New-York tribune., 1907-09-07

great onxto her-of,coming TO America anu tIiS
same. consideration caused FTOcbel hlnseI 10
look 10 America for a way 70 escape 1fOlil 'iie
cruel interdict placed upon MS child gdideh III
1851 by the Prussian government Yet AhieFi-
cans have been slow to appreciate what Diestei- =
veg called the treasures that lie lH Fiieui - u
Froebei" The Kindergarten has had 10 I'eht -oi
its life i'm the environment which Froebei con
sid4red the most favorable to its development
that the earth afforded
EARLY observation-disclosures
New York appears 20 have been paT'Iel marry
inperviouz 10 the new idea "HeH ~.
Matilda Krieee pupil OF the baroness Won
zIar.r,roItz- FlIov and friend Of Froebei came
10 America in 1865 il was with the lnteIli'-l %
establishing q kindergarten ~ New fo'H- I'"o
her efforts here were unavailing. and attef d -"
months af unsuccessful eudeavor she went 10
Ie,.,-r, ,.hara the ground had been prepared
f,- that mother Of the kindergarten IN ef1erIel'
Miss Elizabeth Palmer Peabody SISTER ~ vi
Nathaniel Hawthorne and -lrs- f'ii,7 -'-'-i-'-'
second ATTEMPT To establish the kinder s.i tli
in New York was made ii couple az years l..-'' @
I'm the Normal College. and also ia-l'-+ III -le
r,riaciu.! Of the model school had no Ia-lil III
the experiment. ridiculed the idea ol '-%3'--.---
children 20 play and took special pans l0 --'
form the members Of the committee '4 '--1
colfaa. that the kindergarten was q d7ti'-@
waste rf rubIic money. In 1873. however -lte
l-frdara.rte- was established permanently ~
,he college. Meantime Mrs Kraus- Boeite hed
started the training school from "hlcA hi'''.'
er,rfre-- shortly began 70 SO forth al over the
country --
In almost every city in the country the KIN
dergartfn mas gained its fOothold throuBA Pr
vate enterprise. and its history Is d i-iS''l5 -
devotion and self-saCrltIce on tte par 'i '--'
pioneers even Us late as 1854 Nhen t-e '--i''--i
earten vas introduced privately into H''ches5f1
rents increased at the mere mention OF -i-v
name the word play suggesting 10 real estate
owners only broken windows and deIsice- VANS
GROWTH wHEH ESTABLISHED
once the play schools were established,
however. il was usually found impossible -
let them die. although Boston, which had tho
honor OF starting the first public kinderS''r,tii y
in this country. decided after seven years ~
waste no more money on this new tangled way
Of beginning with children But when men
STAYED at home from the grogshops 20 hear
their four -year-old babies sing the most obdi-
rate had TO admit that there was something in
the kindergarten. and when the graduates 'I
Miss Susan r. Blows kindergarten, IL 81 Louis,
wont through three years Of the primary grade
in Cne year - Louis fastened 70 make the
kindergarten q permanent part Of the school
system II was the first city IN the United
States 20 DO so.
Thus steadily but very slowly has the kinder
carten made its way in America But even
after it no longer had TO fight for its life It sti
had 20 stand alone. Though legally adopted, II
has remained. to great extent. alien in spirit
and in practice. There has been almost as great
n gulf between the kindergarten and the pri-
mary as there was formerly between the home
and the school This is Of the burning
questions in the kindergarten world AZ the pres
ent time. and the fact that considerable num-
ber Of primary teachers are taking kindergarten
courses at Columbia this summer illustrates
better. perhaps. than anything else could the
progress the kindergarten has made
CANNOT STAND ALONE
we are beginning 10 realize" says Miss
Grace Fulmer. supervisor Of the kindergarten
in the Horace Mann School, that the kinder
garten cannot stand alone. IL must take its
place as part Of the whole educational process
The primary teacher must understand the
foundation that has been laid if she is to build
upon it iutelisentIy Otherwise she will bore
the child and waste it's time by repetitions and
by presenting things in the wrong way"
Another sign Of progress is the raising Of the
standard of education for kindergartners. When
kindergartens were first iEtroduced into public
school systems il was absolutely necessary TO
utilize imperfectly trained teachers, as no 9th
ers were to be had; but this is as far as pos
sibIe from the Froebeli2n idea. and. now that
the emergency that called for the employment