The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1919-10-09
THOUGHTS ON
THE KINDER ARTEN
Normal School Budget)

Normal School Budget)
The article below has for it's title
Elbow the kindergarten Provides Ed
ucation." We print it in the belief
chat careful reading Of it's contents
will repay the reader for his time.
The statement is often made that
"the kindergarten is all play" It is
play, but at the same time it IS edu-
cation. The kindergarten means hap
,py, all-sided development for the lit
tie children who are becoming inter-
ested in persons and places outside Of
the home and yet who are not ready
for the formal school subjects Of read
ing and writing.
AS our insight into the true mean
ing of education grows clearer, we
realize more fully the value Of this
particular period of child life, and its
influence upon the formation of char
acter. It was Froebsl who spent the
most fruitful years Of his life in the
study of this one period of develop
ment. He studied little children, their
interests, their actions, their ques-
tions, their responses. He studied the
world about him, it's ideals and social
forms. He studied the way in which
the individual grew into acceptance of
race, judgments. He concluded that
education ought to be the guidance OF
the human being toward social stand
ards and values through the utiliza-
ton of the individual energy which
was seeking an outlet. He saw that
the great. fund of energy of a child
ho .s~y
ing an outlet through play. AS this
is critical time when the child is es-
tablishing habits in all directions,
Froebel suggested many ways in which
a child could be helped to form right
habits through play. III.
The Little Child is Interested in
Seeing Things
He watches the carpenter and the
motorman, the rain and the work of
the wind, the birds and the flowers.
Not all of the things that. he sees are
of equal value in the formation of his
character. The. Kindergarten attracts
his attention towards workmen, who
must be honest, careful, and thought
full in all that they do, who must be
persevering and courageous. She en-
courages him to observe and try to un-
derstand motives and causes rather
than to be satisfied with what is ap-
parent on the surface. She provides
beautiful surroundings by selecting
objects and pictures which cultivate
his taste. When a child's attention
has once been drawn happily in Ger
tain direction, it tends to continue in
the same channel. Whereas Madam
Montessori would allow the child to
think about his immediate environ
ment wherever it happened to be, the
Kindergarten creates an environment
for the chile, she takes him to visit
the blacksmith, to play with the wind,
to gather the autumn leaves N Il
The Little Child is Interested in Doing
Things
He likes to sew, to hammer, to draw,
to build. If allowed to follow his in
clination without guidance, very hap
hazard results would follow. The kin
dergartner provides. an opportunity.
for the child to do things that will ed
ucate him. She shows him that much
more is accomplished when he starts
out with a purpose in mind, when he
chooses material suited to his purpose,
when he works earnestly and accurate
~. Such materials as the doll and the
dollhouse will teach child to concen-
trate and hold his own energy to one
line of effort for some length of time
The Little Child is Interested in Talk
ing About Things
b. When he is full of subject, he must
express himself in some way. The sub
Jects about which he likes to talk are
not always the most valuable for him
to think about, and often he does not
have adequate language in which to
communicate his ideas. The kinder
gartner, by supplying the right
Surroundings, by taking him to see
good and beautiful things, fills his
mind with the best, and he bubbles
over with his tales of these happy
times. She talks with him, providing
a choice vocabulary, thus encourage
ing him in a most effective way to use
It. The songs and stories also add
to select vocabulary. S M
The Little Child is Interested in
Playing About Things.
He; likes to initiate the activities of
people and things, he likes to exercise
his own body; He plays horse, fairies,
farmer, jumping rope. ne may want
to play about drunken man. What
q child initiates, that he tends to be-
come. The kindergarten leads the
child to select such things as will help
IN his right development. He gains
poise and lightness in playing about
the birds, his heart swells with love
Tor his country's flag when he carries
It as soldier, he learns to make the
experiences of others his own when he
plays Little Miss Muffett, he learns
control and accuracy when aiming q
ball at target. Madam Montessori
does not see the value Of games as
F,roebeel did. The Kindergarten feels
that "play is the serious business Of
childhood It is the means by which
the child enters into the spirit Of his
surroundings. Through initiative play
he enters into. Others experiences vi
cariously. It is short cut to the eth
ical and spiritual inheritance Of the
race.
While the kindergarten provides
opportunity for the child to expend
his energy in ways that he enjoys, she
L. \ - * - v