Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1900-04-25
OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS! :!
l JuurnaI-Minsr Reporter Pays a
 Visit to Them.
He Finds the Little Folk in the Kinder
 gartsn Busy and Interested.


 One of the most important and often the least thought of institutions of our free American citizenship is our Dublic schools. In them, it may well he said. lies our hopes of future progress and greatness, and indeed our very freedom. Yet, how often does the busy father or mother stop to think of what may be the condition or surroundings of the schools from which he or she expect their child ren to gain their equipment for life's battles education.
 The public schools of Prescott have l been a source of qualification to our citizens who have taken the pains | to examine them, and with the object 1 in view of bringing them more prOmi- nently before our citizens that they may be given greater encouragement and help. the JOurnal-NIiner has con cluded to make q personal visit to every department of the schools of our city and tell it's readers just what it finds there. that they may know what is being done and the progress | being made.
 ! The first department visited was the Kindergarten. There We found some thirty little folk. ranging in age | from three to five years. under the careful and loving guidance and at l tentiOn of Miss Mary McGill. a grad Uate of the Chicago Kindergarten | training school. and who has had sev- eral years of successful experience. assisted by Miss Frances Bethune who has proven 10 be wonderfully adapted to this work, and with these two ladies to lead and direct this band of little tots, they have by patient and persistent labOrS been able to ac- cOmpliSh wonders with them. The way those children of three, four and five years of age could sing. speak. march and do innumerable other things, would simply astOnish one who had never seen such things attempted. These ladies enter into the childish sports and games with the children and for the time become as one of them, thus winning their love and confidence and in that way talk ing them completely under their con trol, all seemingly unconscious to the child. The room is a perfect play house, the floor having circles. squares, etc, and the walls being literally GOV cred with pictures and trinkets of all kinds, many of which had been made by the children themselves. A bird keeps the room cheery with it's songs. while little fishes swim about in a tank of water, all teaching the child ren of the beauties of nature and art and impressing upon their minds lessons that will never fade from memory. There is many n mother who, if she could only take peep into this little gathering of children. would take pains to let her children attend. thus not only relieving her self of the burdens of looking after the little ones all day long, but actual ly giving the chmd q great treat ana improving it's condition both physical ly and mentally, and giving fOunda ton for its future education.
 The Kindergarten was first intro duced into the Prescott schools four years ago and for the first year was kept up by private subscription. but the advantages became so apparent to the managers of our schools that it was established as part of the pub
 
 to send their children.
 In order that some who may never have taken the time or pains to inveS- tigate the underlying principles and advantages of the kindergarten. We will present q few paragraphs taken from the paper read on that subject by Miss McGill before the teachers institute in this city last September. She says:
 "The step from the home to the K. G. is very easy one. His social world is slightly increased. The baby from his birth has been accustomed to society of a certain kind. He has had older people wait upon him, to satisfy all his wants. They cOndescendingly surrender to do his will Everything is smooth for him. He meets with no opposition. For a time this is Suffi- cient, but just as soon as he is able to move about and perform little ac- tiOnS of his own accord, he Is glad to be in the society of a child his own age Just as in his early infancy he enjoyed kicking against his moth CTS hand and finding there a gentle resistance to his own musclar activi- ties, so does he later enjoy the antag Onism of little will equal to his own. The K. G. fills the child's earliest de SireS for society. The sweet little social life he leads in K. c. is q source of delight to him as long as he lives. I never yet have seen the grown child whose face did not beam at the very mention of the time when he went to K. G. The pleasure with which he looks back upon the little things he made. the games they played, the parties they had is a sufficient guaranty that the time was well spent. The party that gave him so much pleasure was only a dish of oatmeal and milk. Given possibly as final lesson on a whole seasons
 work with the cereals. The children planted the oats and tended them. They cut them and in the simplest of long ago methods they threshed them. To be sure it was only small quantity of oats they brought forth and Miss A. had to add n little to it to get enough porridge for all; but what did that matter? They had gone through the processes, watched the life of the little plant from beginning to end and were rewarded with the .ruit of their eXertiOns.
 "I would like to say right here that K. c is not a school. It is tiny social organization for tiny people. In this little social community they live three hours of each day. Live happily and contentedly, loving and being loved. doing and helping. The object is to help the children live that ideal life which we all long for and feel that some day will be realized. I wish from the bottom of my heart that every child might have this train ing.
 By the old system of education all tl... tI.nt lhnL LnnIh