Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-03-28
Article II-Kindergarten Activities
Afford Profitable Amusement to
Little Folks at Home
BY Mrs. Alice Wingate Fraby


The mother of small children who
does not live within reach of kind
ergarten need not feel compelled to.
deprive her little ones of the pleasures
ard benefits of systematic training
It is true that the stimulus of CO.
operative work and play, so vital
feature of the kindergarten, is not SO
apt to be found in the smaller group
at home and is entirely lacking in the
case of the only child. Nevertheless,
many of the activities provided in
kindergarten can be carried on not
only by the small group but by the
lonely child as well.
"Come let US live with our chill
dren!" is the old familiar Froebelian
slogan. We might paraphrase it by
saying, "Come, let us sing with our
cnildren!'
Why shouldn't children sing morn
ing greetings to father and mother as
well as to teacher? Even 2-year-olds
that | know can sins them and delight
in dong So The good morning songs
to various members of the family, to
the new day, to sun or clouds, sung
while dressing, 90 much to create
sunny morning atmosphere. There
are songs to accompany many of the
home duties, besides a wealth of ma
ture songs. At bedtime the devotion
al spirit of the evening prayer may be
enhanced by the singing of, child's
hymn. Songs such as these can be
found in Games and Music of Froe-
bel's Mother Play" and in other kin
dergarten song books. Any good Ii
brary would have some of these, or
it would be possible to buy copies
bookstore.
A kindergarten calender may easily
be made at home. For this purpose a
sheet of white cardboard is ruled off |
into a sufficient number of bank |
square for the days of the month.
The children mark tn ecalender each |
day with a suitable emblem. Yellow |
circles should be provided for sunny |
days and gray for cloudy. Tiny UNI
brellas denote rain; gray circle part
ly covered with white indicates snow. |
Advertisements furnish pictures for |
special occasions-a little church, a |
toy, birthday cake, Christmas tree,
IN x.+i
to the children than the
pleasure they take in attending to the
calendar regularly, and the fact that |
they are being helped to a realiza-
ton of divisions of time. The card t
should be large enough to allow for
a suitable picture for the month to be
outside of the ruled portion
I.andseers Squirrel and Pair of Nut
crackers" may be used for the Oct
ober sheet. Correggio's "Holy Night"
for December, Washington's OF Lin
coins portrait for February
Games train the senses at the same
time that they afford keen pleasure
A mother can play many games with
her child without interrupting her
work. Decentralization is a wonder
full stimulus to the imagination, and
numberless stories lend themselves to
this form of reproduction.
The kindergarten, aiming as it does
to relate the limited world of the |
small person to the larger world about |
him, to quicken his appreciation Of
parents and all world-workers, to
deepen his wonder and reverence for
natural phenomena, is much more
than mere place of amusement. The
home can be made more than this
also.
Please pass this article on to a
friend and help Uncle Sam reach all
the mothers of the country