Evening star., 1927-11-13
Hand ond
BaAS o Tha ThyA~N ~N1eRee oL~rnngaY aYerLutr

little girl, years old, witt
what appeared to be a positive
genius in music.
There are approximately is simple
tunes taught the children in these
nurseries of education This child, oi
course. could not read a note Of mu'
sic, but she could play all the tunes
on the piano perfectly. She seemed tc
think in terms of music.
Now, the kindergarten Is psyche
logical laboratory where the indiVld
ual child is studied in an effort to co
ordinate natural trends with the pur
suit of knowledge, The teacher was
interested and investigated the homt
..fe Of the child. 1t was found that
she was the daughter of bind piah,
tuner and that the uncanny sense ol
tone and rhythm was probably heredi
tkry.
The little girl was encouraged in hel
work and, while still in the eiemen
<ary grades, is well on her way towarG
q distinguished musical career.
At about the same time boy in
another kindergarten showed an I'm
usual talent for drawing. Use o.
colored crayons and water colors j
one of the fundamentals OF the kin
dsrgarfen system of education, an(
! children With decided talent often arc
found. But this 5-year-old was ex.
ceptional.
He was taken tn the Corcoran Art
! Gallery. where experts looked over his
+. work and encouraged him to copy
some of the models provided for the
advanced students there.
There was, of course. much crude.
i ness in his work. But the experts saiC
! that in one technical and extremely
difficult field of art-that of foreshort
Dninr.-1c Sfo fo1Nt.
which MANY able artists could not &C
quire in a lifetime of hard work. Here
there was no known hereditary factor
: responsible. The little boy simply ha,
been born with a decided genius fol
the reproduction of form.
These two eases are extreme, but
high degrees of talent often are found
among the children of the 115 kinder.
Gartens which are the silken gatewayS
through which the children of Wash
! tngton enter the temple OF education
Both these children, under an anti
Quated system Of education, might
have kept their talents hidden 70,
years and, 1t is likely, never received
sf1e encoura cement which would have
Spurred them to development of THEN
natural mental trends
Such cases once often resulted in
pathetic child lives This is the tvpe
of child that seldom does we'll under
stefeotyped form of education, which
~ driven by unhealthy introspection
ey misunderstanding and efforts at ILL
directed discipline, and which often
ends in tragedy in later life. But to.
day in the public schools of Wash.
ahgton the teachers of the elementary
grades do not try to discourage the
Httie boy who neglects his spelling to
cover his paper with cartoons. 1t is
recognized that encouragement of the
ORA wing may be made the very best
inducement to learning everything
else. In fact, the first efforts are
directed to finding out what the indi-
viduai child's real interests are and
t1 they are healthy encouraging them.
X X X
WHEN the boy or girl comes to the
kindergarten in the fifth wear
the mind still is plastic and can be
nodded by the teacher. particularly if
the home influences have been good
But the work has been taken in hand
none too soon. The years between the
cradle and the kindergarten are of
extreme Importance, and the child s
nrst teacher often finds that irrenara.
BILE damage has heen done-the char
acter set in mold which cannot be
F'SrNEh bS tHE HODiG influences. Bllf I
IN most cases this specialist in child |
psychology still can exert a great in. |
huence in fashioning the individual
The child's world grows in ever |
increasing circles. Before coming to
the kindergarten it has been confined
To one circle--the home 1t has been
IN almost complete ignorance of every
thing outside the family group. SO
that hrst step in broadening the out
look is to widen the circle to include
ether families-dog families, bird fam.
flies, cat families and the like. An in
terest in Nature is built UP on the
foundation of the child's previous ex-
perienee.
The next step also is based on an
interest which is common to all chill
dren--food. Hitherto the pupil has
not inquired into the source of food
For the most part ii has been set he.
/ fore him, constituting probably the
most important element in his life
Now he learns about the groceryman
, and the milkman. The classes are
taken to corner groceries and shown
! the shelves lined with the articles
they have eaten all their lives. Then
they are taken to two model dairy
farms in Washington-at Soldiers
I Home and at Kendall Greenland see
with their own eyes. probably for the
first time, the source of milk. For the
srest of the year the theory of mental
development in widening circles is con-
tinued, the child being introduced to
broader and broader fields of life.
/ There are no stereotyped lessons
taught In the kindergarten. Each
child is considered by the specialist as
an individual problem. the result of
.cetrain heredity and environment
hrs-h u hfrs(a tn hn MIN L.
possible circumstances to produce
fsvora BILE reactions from the stimuli of
experience. The efforts of the teacher
are devoted TO getting the child
oriented To the world outside the home
and TO establishing a basis of mental
character.
The tools for this work are numer.
Gus. Building blocks. coiored paper,
clay for modelling, large wooden beads.
spheres, cubes. cylinders, crayons.
paint boxes. music story telling and
all forsns Of organized play are i'm.
portant. The child is introduced to
A ducation as a delightful form of plav
and not as tedious work. There is
10 fatigue or monotony.
~
THE kindergarten by no means is
- new development in the schools
Of Washington. The first class of this
sort was opened in 1895, purely as an
experiement. and the work has heen
expanding ever since. But the great
growth of this form Of education has
come since the World War. Previ-
cuslv. in fact, the teachers worked
with a more or less antiquate system
Of child psychology.
The developments in this field in the
past 10 years have been as great as
those in any other branch Of science
end the successful kindergarten
teacher today must. in the words Of An