Evening star., 1930-06-26
DIRECTOR APPEALS
FOR CONTINUATION
OF K|NDERGARTENS
Closing Would Be Serious
Blow to Progress, Miss
Watkins Tells Board.
QUESTION OF POLICY
is DELAYED UNTIL FALL
Ballou, Making Suggestion, Says
No Action at This Time Could
Bring About Legislation.

oAAA6 0DOuI ACS AsIoL1OHs
A plea for the continuation of under
age kindergartens in the District public
school system was voiced before the
Board of Education late yesterday, by
Miss Catharine Watkins, director of
KlndergartenS, who characterized these
schools for very young children as i'm
portant factors in character education
and in social service, the elimination of
which would be "a serious blow to
progress here"
While Miss Watkins addressed herself
to the kindergartens for and year.
old children which Representative Rob-
ert Simmons of Nebraska condemned
during the hearings on the 1891 Dis
trict appropriation BILL she declared.
under queries from board members,
that the majority" of the regular kin
dergarten teachers preferred to teach
TWO classes of kindergarten pupils a day
rather than engage in the afternoon in
pursuits not In line with their special
training.
When Miss Watkins had completed
her address to 'he board the genera
and informal discussion which 1t pre-
clpltated was halted when DIR. Frank
w. Ballou, superintendent, suggested
that the question OF the boards policy
on klndergartenS be delayed until the
first meeting in September. Ballou ex-
planned that if the House appropriation
bill containing legislative provisions
covering the kindergarten situation is
passed, the local school authorities
might address themselves to changes
next year and If the Senate bill lack
ing those provisions, is passed the
situation would remain UNCHANGED
anyway. Meanwhile, he said, no action
the board might take at this time.
could effect congressional action. The
board agreed to the suggestion.
Protest Is OverruIed.
protest was filed and cverruled
at Yesterdays meeting by the Naben
Co. of Philadelphia, low bidder on the
high school cadet uniforms, whose bid
was rejected for that of The Jacob
Reeds Sons of Philadelphia.
AT the outset of her address to the
board, Miss Watkins asserted that the
recommendation to close under-age
kindergartens lis a serious blow to all
progressive education" and that it
would be so interpreted by thinking
men and women throughout the coun-
try. In answer to the contention that
the District stands virtually alone in
the operation of kindergartens for very
young children, Miss Watkins declared
that in 26 States children of years
of age are enrolled and in 3, the en-
rollment age is years.
Tracing the development of under
age kindergartens in the District, Miss
Watkins said they were instituted here
in 1919 when the first class was opened
IN Schott's alley in the midst of an
Italian community in northeast Wash
ington. There the teachers were able
to inculcate modern ideas of child well
fare and child training in the minds
of mothers.
The second Of the four underage
kindergartens opened here in the Sea-
ton School on street near Third street.
There the teacher, on her own initia-
tive, set up a hot-lunch program and
an hour rest period to offset the evils
OF lack OF appreciation of proper rest
and diet in the children'S homes In
the past year, Miss Watkins said, every
child in that class gained weight.
Gave Pupils More Advantages.
The third underage class was set up
in the Webster Americanization School.
This class not only gave the children
themselves added advantages by awak-
ening in their mothers appreciation of
modern child care, but also permitted
a greater number of mothers to attend
the Americanization classes, where they
were taught English and other traits
of American citizenship.
The fourth underage kindergarten
was sent up in the Adams School at
Ninteenth and California streets, and
is different in character from the other
three. Miss Watkins explained. It first
was operated in conjunction with the
Child Research Center on Columbia
road, taking the children who had out
grown it, thereby becoming a demon
stration center and child laboratory,
where Washingtons educators might
make their own scientific observations
of child reaction, behavior and develop
ment.
This class was not set up" Miss
Watkins declared. "to permit mothers
to play more bridge, as I've heard it
charged. The mothers themselves at
tend the class in order to cooperate
with the teachers"
When Miss Watkins had closed her
address, Mrs. Mary Mcneil, BOARD men-
Der, expressed the hope that more SAL
aries could be established for the work
described by Miss Watkins DR. Charles
F. CaruSi, president Of the board who
said the address had given him new I'M
derstanding of the work, queried Miss
Watkins in an effort to bring cut the
necessity of drawing line between ed
uCdGlOndl Responsibilities OF the BOARD
and physical development such as
offering treatment to crippled children
and the purely social service" activities.
Declares Duties Overlap.
Miss Watkins answered by asserting
that "it is difficult to draw a 'ine be-
tween the strictly home duties and the
school duties because they both overlap
so broadly in the interest of the chill
dren." She said the boundaries of du-
ties of the home and school further de-
pend on the definition of education"
She added she hopes to see the develop
ment of the work begun in the ln6er-
age kindergartens to embrace a compre-
hensive course in pre-parental training
for girls.
DR.. Abram Simon commented upon
the recommendation of the Bureau of
Efficiency that the under age kinder
gartens be eliminated and brought out
the fact that the bureaus investigators
never questioned Miss Watkins, the
outstanding expert on kindergartens in
the Capital and a recognized kinder
garten authority from coast to coast
on her work.
I'm other words" DR. Simon asked
IF the Bureau of Efficiency had asked
you about this work. 1t never could
have made the recommendation it did
make?"
Miss Watkins declared that she be-
lieved 1t would not.
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