The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1942-10-09

! School of Education and other facili
: ties of the University. The parent,
, provided limited constructive crit
. cism. The officers of the Mothers
Club continued to do an excellent jol
of helping the school, They were
convinced that the school had demon
strated very satisfactory results fol
the children. Children who attended
the school and who later entered the
public schools made excellent school
adjustments according to teachers and
parents. Serious problem cases were
noticeably helped. The school def.
nitely proved that many children from
upper income families can be as UNI
derprivileged as children from low-in-
come families, underprivileged in the
sense that they have not developed
satisfactory skills and traits. Income
is not guarantee to healthy child be-
havior ~
President Melby Consulted
! In May, 1912, the time was ripe for
another strategic move. The school
had demonstrated its worth under ex-
IRENE handicaps. The Mothers Club
delegated Mrs. Glenn Tarbox, its pres
ident, and myself to present the prob
lem of the play school to President
Melby Would the University supply
adequate space and a trained head
teacher if the Mothers Club would
turn over its $500 worth of equipment
to the University and continue to pay
somewhat higher fees to help pay for
the program? Would the University
provide professional guidance for the
program, particularly by the School of
Education? President Melby agreed
to help as much as possible He en-
phasized the fact that people who in
tend to teach or do social work should
get as much laboratory training as
possible working with young children.
They should understand people. If
young children are well understood,
older children and adults are more
likely to be understood. He encour-
aged the Mothers Club and the Lab
oratory to keep working for the
otCdQy 6lOWln VI thO Pl O6l olll
Dean Anderson Helps Program
When Dr. Anderson, the new dean
of the School of Education, arrived a
few weeks ago, one of the first prob
lens referred to him by President |
Melby and myself was the future of |
the Laboratory Play School. The |
had earlier recommended |
the close coordination of the Univer-
sity Nursery School, the Laboratory
Play School and the School of Educa-
ton. During the summer session, |
Mrs. Jessie Perkins of Fargo, North |
enrolled as a student. She |
worked in the Laboratory and d.
rected the program of the Summer
Club for children from five
to fifteen with 1877 children registered.
Her previous experience as head
teacher of the nursery school at the
North Dakota Agricultural College for
with children in the Summer Activity
Club here were enough to qualify her
Tor the job of head teacher of the re-
pre-school program de-
,cribed above. She is ON the job now
and an excellent program for the year
IS definitely assured.
Increasing Returns Anticipated
The three year struggle of the Lab
oratory Play School for a place in the
sun demonstrates again what set of
z11 Ja+; .J.,.~ L
.al need can produce if consistent eff
fort is made to meet that need. Start
with no resources of any kind except /
college students, parents, children
md little help from WPA, the Lab
)ratory tried to achieve something
in the field of pre-school
education for children and their par
,nts. 1t helped to organize the COM
nunity for definite action and later
ell heir to excellent resources for an
ldequate and expanded permanent
program which will help the Univer-
ity pay increased dividends to the ;
,eople of Montana.
Need for Pre-SchooI Education
Increasing
The play school project taught US
many valuable lessons. My faith in
ollege students has been increased
" the experience. My faith in adults
n the community has been increased
The gap between adults and the Uni {
ersity has been somewhat bridged by !
he joint effort and l hope that in t
ue time, pre-school programs under '
auspices will be available Q
D many more parents and children in a
1ontana. The war is rapidly forcing b
s to see the value of pre-school pro- a
rams, especially where war indus c
lies are demanding the labor of all a
len and women. But even without e
ne war, there is a need for pre-school c
ducation. 1t is real means of con- g
crying our human resources by de- t
clipping them effectively as early as 4
Ossible. The recognized program t
ill undoubtedly produce expanding b
srvices. The future will profit much &
ON this early effort.