The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-12-15
kinlergarten Training.

(By the Kindness or the authoI We arc
permitted to publish portions Of an essay
read by Miss Rumery, kindergarten
teacher In the Orphans Home. at the re-
cent annual excrcies Of the Missionary
Mothers ca IS. Kindergarten as has
been often explained. is a compound Ger
man word. meaning children garden.
In IL child life Is regarded and treated
as tender plants. BY objects and illusTa-
tons the tender minds are led TO strike
their roots downward into the reason and
relation of things. thus forming an intel
Iigent basis fer all education.-Ed)
To tell all the ways i1 which the KIN
dergarten work would be a help to moth
ers would require more than one evening.
and each mother would have a different
experience. since each ones needs would
be different, just as we each get from a
sermon those points which come closest
home / will mention only few or the
most obvious ways in which IL VIII help
every ordinary mother with the ordinary
education yet full Of mother-loNe ana
that indescribable something which moth
erhood alone can bring.
The greatest foe with which the kinder
gartner has TO contend IS the idea among
neople at large that her little domain IS
simply safe place Of entertainment Tor
the children "a place where the child us
uallv loves 10 be and best of ALL where
where he requires none of the mother
thought or care If the mother under
stood the real kindergarten thought, TINS
evil would be cradicated, ana she Moulu
cease TO regard her child's time wasted
because he was not learning 10 read ana
write and SPELL for she would compre-
bend the fact that he was learning 10
read and write and spell In the great DOCK
OF nature, becoming acquainted with us
Author, and learning 10 recite those les
sons I'm a material way. The kinderear-
ton &C. NOT q school I'm the common accep-
tation OF the term, but mediator be-
tween the home and the school,-a place
where the mental, moral. and physical
natures are developed simultaneously
The mother who understands the prin-
ciples of the kindergarten viii value the
work the child brings home, not Tor It's
Intrinsic worth, but Tor the skill acquired
I'm IFS making, the motive that prompted
II. and the spiritual truth 1t was meant
10 emphasize. She will appreciate the 1T
tie games in which he initiates the diff
erent occupations animals, etc, not pc
cause they keep him out OF mischief, but
because they afford exercise In his three
fold DEVELOPMENT. because by them he Is
irving to feel like the person or thing he
IS initiating, thus getting into sympathy
with them, and consequently being drawn
closer to their Creator His mental pow
ers are being cultivated, for he Is observ-
ing and classifying.
Now the mother who understands the
kindergartener's efforts can carry on the
same work in the home, where she Is
with the child twenty-one hours instead
of three, by leading him out in converse
ton along the lines that are being en-
phasized that week in kindergarten, and
inc i'm
cumstances that will help to remind MN
of his kindergarten, thus connecting 1t
with his home life
The old proVerb. "In union there IS
strength" never applied more truly 10
anything than TO the forces brought 10
bear upon q child's character, ana only
when the kindergartener and the mothei
can work together harmoniously, can We
expect the highest results we htio"
that a change Of light in the conserVato-
~ will blast a geraniIm bud' put Wha'
about the delicate little human buds IN
our child-garden? The mother needs
thorough kindergarten course. I'm order 10
WORK in the most perfect harmony with
The teacher. She will then understand
the value Of play as a factor In the edu-
cation of her child, and improve every op-
nortunitv of binding him closer to herself
nv her interest In his play. Instead OF
loading him down with playthings, which
will tend to make him fickle and restless,
she will provide him with material into
which he may put A part OF himself. and
then help him to do that, even at the eX-
nense Of time and tidy room.
The mother who has caught the real
Froebel (he originator OF kindergarten
methods) spirit. regards her work as
holy. sacred one: for she always looks
f-o,,, the material 10 the spiritual. from
the cause TO the effect. from the act 10
the result upon the character: and wheth-
er she is building block houses for her
little one, washing his dirty little dimpled
hands, or teaching him TO lisp his first
prayer as the little white figure bows at
her knee, she realizes she is sowing seeds
In her darlings heart. and helping to
mold his character.-Miner Rumery In
Haskell Orphans Home.