Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1909-01-13
"The Four Year old.

pOrtanc0 or the SuOJ0Ct, IL is uO
wonder that the question of the public
case of the little child has entered the
legislative halls of Wisconsin for dis
cussion.
It is to be hoped that among the
Epotent, grave and reverend beings
who make and remaKe our laws,
there may be majority who are will
ing to give this question something
more than a benign nod and an
amiable push as it passes by, IS did
the Legislature of 1907, which passed
the amendment proposed by AS
Ainsworth because it
looked good and sounded we'll.
To become law it must pass the
next legislature also and then be sub
mitted to the people The amendment
reads as follows:
Resolved, by the assembly, the
senate concurring, that Sec. 3 Art.
10 of the constitution be amended by
striking out the word fonr' in the
fourth line thereof. and inserting in
lieu thereof the word six, so that
when amended the said section shall
read as follows:
Sec. 3 Art. 10. The Legislature
shall provide by law for the es-
Enlistment of district schools,
which shall be as nearly uniform as
practicable, and such schools shall be
free and without charge to
all children between the ages
of six and twenty and no sectarian
instruction shall be allowed therein. "
Now as to reasons for presenting
the amendment, Mr.. Ainsworth gives
some of them in a personal letter.
We cannot but take pride in any
public man who has the good of little
children at heart. however unwisely
he may seek to further it; but are
their interests to be best served by the
adoption of this amendments
Mr.. Ainsworth says that children
up to the 9Th year have practically
no bones; that sitting from four to
six hours a day is apt to cause injury
to all children but especially to girls
who sometimes lose their lives in
later years through deformities caused
in this way"
Are children of this age forced
to sit from to hours day?
Visit your primary school and you
will not find it SO. They are given
many exercises; and the younger
ones do not stay at school more than
four hours in the whole day More
over, the parents are not obliged to
send them before the 9Th year, with
the laws as they LOW are.
Children are allowed much more
freedom than they were 10 years ago.
before the kindergarten ideas came to
be so universally followed. Be-
tween and Z, the child goes through
the great habit-forming period, and,
with the complex requirements of
later life in view. it is very doubtful
whether this period should be left to
chance; for the average home does
not abound in as good character
building material as does the primary
shool, while no home training can
compare with the kindergarten.
The child of six, sent from a
sheltered home to do serious work in
shcool, is apt to be shy, awkward and
conscious; many of them suffer SO
keenly in this way that they never en-
tirely recover the proper balance of
nerve power. Ona might easily sup
pose that the younger the child is the
more bashful and conscious he will
be among strangers, but observation
will show that ignorance is bliss
and that the youngest children are
usually happy and contented at
school. 1t seems, then, that we should
fit the school to the needs of the child,
instead of cutting down the number
Of children who can attend sch Dol F..
at all. Statistics from all large cities
show that the kindergarten furnishes
the most valuable preparation for
work in the grades, besides it's ethical
value to the children who would
otherwise be on the street or in the
poorest of homes at this most i'm
portant period. without it, he has
missed two years of happy instructive
play among children of his own age.
The manual dexterity, the ease OF
body and receptivity of mind de
veloped by the kindergarten methods
can hardly be given to the child al
any other age. The kindergarten is
the haven of delight to the children
and the one place in which the mother
may intrust her child to care usual
ly superior to her own. Mothers who
are forced by poverty to work by the
day, may leave the little ones in {
kindergarten with clear conscience