The Princeton union., 1913-12-25
IN AMERICA
EDUCATIONAL IDEA
Comes From Rome to Note
Progress In ''Houses of
Childhood" Here.

Is small. The child is not confined to
a desk and follows it's own inclination
as to position. To insure it's physical
we'll being and for plenty of fresh air
there are gardens connected with the
school.
Even babies are perfectly good if
they are treated properly, says Mme
Montessori. I'm a hospital in Rome
there are in one ward sixty babies,
and there is not sound If they de-
sire anything they ask for it. They
are separated from their mothers. who
are poor and ignorant women and
would not understand that they must
be left tranquil. They are fed every
two hours. and when that time comes
they make a slight noise with their
lips, but they do not cry"
A child. she says, will recognize q
ray of light when it is seven days
old, and then it's psychological life be-
gins.
Guiding Young Mentality.
A passive, not an active guidance
of the eagerness Of young mentality
is DR.. Montessori's principle, as has
been indicated. From three years old
up the child is irrepressibly anxious
to learn. It need never be driven, the
streams of its ever active intelligence
require only channels to lead it from
the things it already touches, sees and
hears. to an association with things.
names and ideas that make up the
stock of knowledge of mankind. Rough
and smooth detected in the different
surfaces of cards played with; hot and
cold in the child's ablutions. high and
low, thick and thin, round, oval-all
abstract ideas gained directly from
concrete experiences in games with
blocks, cylinders, disks, stones. colors
and the familiar furniture of the home
lead the expanding mind to the k;nowl-
edge that may be gained from books.
Games Of identifying words with their
objects lead to reading: counting
games to arithmetic.
1t was during the vacation of July.
1907, that Montessori considered the
instruction of children in reading and
"41L1uS. SAC ltlu oil 4ASpAA dIAOA oAC
day when handing out the cards used
by the children in distinguishing
rough and smooth. That night. with
the help of the teachers, she cut out
letters in clear, round script. The
vowels were Of pink and the conso-
nants all of blue. A little strip of
white cardboard pasted at the back
of each Of the letters precisely at the
point where a guiding line would be
drawn on writing paper enabled the
little ones to correct themselves if
they were tempted to put the bottom
Of & on level with the base of
an o.
All children love to scribble, and
she placed this passion to good ac-
count. She placed paper under one Of
the tablets with the removable insets
Of geometric figures. and having first
removed the figure from its frame she
showed the children how to fill in the
figure with crayon. The children
fattered themselves that they had
made wonderful circles. ovals and tri-
angles.
The children choose the letters they
wish to learn. '1' and ''o'' are the
most popular When a child brings
to the teacher the letter which he
takes out of box, he receives its du-
plicate in black sandboard on a white
card. The little ones finger is then
drawn over the letter from the start
ing point to the finish, while the teach
er says ''touch it." The name of the
letter is then repeated distinctly and
slowly.
Teaching the Letters.
The child is encouraged to look we'll
at the letters. Then the lesson pur-
sues its usual course. "Give me an
H." says the teacher: "then give me
o." Then she asks the name first
of one Of them, then the other. They
are not taught the capital letters until
they have finished the small ones Nor
do they learn letters according to
their regular succession in the alpha
bet. The child will peer into the va
rious compartments of the letter box
ana It's lips can be seen to move as
it tries to hear with it's inward ear the
name of the letter desired.
Although the ten fingers are trained
by filling in the geometric outlines and
their eyes have become accustomed to
some. the children do not know what
they can write. They have, in fact.
learned to write without writing.
The usual interval between the first
preparation and the accomplishment of
writing is in children of four yearss q
month and a half; in children Of five
years only a month. After three
months most of them write we'll. and
those who have been writing six
months are equal in their calligraphy
to children of the third elementary
class in the public schools.
Would Trade Greenland to Us.