Putnam County herald. (Cookeville, Tenn.) 1903-1922, 1920-10-07
Training Little Children
ARTICLE LV.
By Mrs. Marie K. Chaffee

BY Mrs. Marie K. Chaffee
About year and a half ago a mum
Der of mothers in small town petit
toned their school board for a public
kindergarten. They knew that therI
were at least twenty-five children in
the community who would attend and
that there was vacant room in one
schoolhouse which could be used fol-
the purpose But the school board
contended that there were too many
other expenses for the coming year
and that the town could not afford to
establish kindergarten.
The mothers, however, persisted in
their idea that the need for kinder.
garten was very great, and after many
months of patient work they succeed.
ed in persuading the school committee
to give the use of the vacant room
A class of eight children has now been
started, and it is in charge of young
pupil Kindergarten who is taking this
work as her senior practice teaching,
charging only small sum for each
child. She is full of enthusiasm and
the work has been progressing stead
lily under her inspiring direction.
The children who attend the kinder.
garten are nearly all from good fami-
lies. 1t impressed me strongly as !
canvassed the town in search of pu-
pills, that the very parents who could
and did give their children every pos
sible advantage were the ones who
were quick to realize the opportunities
in kindergarten training. Other par
ents, whose children were running
wild" physically and mentally, so to
speak, would say, I'VE don't think our
child needs to go to kindergarten"
or 1--WE cannot afford to pay so much
for just having Mary amused"
All mothers should know that the
kindergarten is not place where a
child is "just amused" nor is it only a
school room where facts are drilled in
to a child's head for hours at time.
A well managed kindergarten is like
well managed home, place where the
children may develop naturally and
normally. In the kindergarten they do
this to the very best advantage under
the careful guidance of teacher who
is trained for her work and in the COM
partnership Of other children.
After kindergarten has been start
ed, mothers should visit it frequently
and attend the mothers meetings that
the kindergarten conducts in order to
explain to them the purpose of the
kindergarten and how they may help
it's work and influence. In this way
they will come to understand the val
ue of the games and other activities of
the kindergarten, and will gain many
helpful ideas and suggestions, which
may be used equally as well in the
home as in the kindergarten.
And right here should be pointed out
the opportunity the kindergarten moth
er or the mother who knows something
of kindergarten methods has in her
community. She can start the right
spirit among the mothers and children
all about her If she so desires She
can form mothers clubs and have
kindergarten training teacher or SUI
pervisor give talks. The spirit of kin
drgarten games can be carried into
the whole community, gathering in the
fathers and mothers, and thus greatly
helping the child welfare movement.
know mother who never had any
training, but became in
terested in it when her babi were
small. She read all the books she
could find on the subject and visited
many kindergartens in order to under
stand more of the value Of play as
Froebel explains it. Then the mother
began to apply Froebel's methods sys-
in the home education of
her children. One of her daughters
when she grew up became a student
Of mathematics and the mother always
says that the first lesson in mathemat-
les began when her daughter was lit
tie girl and wore curls AS the mother
brushed the curls each morning, the |
child would count, and add and sub
tract them and thus an instructive as |
well as merry game was made out Of
what is usually tedious performance |
This mother has brought up four
children, but even though the boys and |
girls are full grown, this family has
never lost its play spirit. How far we
stray from the path Of youthfulness
and Joy in starving the play side of our
A man is old only when be
mas lost the love of play. It is not
merely, Come, let US live with our
but Come, let us play with
)ur children"
Please pass this article on to a
riend and thus help Uncle Sam reach