The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-02-15
w. L. U.
What the Ladies Said About
Education.

Fourth Meeting of the Society heio Ss''"i
day-several Interesting Papers Read
Good Music Provided.
The three preceding programmes LOT
the open meetings of the women LIT
erary Union. have been most hitting III
their sequence of selection, peglhnihe
with Art. and WORK through Literature,
Science and Economics, to the broad
platform where, even slight knowl-
odos of those various subjects has helped
to develop some" Education the
tonic of the meeting Saturday at Pine
Street church.
The motif of the programme was to
show the development and adoption of
the new methods of education, In the
endeavor to train the mind to habits
of observation and concentration and
to instill line of the beautiful, in
place of the old routine work of merely
absorbing facts.
The platform was decorated with a
few beautiful spreading palms, n bowl Of
fragrant piuks, and In front, portrait OF
Froebel, whose name Is so lndissolubly
connected with the German system Of
kindergarten.
Mrs. Clarke called the meeting to order,
congratuIating the ladies upon the
weather which had been SO delightful
for the past four Saturday afternoons,
and introduced as the presiding officers
of the afternoon, Miss Russell of the
Anne Hathaway club, Miss Evans of the
Smaller club and Mrs. Brownson OF the
Present Era. Miss Russell said that the
subject of education was novel one. but
we were to hear this afternoon of the new
method which had developed go wonder
fully in the last few years. In this new
system, music plays..an important part, and
it would give all great pleasure to hear
Mrs. Evelyn Day White sing a waltz
song, by Luckstone. Mrs. White was in
excellent voice and gave this selection,
accompanied by Mrs. Smith, most charm
ingly. RI
In this modern scheme of education the
work of course begins with the chill
dren, SO the first paper Of the afternoon
was on "The Growth OF the Kindergar-
ten idea in Education" by Miss Char
lotto Walker, a kindergarten teacher,
and member of the "Child Culture
club" Miss Walker began by saying
chat "education should guide
man to clearness concerning himself. to
peace with nature and to unity with
God, ''and spoke of the different methods
of education, showing especially in the
freedom granted the individual. A re-
view was made OF the various systems OF
education, beginning with the Chinese
and describing as well the Japanese,
Hindoo. Egyptian, Persian and Greek
schools. Pythagoras was the first Greek
teacher noted, and Miss Walker showed
how the germ of the 'idea developing"
system was in its incipient stages, under
the influence of Socrates and Plato.
Christianity saved Rome. and the great
est Teacher of the world, began his
work, as little child. With Bacon
came the new philosophy and the new
learning, with new aims and new ways.
The scientific knowledge does not con-
sist in learning facts. but in investigat-
ing, in making original research. Miss
Walker spoke of John Locke, with this
theory of ;'sound mind, in sound
body;'' of Francke, of Rousseau, the
realist, who first taught the theory Of
"individual' development, and helped
to make possible the ideal inspiration
which came to Pistolozzi and through
him to such crystalized power in Fred
eric Froebel The beautiful symmetry
of development, as taught in the kinder
ga1ten system, was well brought out by
the essayist, showing how all sound
teaching tended to develop the love OF
nature, God, and our fellow men, and In
this, our physical, moral and spiritual
ma lures. The children are taught not
only to do the right, but to love 1t, and
the games and songs are so contrived
AS to bring out their innate impulse
for mental and physical activity. In
closing her most interesting paper Miss
Walker quoted from Froebel, 1.-THE clear
er the theme which runs through our
life back wards, back to our childhood,
the clearer will be our onward glance
10 the goal. I"
In the musical interval, Mrs. White
sang with much appreciation of its
sentiment, dreamy June" by Gerald
Lane, making suggestive prelude to
the paper which followed by Mrs. Fabius
Ray, on "Nature StudS."
The writer on this subject was par
ticulerly well chosen, for she brought to
her work, a real, earnest knowledge and
enthusiasm, which was felt by all who
listened to her able treatment of this
charming branch of study. Mrs. Kay
gave an interesting quotation from an
account of a visit to school in Detroit,
which is fosseled upon a rather novel
idea, which is, that "every child repeats
in his own development, the history Of
the race; therefore his education should
follow az closely as possible the lines of
progress drawn by the civilization of the
race" The account explained that the
children In the various grades were sup
posed to WORK up from the savage state,
80 TO sneak, with Hiawatha as their