The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-19
FIRST MONTESSORI WORK IN
 THIS SECTION OF STATE WILL
 START IN FAIRFIELD THIS FALL
Miss Ethel Louise Donaldson to Open s Kindergarten Along New Lines of 4 Education=- What the sMon-
 tessori Method'' Is.
BY. EMILY E,n1Df Ey1,. 5 ! !

2 EA1HfET.
 es trees inclined Pope
 nd reading corld emma ions Of our pres matter with our public sehools2's isa lnned in our ears and paraded before s solution.
 typi ig hich counts. SC it is with the to attempt things, the: habits it forms lgfaf too young 90 to school or kin with it's Character and with it's whole ss wi tn V laIch it is e1a siat into contact .1own, it was left for q bril aant Ita Ian l1ize tIleir. value and td found q systezn [ ay nletho of education.
 came interested in the training of fec srked out g yEstem Of her own TOT their as held in5 hich both normal and fee-s oh sto Dr Montessord mazernent. the rained according to her plan came out os had been trained in other schools. watching their lively animation. or listening to the cheerful hum of their voices " hen one feels curious change in he afn1osphere, like the. l hush which falls on a forest when the sun sH ddenIy goes behind a cloud. If it is the first time that one has seen
 
 quick glance arola shows that the children have stopped playing, as well as talking. and are n1otfonless at l their tables, their eyes on the black board, where in large Ietfers is Svr-1t- ten, Silence, Even the little ones l of the older on sss and not only sit r1lotionI ess but look fl aed dIy at tEle ma gfc word T9ae Directoress is visible l now. standing by the bIacpoard, in an attitude and with an e1pression of l tra11quflIIty which is as calming to 1 see as the medftatiye impassivtiy Of I a Buddhist priest. The silence be- comes more and more intense To unt trained ears it seems absolute but an occasional gesture or warning smile from the Directoress shows that q. ht- tie hand has moved. almost but not quite inaudlbly, or a chair has creax- etAr1d then real veil of twilight i falls to intensity the effect The Di-1 rectoress goes quietly about from vi1s- dow to window. q losing the shutters. Tn the enguin twilight, the children bow their heads on their c1asped. hands, in an attitude of prayer. The Directoress steps through the door in. to the next room. and a slow voice, faint and clear comes. floating back. ealing the elzild's name. B1eanorl
 ssThe child lifts her head. opens her eyes, rises as silently as little spirit, and. with glowing face of exa1tatfon, tiptoes out of the room, flinging herr self Joyously into inc waiting arms.
 The summons comes again. George "A little boy lifts his head from his desk, showing 8, face of sweet, sober content at being called, and goes si- IentIy across the big room, taking his pIaeee by the side of the Direetoress. And so it goes until perhaps fifteen lchiIdren are clustered about the teach CT. Then as informalIy and naturally as 1t began. the game, is over. The teacher comes back into the room with her usual E1uiet, firm step; light pours in at the windows; the mystic l word is erased from the bIackboardS The children smile at each other, and. begin to play again. perhaps a. 1ittles more quietly than before, perhaps
 more gently certainly with the sl1ln- l ing eyes of devout believers who 6haxTas b1essedlS lost themselves in an instant of rapt and self forgetting devotion. :. *'Dr. Montessori found. .s writes one of her pupils, that not only does l every child differ from every other child, but not being a fixed an inaali-
 mate obect, he is in constant state
 of Aux and differs from himself from
 day to day as he grows. His atten- : l ton. his memory, his mental endur-s l arlce, his intellectual interest and his
 curiosity are not only unlike those of the child next to him in school but
 will be tomorrow different from what l they are today
 Realizing, then, that this is so, and
 that "a human being was ever edu-
 cated by anyone else, that he must 5f, it himself or it is newer done,,. pr. Montessorf built up her new system Of
 education along the lines Of self traira-4 l ing that is, each child educates him
 self.
 The statement in itself is startling but when one examines the subject f closely and considers the fact that the plan has worked out so successfully
 one realizes that there is more to if than, perhaps the mere words convey Tt. is ren1arkable,'' said Miss Don
 aldson. ow the children fairly bl1rst i into writing. Burst is the only. word
 which will describe it, they come to it so naturally and easily And s1lcf,
 writing as those little tots can do, why
 it's Just wonderfuI!
 T wish might have had an open air kindergarten,' she continued sSThe
 Misses Lurns' school where I trained
 for the work last year, is an open air
 school but I am afraid that the peo- l pie here are not quite ready for any
 thing so radically new
 stTI1e Misses Yun7ss school is bt4ilt l like a pavilion with. top and side cur-s
 tains which can be adjusted in stormy
 weather. The little ones sit in bags
 which strap about them and are sirn- liar in apearanee to. overaIls. The 1 children kept unusualIy. well and had I but very few colds last winter.F
 About one half of the pupils wetc
 doctors children which showed that
 they thoroughly endorsed the netbotl
 which kept the little ones in theopesl
 Celery Plants, 15c Per Dozen