The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-09-06
EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF
THE CONSTRUCTIVE GIFTS
AS USED IN THE KINDERGARTEN
BY MARTHA R. SASNETT.

"a man is educated either for good
or evil by everything which he exper-
fences from his cradle to his grave"
Believing as We do, in the truth of
this statement, we realize the grave re-
sponsibility placed upon us with the
care of each little child in our charge
We know that the earliest impressions
are the strongest and most lasting
therefore, it behooves US to guard him
carefully from all evil, while at the
same time, we surround him with ev-
ery influence calculated to develop
the good that is inherent in him; so
that by the time he has reached the age
of conscious responsibility, his tenden-
cies toward good will have become So
strong that he will be able to resist the
evil with which every man must come
in contact in the course of his life
Education" says Sir John Lubbock,
"is the harmonious development of all
our faculties. 1t begins in the nursery
and goes on at school but does not end
there. 1t continues through life wheth-
er we will or not"
Mans nature, as we know, is three
and it is my purpose to show the value
of the constructive gifts, as used in
the kindergarten, in beginning the
harmonious development of these three
faculties; SO that when the child be-
gins to know right from wrong, a SOL
id foundation will have been laid for
the future development in him, of all
that is good and beautiful and true.
The child being incapable at first, of
any but physical sensations, the moth
er understands that she must begin
with his physical development. She
does all that she can to make him
strong, shapely and beautiful in body.
His mental faculties begin to awaken
through his physical sensations. He
comes to realize at a very early age,
that through his mother his hunger is
satisfied, his discomforts are smooth
ed away, his pains are eased. She
bushes him to sleep and soothes his
cry, and so he soon begins to asso-
ciate all of his pleasant sensations with
her.
The most ignorant mother delights
in playing with her baby, so, perhaps
without realizing that she is doing So
by naming his fingers, or counting his
toes, or by any other of the many sim
pie methods of play taught by Mother
love- she is quickening his intellect.
Thus are born in the child those feel
ings of love, and confidence toward
his mother through which, he will fin
ally come to learn of that love which
is universal.
The germ of this three-fold education
having been implanted in the child
while in his mothers lap. we come to
consider the means by which it may be
fastened and developed, that it may
continue to expand through life to its
truest highest and best form.
Through association, as we'll as
through the games and plays of baby
hood. the child has become acquainted
with family life and the life around
him. He knows his father. mother,
nurse, brothers and sisters and grand
parents. He also knows the horse, dog,
cat, COW, chickens, pigeons, etc. He
has initiated the sounds made by these
different animals, he has seen them fed,
and perhaps fed them himself. He
knows that he, and the members of his
family, have a home and everything to
make them comfortable. so it is easy
to bring to him the idea of the needs
of the animals dependent upon man for
their comforts. He will Immediately
want to provide for them. He has ex-
perienced the love and care of those
about him s exercised for his own we'll
being, now he experiences the respon-
sibllity of caring for those dependent
upon him. We have found that child
learns by doing. If we simply tell him
these things we will make no impress
sion, but give him some material with
which he may construct sheds. stables
dog houses, chickens coops, ETC., for
himself and an impression will be
made which he will never forget.
From the care bestowed upon him and
the care which he has exercised for
others, will come to him a conception
of the law of love and also of the law
of dependence; and by showing him
how the animals that he has cared for,
have helped him, he may be led to a
realization, faint and unconscious