The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-08-04
THE SPIRIT is GROWING
More and More, Thinks Educa-
tionaI Head, People of Coun-
try Are Realizing That Child
Should Be Rightly Taught In
The First Years of Its
Growth
(By w. f..

CBy w. Il. YELVERTON.t
Washington, d. c., August Care
ful and thorough Investigation of the
kindergarten in h United States is
promised by Commissioner p. p. Clax-
ION, of the United States Bureau of
education, following the
ment of statistics by the bureau show
ing a gain Of 1873 per cent in the num-
Der of kindergartens in a single de-
cade in the United States.
within the decade from 1902 to
1912, the number of kindergartens in
She United States increased from g.
244 to 1854" says Mr.. ClaxtOn, IAN
the number Of children enrolled in
these reporting to this bureau in
creased from 2O5,432 to 353,546, a
cain of 1876 per cent in the number of
kindergartens and of 72 per cent in
the number of enrolled children re-
ported. The total number~of kinder
garten teachers reported in 1912 was
1885,
commissioner Claxton finds by com
pairing the number of children in the
kindergartenS with the census figures
showing the number of children in
the United States between the ages
of 4 and 6, the kindergarten age, a
little more han 5 per cent Of the
children between 4 n 6 were re-
ceiving kindergarten training in 1902.
In 1912 approximately 9 per cent Of
the children of kindergarten age were
IN k~indergartens.
This sort Of computation, how
ever" Commissioner Claxton says, lis
akin to standing q little child against
the kitchen door and measuring his
height every six months, and letting
MIN triumphantly view the new
height which shows how he is grow
ing But no series of ascending
scratches can record the development
of the little child's mind and power"
Ne Power is Growing.
Officials of the Bureau Of Educa-
ton see in the numerical development
Of the kindergarten n particularly
in it's evolution a force which is just
coming into prominence in this
try, but one which will be promi-
nently identified with the entire
scheme of education in a short time.
The kindergarten began as a private
institution, regarded as more or less
Of a luxury for the children of we'll
to-do people. Then came kindergar-
tens for poor and neglected children,
these maintained by charity. Train
ing schools for young women for kim
dergarten work were the next out
growth. Finally State Legislatures
made it legal to institute public
school kindergartens, whereupon local
boards of education took owe the care
and education of little children, and
1his was followed by the incorpora.
zion by State and normal schools o.
kindergarten training schools, making
them into a regularly i~ntegrated de-
sartment.
Thus the path of progress" &C
cording to the Commissioner, "ha:
been from private philanthropy to
ward a broader sense Of social rela'
- -N~ that tn
State should be the nurturlns
agency; hat a country like America
in which the ideals of democracy OBJ
tain, should, of all countries, be tn
one to provide for every stage of edu
cation from b%abyhood up.
Maternal Aspect Stressed.
Thus, too, it will be seen that tn
~nurturing, maternal aspect of educa
ton is stressed in the kindergarten
and it's feXibility in the direction 0
teaching after a motherly fashion l
evidenced by it's adoption into da,
nurseries, ~orphanageS, schools 10
physical and mental detectives, etc
In other words, wherever a child is S
circumstance that he is living
traction of a life, the kindergarten ]
needed to supply some Of the miss
mother-hearted ome are always be
hind the formation of association
and clubs and boards whose aim 1T
to extend kindergartens."
There are three large organization
IN the United States whose member
seek TO preserve n extend the es
sential spirit of the genuine kinder
Sarten-The International Kindergal
ten Union, The National Congress
Mothers, and The National Kinder
garten Association. The first name
has been organized and interested i
kindergarten work for twenty veal
and a devoted most of it's attentiO
TO interesting an increasingly bette
type of young women to take kinder
sarten training in training school
Inc organization is now making