The age-herald., 1899-06-04
GROWTH OF TIE
 KINDERGARTENS
Movement for Which Birming- ham is Doing So Much
 in Alabama.

Of all the movements which have been undertaken of late years by the energetic women of Alabama none have been of more importance than that of an associa- tion organized in Birmingham last decem- Der for the promotion and widespread in- troduction of kindergarten training for the children of the state There have been kin dergartens in Alabama, it is true, for some years past, but there were few, if any, of them that were conducted on such scien- tific and practical basis as the free kinder gartens of Birmingham.
 It is the object of the Birmingham Free Kindergarten association that these kin dergartens shall some day become part of the public schools of the state and with this end in view they have established a training school in which to prepare teach CTS for the work. They desire to get the women of Alabama interested in this work and they want to get young women from all parts of the state to take the course in the training school
 tion was written by Mrs. J. H. Phillips the has been done and which is still being done by the Birmingham Kindergarten associa- tion, was written by Mrs. J. H. Phillips, the chairman of the committee on training schools:
 ''The south in the past has been skepti- cal in regard to the kindergarten move- ment; this skepticism still exists in many communities, although the movement is constantly gaining in popularity. This widespread distrust is due to the fact that many untrained at best superficially trained persons have undertaken the york; their lack of proper conception, theoretical md fNrn ffSaa1 .,E I-s. responsible for this prejudice against the movement "A sham kindergartner always produces a sham kindergarten" and while such work may flourish for day, it will not take permanent hold upon sensible peo- pie.
 Knowing these conditions and believing that we also recognized the cause of past failures, committee was sent to Louis Ville. Ky, the most progressive point in the south in kindergarten work. The ob- Ject Of this committee was to see and in- vestfgate the actual teaching, and also to secure If possible one of their skilled kin dergartners for our own work.
 NO position demands a more perfect type of woman than that of the kindergart- ner, especially where the initial steps are to be taken, as was the case with us. She must combine the executive ability of the teacher, the consecrated spirit of the moth- CT, and the reverent insight of the philoso- pHeI5 Sue InuSC pc Qeunlte, strong, loving, and unselfish, full of faith and hopefully sure.'
 Owing to the great kindness of Miss Patty Hill, the superintendent of the Lou fsyille Free Kindergarten association, and the excellence of their system a woman of this type we fortunately secured, and 1t is to her efficiency and spirit of devotion that we owe the success of our training school Miss Woodruff, graduate of the Louisville Kindergarten Training School, came to us as a skilled instructor entirely familiar with the normal class work; to her, therefore, undertaking the establish ment of the system here was no experi- ment.
 The Birmingham Free Kindergarten as- sociation was then formed, and the train ing school for kindergartners established in connection with it on the first Monday in January, 1899.
 '"This training school is now a chartered institution, and diplomas will be given all those who complete satisfactorily the two years course of study required for gradua- ton.
 Last Friday the years work closed with seven young women enrolled as actual members of the class. These seven young women were selected from a large number of applicants. The board of directors re- alized that it was more important that the Kindergarten be kept pure than that it should be popular" and their ambition was not for members but for the high mental and moral qualifications of the students admitted.
 Already in many of the states of the Union the kindergarten has been made a part of the public schools, and we believe it is matter of only few years before 1t shall be made an integral part of the pub lie school system of our own state.
 "Where then shall we find trained teach CTS for this increasing demand? Shall we G-I 4hny,a n who should best understand our children and their Environments? We fear not, un- less before the professionally trained kin dergartners are demanded our own young women are prepared for the work.
 "Since we have already learned by ex- perience that to secure the best results in primary work special training is neces- sary, when the kindergarten becomes part of the public schools, we hope there will be no need to protest against the reck- less employment of untra1ned klnderSaft- ners as such 0 procedure would tnwart the aim and purpose Of this movement. This work, as delicate as it is important, not only demands comprehensive general education, with a certain amount of na- tural aptitude, but special professional cul- ture which will unfold definitely and clear ly the aims and purposes of Froebefs sys- tenn
 Tn organizing this work our purpose goes beyond that of producing merely good kindergartners With two years of scien- fife study and daily experience With classes of little children, we believe we shall give to our city and state a type of superior womanhood one that can rise to a true conception of the needs of the child as an integral part of the social organism; one that has the right ideals of the present and the future of the individual, Of the family, of society and of the state. In ad- dition to this, woman thus trained be- comes a better daughter, more faithful friend. loyal wife, and nobler mother. in short an exalted type of womanhood.