The states-graphic. (Brownsville, Tenn.) 1???-1984, 1917-09-21
THE KINDERGARTEN.

THE KINDERGARTEN.
At first thought one might not sup
pose the question of a kindergarten
would have much bearing on the ques-
ton of town improvement, but a closer
study of the kindergarten and its mis-
sion will convince one that it has a Vi
tai place in the life of every commune
ty.
The quality of citizenship is the
measure of every community. 1t mat
tiers not the enterprise and push of a
people; it matters not the thrift and
saving qualities; if there be not a bed
rock of solid character underlying
these, there is no success worthy the
name of hat community.
The schools and the homes of the
land are the soil that produce either
good or bad citizens. If the home in
fuenee be what it should be, and is
followed by the right sort of school
training, the average boy or girl will
develop into a creditable product. If
either Of these fail in their mission,
the result detracts from success in
proportion to the degree of failure.
The old idea that formerly prevail
ed with many Of u people that the
child could be left to run wild until
the legal school age arrived, when he
could readily be moulded into correct
shape, has been exploded. True under
this program many noble characters
have been produced, but it has been in
spite Of, rather than because Of, the
method.
The kindergarten derives its great
value from the fact that the first few
years of a child's life constitute the
period in which the ground work of
characer is laid. The impression
stamped on the young mind from the
age of one or two years to five or six,
are permanent. No amount of after
training can entirely obliterate them.
If these impressions are healthy and
wholesome, the child is fortunate. If
the reverse, the child has been burden
ed with an incubus that may require
a lifetime to shake off.
Now it is true that the home life is
supposed to furnish these early inlu-
ences that should start the child on the
right road in life. In too many instan-
ces, however, the home life does not
furnish these influences, and in many
cases it is no fault of the guardians of
the home.
Suppose the home life to approx
mate the ideal; that the parents are all
that they should be; that they have a
vital interest in the development of the
young minds and souls entrusted to
their care; the fact remains that an
intelligent guardianship of the child
during every day and every hour of its
life is a practical im~possibility for its
parents. If life held for them no
other duties this might be possible.
But there are other duties that de-
mand their attention, and for the sake
of the child these duties must not be
evaded.
Who has not heard the expression
from many a distracted mother Of an
active boy: "Tll be glad when he starts
to school," Not that this mother
wishes to shirk her responsibility, but
the sober truth is, the job is too big for
her. The young life is too Vigorous
for her supervision, encountered as she
is with many other duties, all of which
must be met,
It is at this point that the efficient
kindergarten teacher steps into the
breach and bridges over the trying pc
Rod of the young life from infancy to
childhood. A few hours every day
wherein the parent can shift the bur-
den of the child's care upon other