The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1900-03-15
The Value of the kindergarten to the
Mother.

lhS Value of the kindergarten to the
Mother.
The following is the first part of a pa
per given 10y Mrs. Warren r. Roberts of
Chicago before the Ravenswood Woman's
Club:
have been asked to speak to you to-
day upon the ''Value Of the klndergar-
ten to the Mother,' and have not hesitat-
ed to accept the invitation. 1t is not that
l feel prepared to expound to you the
matchless writings of Froebel, or to lead
you into the depths of his philosophy. l
have simply come to you this morning as
a mother, who has been SO wonderfully
helped by the kindergarten that l am not
only willing but eager to tell you what l
know of the kindergarten, and of what it
has done to bless my home, in the hope
| that you also may be inspired to seek and
to find this blessing.
The kindergarten as factor in educa-
ton has slowly been forcing itself upon
the attention of the educational world.
Parents of young children have, in small
numbers, appreciated its value and given
it support and encouragement. What is
the value of the kindergarten? What its
aim? Does the child need the kindergar-
ten, or is he not better off with his mother
until he is old enough to 60 to school?
Does the mother need the kindergarten,
or is it simply convenient way to get rid
of the child that the mother may be free
for. few hours from her cares? Is the
kindergarten simply good thing for
children of the poor and ignorant, but
wholly unnecessary for a child who has an
intelligent mother? These and many sim
liar questions mothers are asking, and
| they must be intelligently answered. To
understand the true value of the kinder
earten, it's educational value, we must
first know what the aim and end of edu-
cation really is
In an article on ''Modern Education" in
the Cosmopolitan, written by President
Tbwing of Ohio, | find: ''Education is
designed to give man character large in
its intellectual resources, noble in its
affections, right in its volitional choices,
and sound in its ethical relations. 1t is
designed to form in us that likeness to the
Divine Author of our being who made us
in lis own image"
Now, | ask. has our educational system
of the past, is our educational system of
to- day, guiding man to ''clearness con-
corning himself, to peace with nature and
to unity with God?'
The world was never SO full as to-day of
So called philanthropies; men and women
by the hundred are giving their lives to
the work of reform. Why so much need
of reform? Is it not because parents and
teachers have failed to form Alright? Do
we realize that there is not one crime in
the whole category that might not have
been avoided had the work of character
forming been done intelligently if mothers
and teachers were alive to their opportu
mites and responsibilities If our work
were properly done, and in the beginning
the right attention was given to, and in
telligent methods We're used in, the form
ing of character, certainly we would not
need to reform it, "Ah, you will say,
''surely these things cannot be charged to
our schools and 20 our teachers, that noble
army of men and women who are shaving
their very lives away in service to human
F, ity.'
am not here to condemn the teachers.
| am here as an advocate of the kline er-
garten, because the kindergarten is an alb
| solute departure from the materialistic
tendency in t..t education of to-day. 1t
! has been briefly stated as the aim of the
kindergarten .liat it recognizes and de-
velop> the threefold nature of the child;
its Oh Iect is the formation of character by
meaitS nf the harmonious development of
body, tnind and soul this is accomplished
! by play, work. and constant exercise in
Eight doing. The kindergarten recognizes
and seeks to develop the individuality of
each child. 1t furnishes him with the
companiou-hip Of his equals, thr ugh
+ whom he gets his first lessons III citlze n
Snip. II strives to- prepare the child not
only for his present lie, but for eternity,
by enabling him to grow into what he can
oe and what God meant him to be.