Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-29
HER TALK TOMOTHERS.
Miss Wheel0ck Continues Her Lee
lures on Kindergartens.
A GERMAN FOUNDED THE SYSTEM.
Pathetic Stories of Why He Determined
to Benefit Children.


Miss Lucy Wheelock, of Boston, de.
livered an interesting talk to 'mOthers" on
the kindergarten system at the Alinda
preparatory school, Fifth avenue and Craig
street, yesterday afternoon at 3 o'clock.
Miss Wheelock was greeted by even a
larger audience than yesterday and COM
menced with sketch of the father Of the
kindergarten system, Friederich Troebel,
who was born in Germany.
His childhood, the speaker said, was mis-
cradle and lonely, his mother having died
when he was very young. He had no conn.,
panions of his own age. High stone walls
surrounded the parental house, which he
often tried to scale and soar into the world
beyond. ut was the utter misery OF my
early childhood" Troebel often said in
after years. "that moved me to do some
thing for the alleviation of childhood mis-
cry such as I experienced. Two OF
Troebel's great msxims in his kindergarten
system were that all development comes
through the child's self activity, and the
mother should understand the course of race
development
He Was a Born Imitator.
Zone story of Troebel's childhood is very
touching" said Miss Wheelock. ga
church was in process of erection opposite
his fathers house, and he begged the car
penter for chips to fashion one himself,
showing the strong initiative instinct in the
child, which is made such strong point in
kindergarten work. Herbert Spencer has
said that if every vestige of man were
, suddenly swept away except his school
books, enough would be left to tell about
everything relating to the human race ex-
cept parentage."
Symbols are principally used in teaching
in preference to the theoretical system,
Miss Wheelock claims that an hours
teaching with symbols is worth weeks
theoretical teaching. The kindergarten
teaches a child's physical development,
but not in the old fashioned way. Chill
dren are not told in military tone of COM
mand, to stand with their heels together
and their arms stretched at full length.
They are asked, instead, how the branches
grow on tree, and to illustrate it with
their hands Consequently what would be
torture to them is only play.
The children are taught to keep a record
of the weather In very original way. At
the head of the page, Sunday Is represented
by drawing of a church. Tuesday by
ball-that is the day the boys play ball.
Saturday is represented by lot Of toys, as
that is play day. A dry, wet or snowy
day is also pictorially represented.
She Believes in Symbols.
Miss Wheelock advocates the use of svm-
bols, blocks for building, ETC., for the chill
dren at the Home, and also the companion
ship of children of their own age. She
said no home was complete without sand
heap in the yard.
The standard for teachers in kindergar-
tens is very high. No one who has not had
High School or college education is eligi-
BILE. Children are admitted between the
ages of 3 and z. Miss Wheelock said she
hoped that some generous people would
contribute to endow q kindergarten In
Pittsburg, where it is much needed. She
appealed to mothers who perhaps had lost
children at an early age that they could not
find more fitting memorial to their little
ones than to contribute to such an institu-
tion. She instanced the Leland Stanford
in San Francisco, where be-
reaved mothers contributed. Another
meeting on the same subject, TO be addressed
by Miss Wheelock, is to be held next Sat-
urday morning at 1880 at the same place.