Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-10-29

And bid me exult that he Tell
A soldier, his eolors beside.
And IL his mother. who see
The wound and the head fever tossed
oh God What are heroes to mef
/ want but the boy | have lost.
Edwin l. Sabin.
-o.+o-
True Joys Of Life.
If your neighbor who has three or
more times your income rides in an aufo
mobile. why should you forego the ioy of
driving your own little horse? Or, if no
horse, why not indulge in the more
healthful and invigoraJing walk? Why
should you litter up your life with these
things which You can i'll afford because
he enjoys them? And yet too many of
Ms do in one way or another This Is
sad fact that makes one wonder
whether we are really thinking, reason
ing beings, despite our boast to that
effect. The true JOY of life do not come
from things themselves so much, IS the
result of our own mental attituue. If
we are thinking of things only, or prin-
cpaLy, life Will be more or less that of
slavery, but 1t we are looking on the
bright and happy side of every question,
and enjoying all the good God has mt
into our lives for US 10 enjoy, we will
be taking out each day something truly
our own and of greater Importance to us
IMAM any uldtcIldl lnlDS.
-O+.O-
Is the Kindergarten Advisable?
Does kindergarten contribute to the
mental development of the child, or to
the ease of the mother? This question.
answered truthfully, will bring us by
very snort cut to the heart of the whole
question. Looking at it from all points
of view. the conclusion is irresistible
that the kindergarten is primarily insti-
tuted to relieve mothers, and that 90
per cent. of its popularity is due to the
fact that it does relieve them Another
reason for its prominence as a general
educational factor is that for many hours
III the day 1t cares for children who
have not, for one reason or another, the
proper home surroundings For SUCH
kindergartenS are indeed a public bene-
faction There are many mothers also
who must work, for upon them rests
the double burden Of wage-earning and
collaborating, and to them it is an undis-
puted blessing, 1t enables them to send
their children almost from infancy for
the best part of every day to rooms
which are clean, well ventilated, and
properly heated, where they will be
trained by experienced teachers and re-
turned at the end of the day certainly
in better shape than if they had been
dependent solely upon the often unintelli-
gent kindness of neighbors, or the care
of an already overburdened mother 1t
is hardly possible to find an argument
against the kindergarten for the children
OF the very poor; for the alternative is
always before our eyes-what would
they be without it?-what would become
of them?
There is. however, a class of persons
who send their children to the kinder
garten with the deliberate intention of
getting rid of them. Busy women, who
keep but one domestic, perhaps, but who
cannot afford nurse, use the kindergar
ten as means of getting free of the
burdens which they rightly should as
sumo. For these women, the kindergar-
ten Is less advisable, for they should, by
right management, have more time them
selves to give to the personal training
of their little ones
There is still another class-the we'll
to-do-who send their children because
other children go, because it is 1.-THE
thing or because they wish to be free
from the moral responsibility of training
and disciplining-to buy for their chill
dren the service that the mother only
should be fitted to give in its perfection.
For this class kindergarten is decidedly
unadvisable
From the mothers point of view alone,
what is her duty to the child under s?
The potential seeds of all his future life
terminate III these apparently uneventful
y
nusery that guard those qualities that
will make for power in the grown man
or woman. The foundation of the child's
character is laid before :. Who is to lay
1.-THE mother or a paid stranger? Who
IS to feed the growing intelligence with
It's first bits of truth and knowledge?
Who is to lead the child from the twi-
light Of babyhood into the happy play
ground of a normal. healthy youth? 1t
Is the mother who should take upon her
self this responsibility, gladly, joyfully,
knowing that in her hand only lies the
great tool with which to fashion charac-
acter, the toOi of love. She can in no
wise escape legitimately from her per-
sonal responsibility during these, the first
vital years of the child's life.
At s years of age the normal child has
acquired a very decided knowledge of
right and wrong; he is surprisingly alert,
his mind catches with restless avidity at
every new experience that swings into
his orbit. He is wonderfully sensitive,
Initiative, able to absorb and follow I'M
consciously a stronger will. 1t is the
mother who should be dominant during
the formative years, and give her enid
Systematically day by day the ideals, as
pirations and traits she wishes him to
possess. They will come to him uF1-
consciously if she covers her lessons with
the gentle discipline of her hourly love
and companionship.
The wisest mothers keep their children
very close TO them, within the protected
circle of the nursery, until at s or 8
years of age the body is well prepared to
lend its assistance to the development OF
the mind. and. aglow with health, the
child begins his school life able to catch
up in a few weeks to the weary little
klndergartner, who whatever else he has
been taught unfortunately has somehow
missed the first lesson of education-that
study is not play and that it can never
be made so.
Should a child receive no systematic
education, then. until he is s years old?
Emphatically no. This does not in the
least mean that he is to run wild and be
unframed in mental discipline. The child
should be read to, allowed to pick
out the letters of the alphabet, and have
his mind improved by receiving from his
parents true answers to all his questions
His little hoard of knowledge should be
constantly supplemented by facts and
Lruths-that is, as soon as the desire
for such knowledge has arisen. He has
mnph ta laorr q no TDnUht 10