorn-
mentS. A finely executed picture of
| RIChnn IrnI1nH re an hn FOL
Nearly all the paintings, pictures and
fancy pieces are the handiwOlk of the
sisters. Across the hall is the chapel,
perhaps the prettieSt little temple in
the city. The altar rests in an alcOve
which would seem to have been in
tended for such a purpose. The sisters
are indebted for the chapel and every
thing pertaining thereto to Thomas Fitz-
patrick, of this city. whose generosity
knows no bounds whenever appeals
are made for charity'S sake. Mass is
in the chapel, by Father Bigot, of the
French church. None but the sisters
attend. .
THE KINDERGARTEN. :
1t was not the intention of the sisters
originally to open kindergarten in
connection with the convent. This was
an afterthougft and was brought about
by the constant requests of parents
who desired such school
for their little ones. Accord
ingly, the sisters opened a kinder
garten April IL, 1886, and since that day,
without advertising OF soliciting, they
have had all the pupils they could at
tend to. The little pupils occupy two
warm, comfortable. CHEEKY rooms on
the first floor. The rooms are lighted by
large windows, furnished with cute lit
tie tables and chairs, In winter, When
the weather is cold or stormy, ana the
attendance falls off somewhat on-tilis
account, but one room is used, the one on
the sunny side of the building.
The average daily attendance is about
thirty. The school opens at a. m. and
is dismissed at noon. There are charts
OF birds and animals, cOlOred strings of
buttons to aid the young mathema-
ticians to count, little drawing States,
cOlOred slips OF wood, blocks with which
to illustrate infantile geometry and de
vices of all kinds to teach the more
essential principles of the arts and
sciences. There are no lessons to be
learned, no studies to tax the youth
full mind. All the child is
asked to do is to listen and
amuse itself. 1t may be Of interest to
people to know something about the
formation and object of kindergartens.
Kindergarten is German word, mean
inc garden for children, and was the
the name given by Frederick FrOebel to
kind of ''play SCHOOL, invented by
him for furthering the physical moral
and intellectual growth of children be-
tween the ages of three and seven
FrOebel maintained that there was
something to do for young children
which even the ideal mother
in the ideal family could not
do. The child required to be
prepared for society by being early as
ISOLATED with its equals, and young chill
dren thus brought together might have
their emplOyments,e especially their chief
employment, play, so organized for them
as to draw out their capacities of feeling
and thinking, and even of inventing
and creating. FrOebeFs study of the
nature of children showed him their
great characteristic was reStlessneSs.
This was first, reStleSSneSs of the body:
delight in mere motion Of
limbs; and secondly, restlessness
OF mind; constant curios-
ity about whatever came within the
sire to examine with the hand every I'M
known object within reach. Childrens
fOndneSs for using their hands was
specially noted by FrOebel, and he
found that they delighted, not merely in
examining by touch, but also in altering
whatever they could alter, and further
that they endeavOred to initiate known
forms, whether by drawing or modelling,
in putty OF clay, Besides remarking In
them these various activities, he
saw that children were sociable and
needed the sympathy of companions.
There was, too, in them growing moral
nature, passions, affections and coil
science, which needed to be controlled,
responded to, cultivated. He held that
the essence of all education was to 6be
found in rightly directed but spOntaIi-
eOus action. After the child has been
taught to know and use his organs of
sense and locomotion in nursery play,
not peremptorily but genially, by the
sympathizing mother, then the kinder
garten takes the child from his mother S
arms, and must, not peremptorily.yeut
genially, superintend his production OF
effects, and assist him to express himself
freely in conversation, while he, is
following the laws of the order sdg-
gested to him in producing objects,
whether transient or more permanent,
that give him experimental knowledge
of the laws and order of nature, making
outward things stepping-stone, not a
stumbling block, of progress. AS when
nursery education merges in the kinder
garten, so when the child can manipu-
late cleverly, converse lnteligently, be-
gins to invent, and has come to a sense
of moral responsibility by learning ''fair
play" with his companions, the
kindergarten merges i'm the school.
He is then ripe for learning to read and
write, to appreciate signs, words having
become familiar with things signified,
facts. The elementary material for the
child's production by which he is edu-
Gated consists of a series of solids,
round, cubicular and triangular, divided