Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1913-07-23

eotestteeaAeots
That Wenk.mlndea children taught
by ihe Moalenustl meihed ara All.
% pnnn On examination IN fendlnl
ana writing Nlln normal children.
lhat the smallest y1nneslern learn %
write IN mafptlouelY nhott time end
80 into d frenzy 81 delight Whoh lht>
und they have mastered the ari; and
chat the teacher plays an entirely
neW role sH me direction 81 the
arhooi iheae are notable faels r..
ported with regard 10 the educational
system ~ ~ Maria Moutsssori. the
Italian phNa|clon and teacher. Whooe
experiments have aroused great ~.
iprtst IN fHIH country
In hnntun just iaaued for free
dlsfHlbuilua the United eiaiea bureau
~ edncduOn seeks 20 make con.
sprvaiive. impartial study az the new
system, p0lnllna ont che principles
and methods which really distinguish
4 from ali otlaFs Il ls shown that
the SYSTEM has ID effect developed
oni ~ the elaponte modern science
Of chlid- pfveho'ofY based upon the
work ~ wnndt. In Germany.
Ia essence the "Montesaofl meth.
%" n a system Of seIf-educnti0n for
young children. % education through
the principle OF child liberty ITO
ward single individuala. one hy one
observed. educotion munt direct ~
nelf." says Dr. slontessofi IN her
system the teacher. instead Of teach-
ing ana correcting. merely observes
and directs Hence she IL called the
''directre2St' Needless 10 say the
pcrsdnnlity ~ the HdirectFcen u %
fuaaamentai lnihof,aince.
The Monsensorf meihod wna first
uaed extensively IN the so-called
"chiidren'p houses cease del bam-
binlj which form part Of an attempt
20 solve the honAlne prOhieIn for the
poor in Rome. Mnthers who 20 out
to work By the day leave their very
young children behind in the model
tenements. 81. Monteaorl was in
vlted 10 undertake the organization
OF infant schools" In these tene-
menss. and 81 was here that her meth
DDS had their first test with normal
children. -
American educators who have IN
vcs, lgaied the work In actual opera
ton tell OF many interesting features.
The children appear 10 be left en-
tirely 10 themselyee. yet order Ia the
best sense prevails. To a large extent
each pupil Is found engaged accord
Ing 10 his. natural inteeest. AZ GER
tain timea there are games In COM
mon. IN the game Of silence" the
,ehildren exert themselves 10 see how
absolutely quiet they can be. The
result Ia thus told in Dr. Mon,essorfs
own words:
III seems o. II life gradually van
iFhes. and that the room becomes.
little by little. empty, az " there We're
no longer anyone in ". Then we be-
gin to hear the tick-t0ck 81 the clock,
and this sound seems 10 grow IN In
tensity as the silence becomes abso-
lutte. From WITHOUT, from the court
which before seemed silent there
come varied nolses-p bird chirps.
child passes The children SIC fas-
cinated by That silence az II BY some
conquest Of their own. Here says
the dlrcctress. here there In no longer
anyone: the children have all gone
away.
A typleai Monsefaori program con-
slsls ct Informal conversational per-
l0ds. lessons with short rest intervals
between. gnmes, both free and al ,
rected simple gymnastics; clay
collective singing. in
spection as 10 personal cleanliness,
etc Music, poetry and dancing are
used 90 develop TIE child's rhythmic
sense. II was found that after the
had learned dancing they 4,
reased inEtlnctlvcly the ugly jumping
they had been in the habit of doing.
Although DR.. Montessori borrowed
many Of the ideas and exercises for
her system from Froebel. as she
frankly admits. her method lacks the 4
touch % myeticiem ana the symbolic
elements OF the kindergarten. The
used. much Of which was
Invented hy her. ~ carefully devised
10 promote muscular coordination
and sense perception. the two direc-
lions OF functional growth In yoang
children. &
Several American educators have
been abroad studying the work in the
schools. and some at
tempts have already been made 20
the system into this c0un-
try. u Is likely that other attempts 4
Will be made in the neaF future