The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-05-08

and rouse within him high aspirations.
The games, like the stories, are not Sc
lected at random simply because they are
pretty, but because they symbolic the
different relations of the child. For in
stance. the child's first relationship begins
in the family. III II were not for the love
and protection afforded by the family In
early life he would perish. The family is
defined as a whole, composed of mutually
dependent members, so by the intimate
connection of the fingers upon the hand
and the differences in their size, they may
be used as an object lesson to impress the
Importance and sacredness of the family
relation. So there are many little finger
games which serve tWo-fold purpose,
that of strengthening the finger and IL
lustrating the different phases of family
life.
Another class of games Is called trade
games. In actual life the child steps from
the family circle into civil society and
he soon finds that besides being depend
ent upon the members of his immediate
family he Is also very dependent upon his
neighbors and society in general for the
comforts he enjoys. The trade songs in
clude the family relations, they Introduce
the child to the great community of work
ers. bring him into relation to the great
brotherhood of man. teach him that all
honest work Is honorable and help him to
recognize the value of the hand as an
agent of the mind.
Now the family comfort and happiness
depend In a great measure upon a beauti-
full well-ordered house, and the comforts
1t contains. So In a significant series of
games the house Is traced back through
all the processes of manufacture to the
tree growing In the green woods. The
child has bread and milk for his supper.
Few children have any thought or appre-
citation of the variety of labor contributed
by many persons before 1t is possible for
him to have his supper. The kindergarten
child, however, traces the bread through
the baker to the miller, through the miller
to the farmer, and the field of wheat to
sunshine, rain and dew and all cond!-
tlons favorable to its growth supplied by
the Heavenly Father. For the milk he
must thank the boy who MIXED the COW,
Peter who moved the grass. Mooly who
gave the milk, and God the giver of all. The
spoon with which he eats Is traced through
the smith to the charcoal burner, thence
10 the miner and the mine. The bowl,
even, which holds his milk, he under
stands in all the processes of its manu-
facture. All this that the child may have
his supper
The Genesis Of Things.
This cannot help but cultivate a love
for humanity and arouse within the child
feelings of gratitude and "A desire to do
something in return. 1t is claimed that
there is no art or science or industry
which In its first principles is not repre-
Scntcu IN the songs games or occupations
of the kindergarten.
We teach by means of what are termed
gifts. These gifts are the playthngs of
the child. Through using them he be-
comes interested in detecting resem-
blances to them In objects surrounding
him and greatly TO his delight he sees
spheres, cubes and cylinders everywhere,
and all unconsciously he grasps the idea
of fundamental forms and carries 1t
through life. Following the gift comes
the occupation. The sewing, weaving,
drawing, modelling, etc, give strength
and eXactness to the little fingers, grace
and freedom to the arm and hand.
The games, occupations and gifts serve
to develop the senses, the limbs and all
the organs of the body in the pleasantest
possible manner.
But wherein. do you ask, is the great
and lasting good to humanity? Society rs
an organism, each individual a unit. The
individual of low desires and uncultured
mind draws from the life-blood of this Or
ganism as much as the individual of
high aspirations and noble ambitions.
If the heart be diseased then every atom
of the social organism must suffer-and
we, as educators, as physicians to the
mind, must reach the scat of trouble.
The children whom we have in our free
kindergartens are victims of inherited
moral dlsease-and until this taint is re-
moved we cannot hope to purify the So
cial system. So we begin with the chill
dren.
To form is nobler than to reform. and
every child in whom we plant the seed of
higher thought and nobler living will In
his turn add to the strength and unity of
the structure which we raise and as
generation after generation passes away,
there Will be left those who have ceased to
see through a glass darkly, but shall see
God. through nature. face 10 face.