The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-26


yates, Of a kindergarten, taught by one
MISS Bessie" While there is much of
huInur and something, perhaps, of ex-
.aggeration in Miss Carriers description
r. OF the dergarten-trained child. few
parents or instructors viii fail 10 rec
oghize Freddie and Agnes.
~. IN common with other primary
teachers fifteen years ago, she believed
that "by means of joy aud sport and
merry games the little children at their
play would Danish the arid drudgery of
the old schoolroom routine would
laugh their way through reading and
writing, sing their way through ge-
ngraphy and history, dance their way
through. algebra and geometry. and
progress in one, beautiful unbroken
line-.of continuous development" from
The kindergarten, through the most
difficult college examinations, on and
on into roseate futurity"
The children came. They came eX-
pecting to find in us lovely ladies who
would call them Freddie dear and
my little Agnes" they came expect
Ing. to be praised for every trivial act
or piece of work; they came expecting
to do exactly as they pleased at any
at every hour of the day. They came
expecting all these good things-and
they were, disappointed; so were we.
They. were not as happy in the school
as they had been when they We're in
the kindergarten; neither were we. In
few days they made up their minds
that we did not know how TO teach,
and at about the same time we made
up. our minds that they did not know
how to learn"
Not least among the difficulties were
the children's requirements in the way
of affection. We found ourselves UNI
able to pour forth a copious stream of
praise and adulation every time the lit
tie Jack pulled out a plum. Ane we
were made to suffer for it. Up to that
time we had thought that we loved
children, but we proved unequal to the
continued drain upon our 'dears and
tdarlings'; and since We could not al
4. .ways, call all the children dear and
darling, we were misunderstood In the
matter of our affection"
1t has been a preconceiVed idea of
hers, continues the author, whose name,
by the way, is Marion Hamilton Car
ter, that when an object was set for
drawing, some attempt should be made
to draw it, but the undergraduate
children upon seeing what we intended
for a lesson, remembered a similar but
more interesting object, which they
forthwith drew. An apple would be re-
placed by a peach, an orange or a pear.
1t was the same in clay modelling. When
an apple was given, a birls nest with
eggs, a sled, or a man on horseback
would DE presented as an equivalent,
and the teacher who objected would be
stigmatized as cranky" The children
at the blackboard laid down their cray
ons when they learned that they We're
working, and all attempt the following
day to continue the work established
the fact that public opinion was totally
against us in this direction"
Reading was more popular with the
children than writing, but they wanted
stories told about all the letters, and
the dry operations of arithmetic had to
be concealed in entertaining tales of
sticks or candy, cakes and oranges, be-
fore they could be induced to give any
attention at all.
s-=Miss Carriers superintendent had be-
corneadeeply interested in carrying on
the kindergarten methods in the pri-
mary schools" Therefore Miss Carter
experimental widely with the sewing
card, weaving. parquetry, paper cutting
and paper folding. The value of sewing
cards as a foundation for later domes-
'ti@ uses is a pedagogical myth she OBJ
for the purpose of combining art with
Industry Hwould have implied an ele-
Tated taste in a Hottentot only" As the
superintendent himself could show no
" practical application" of weaving, that
was allowed to be dropped. AS for the
paper folding Miss Carter quotes with
evident glec a selection from leading
kindergarten magazine which, after in
dicating the numerous ways in which
the operation is helpful, concludes:
"Fhus paper folding teaches: /. Love
for the beautiful therefore love for the
good :, Neatness. 3. Accuracy. 4. Care
fumess. s. Patience. 6. Honesty. l.. In
dustry. s. Usefulness. 9. Helpfulness. TO-
Generosity
but why stop at ten?" asks Miss
Carter. Two more would have made an
even dozen. Why not add: IL. Steno-
graphy r. Cooking
1t was In nature work and object les
sons that the enthusiasm of the teacher
over the kindergarten trained child re-
ceivcd the blow from which 1t never
recovered This is the way she de-
sribas her clisenchdntment:
we gave out three leaves to each
child for a comparison Of shapes.
"'Children. what have you on your
desks? we asked
~ have three little boats cried
Freddie
~ nave three fans, said Agnes,
"'f have 4 papa, and mamma, and
a baby said Ethel.
- have three plates for the Three
Bears, said Harold.
cor amt got nothin but three ole
leaves announced Pat.
-"Derision from the kindergarten chill
arcn Pat subsidized in dismay.
Another time we gave out pieces Of
flint for lesson on minerals.
Il, s1rr