Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-03-21

this most embarrassing stage, and for
them especially it is worth any effort
| or expense on the part Of parents.
! For it is during this awkward period
when the boy always does the wrong
thing in the house and is always scold-
ed for it, that he becomes alienated
from home and goes out to seek COM
| panions in places where he should not
be.
This training for girls lays the foun-
dation for a broader usefulness in the
home, and makes them greater Joy
to their mothers.
II we could have domestic servants
who had had kindergarten training we
would never discover the maid busting
the parlor furniture with the same
brush used on the kitchen range, and
we might unlock our china cupboards
and use our best china every day
without being in constant terror OF It's
destruction.
But | would not have you think
that this training of the body is all, or
| the most important part of kindergar-
| ten work, for along with 1t comes the
| training of the senses and the natural
unfolding of the mind. The little ones
are taught to truly see and hear, be-
cause they are led to think about the
things they see and hear.
Our children come into great,
wide, wonderful, beautiful world" The
kindergarten has been called the 'op.
en- door leading to all its wonders and
beauties"
The kindergarten puts living voice
| INTO all that is seen and touched and
heard. When the children build a
tower of blocks, the blocks tell them
story of a forest on the mountain
| side. of the wOodman who comes with
his ak to fell the trees, of the rushing
stream where stands the sawmill, Of
the carpenter and all the work Of hu-
nan hands that has helped to produce
the blocks for their amusement.
When the yew with the WOODEN yarn,
that tells them story OF green pas
lures where the young lambkins frolic.
and of the mother sheep that has CIV
en- her fleece to make the yarn. In
like manner they also hear the story
Of silk and of cotton and fax and Of
some of the metals. At the lunch
hour they are entertained with the
stories of bread and other foods, which
often take them into the fairy land OF
science.
Thus while they are being so de-
lightfully entertained, they are learn.
ing of the natural resources and the
great industries of the world, and are
being taught to respect the labor that
produces the things which give them
comfort and pleasure.
There is a great field for the devel-
opment Of a child's language in the
kindergarten. The language of child
at home is limited by the subjects of
thought which prevail in the home
life. The kindergarten directs to new
subjects of thought and is an ideal
school for training in the formation
and expression Of the child's own
thought. u -
Some of the first lessons in number
work are taught by means of games
and songs while the children never
suspect that they are learning arith'
metic.
In the kindergarten the children are
guided at each step to discover the
relation Of every new fact observed to
every known fact. This lies at the
basis of the laws of association of
ideas upon which all subsequent men,
tai growth rests.
But the best work Of the kinder
garten is the effect it produces upon
the unfolding spiritual nature Of the
child. In these schools of heaven"
as they have been called by some of
their most enthusiastic advocates, the
child's nature is developed in the dir
ection of kindness, unself1shness,
truthfulness, gentleness and love
through his association with other
children.
The first great lesson of the kinder.
garten is obedience to law. Every ex-
ercise is based upon an inflexible law
requiring exact obedience to secure re-
suits. The word must underlies ev-
cry phase of Froebers philosophy, yet
it is never spoken in the true kinder
garten.
This system is the foundation Of the
new education which aims first to
build up character, and second to i'm
part information.
From sea to sea this land is dotted
over with jails and prisons for the
punishment and confinement of those
who have offended the laws, and are
considered as dangerous to society.
This land is also dotted over with
reformatories, rescue homes, social
settlements and missions Of every kind
for the reformation and reclamation
of those who have gone astray. It is
said to be an almost unknown thing
to find in any of these places an in |
mate who had kindergarten training
when q child.
We can not do away with these in
situations yet. Perhaps we never can;
but it is a hopeful sign for the future
that we have discovered that the cause
of much of the wrongdoing in the
world is due to the lack of proper
training for the children. It is hope.
full sign for the future when the moth |
ers are organizing to study the needs
of their children, and are endeavor.
ing to give them-the trtaining that |
will lay the foundation for high moral |
standards and law-abiding citizenship.
Bismarck is to be congratulated up
IN having this M0thore' cl,,h that ia