The herald., 1896-03-27
UNDERGRADUATES AT WORK
at Our Correspondent Saw in Train
ing School for Teachers.
PLAYING FROG AND CATERPILLAR.
All Sorts Of Queer Games and Exer-
cises-The Teachers Must Take
the Same Course as Their
Future Pupils.
Copyright 1896, by Bacheller. johnson Bachellerl


"Churrug, churrug. churrugr'
The visitor stands in amaZement,
"Churrug. churrug!'
The game of leap-frog still goes on
Some llalf-dozen girls are in the centre.
jumping about in frog-like fashion, Civ
Ing their mournful cry; others form cir
Gle about them, and to simple air tell
tale of the frog and his life.
1t is class of Miss Hunters training
school for young ladies who wish to be-
come kindergarten teachers. To be a
member of that class means earnest
work and plenty of enthusiasm for the
cause. The onlooker may be amused.
but to the pupils there is nothing ridicu-
lOus in this. game of leap-frOg.
One of the girls, on being asked if she
did not feel embarrassed, replied:
why. no, it's lots Of fun. The tall
girls may feel so, but | don't. TO me
there is nothing awkward or embarras-
sing about these games" Then she re-
peated, But it is such fun.'' She con-
fessed. however to stiff limbs when the
day was done. She laughngly said that
one could not jump n hundred and twen-
ty pounds about room without feeling
1t.
The frog game is not the only one that
is played Another exercise tells the
story of the caterpillar The caterpllars
crawl about the floor; they retire to CO.
coons-represented by the corners of the
room; they fiutter forth as gorgeous
butterfies-the girls stepping lightly
about the room and waving their arms
gracefully to portray the actions of that
insect Again. the life of the farmer is
told by them. They show how he plows
the fields, Sows the seeds, and reaps the
harvest; and when the days work is
done, the tired farmer lays himself down
to rest (here the young ladies' and their
teacher drop gracefully to the floor and
rest at full length.
All the games are not so boisterOuS.
however. At long tables. entirely filling
the room. sit the girls, some cutting.
some folding. pieces of colored paper
All sorts of objects are cut from the pa
per by these deft fingers. They start
with squares. circles. triangles and OBJ
longs. pasting them in book arranged
for that purpose. Then the designs be-
come more difficult, and mosaic work,
in co!ors to suit the pastors taste. is
ehOwn on the next pages; still one step
further. and objects of life appear. One
book contained Il pier-glass, with an eb-
Oily lTuIilt dDOut lt.-d source VI nucn
annoyance to the cutter and much mer-
riment to her friends Her brother
would persist in calling that glass a cof
tin.-in fact, in misnaming everything
in the book
shapes making of Il square of paper as
many shapes as possible. The result of
this work is also pasted in book.
tN ir inf c1 tn faa nj,
and color. the folding to keep the fing-
gers flexible
Blocks and Straws and seeds furnish
other amusements. With blocks they
represent a locomotive, ut the same
time learning all they can of its me-
chansm; they build a stone wall, and
inquire into the materials used they
call attention to the fact that Il block
has six sides. eight corners. twelve
edges,-thingS which we should all be
able to tell without a moments thought,
but regarding which we are apt to be so
deplorably ignorant. Thus the play goes
on. day after day, each pupil breathing
into her soul that sympathy with child
life so essential to successful kinder
gartncrS.
Learning to be a kindergarten. how
ever is otall play. There is much hard
study necessary. OF perhaps two hun
dred applicants each year, Miss Hunter
selects forty. To be Il successful appli-
cant one must have either a high school
or a college diploma; the candidate
must have studied geometry. algebra,
botany, music. universal histOry,-in
short. must have had thorough scien-
fife training.
After entering. a pupil devotes one
year to study of the system. She at
tends the school in the morning. learning
the kindergarten occupations She takes
precisely the same course as child.
but completes in one year what child
does in three.
Miss Hunter lectures in the afternoon
of two days each week. The lectures
are on botany. zoology. psychology. and
other branches of science. While Miss
Hunter lectures the girls take notes.
from which each is expected to write
paper. AS the girls grow in wisdom
they take turns at assisting in the kin
dergartcn connected with the training
school: and toward the close of the term
the more courageous go step further.
serving as substitutes. in schools fo,
poor children in various parts of the city
1t is an embarrassing task to assist