KINDERGARTEN TEACHING.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 14367, 29 May 1912, Page 5

KINDERGARTEN TEACHING.

j__ a AN AMERICAN PIONKER. Kindergarten teaching was intended J to bo delightful for the teacher n« well j as for her pupils is the contention of j Miss Clara Wood Mingin*, :t:i Ameri-j can lady of vast experience, whoreadily | talks about her special work. This ex- j pert has been one of the first authovi- • ties in the United States «!i the Mibjoct of kindergarten for the past , twenty years j Eye. and ear are trained in the T'roebel schools, so that any infant who lias ' passed his early years under their in- j finance has gained special readiness, in ' the exercise of his faculties. He re- ; cognises objeots, just because in his games hearing, touch, taste, and Binell liavo been developed. In the. same w.iy observation, obedience, order, accuracy, alertness, and fine perceptions are drawn forth and cultivated until they are ho strengthened that, they become invaluable throughout life. (James and amusement ai*o the principal tiourers ; l>y meaiin of which the little boy or girl attains to an understanding of important things, a.nd good taate ought to bo considered as well as other senses. A child between the.years of live and j seven is quite capable of bestowing attention, provided the knowledge presented to him is within the w'ope of his intelligence. Little, ones of that imo art; readijy and easily impreyed, guided, and influenced. Hence, according to Mis.s Mingins, the importance that school-rooms should be bright, and attractive, .that schoolmistresses ehould not -wear dull clothing or aprons that give them all a uniform appearance. A sweet-voiced tejieher, one who knows Low to win the obedience of her pupils with her voice always in a tone of natural courtesy, is much inure hkoly to influence her chiidrm rightly than the commanding personality. whoso angry and insistent utterances pierce, the ear. startle timid youngj ster.s, and drive them into a state of ' nervousness. THE TELLER OF STORIES. This American lady, who comes from Detroit, was the nioneer of the kindergarten in that city. Her own was the first, and when she left, after eight years' work, she had fifty under her j own supervision, and was at the same j time- principal of a school for the j training of Froebel teachers. An ex- | neriment which she made amongst her children answered to excellently that her system is now in vogue in many States throughout America. Observation amongst smal] children, aged from five- to seven, had taught her that they loved nothing better than a story, and ■that the telling of a' tnle, or even the promise of a narrative to be provided, secured instant attention and obedience. Arguing- that children love detail, ami that it is a <siniplo in a toe r to hold their interest with any story in which there is incident, she commenced her tales with the classics. It had always struck her as absurd to put the story of Homer's "Iliad.'' for instance, into a paragraph in a school reading book. j Thus she spent weeks in telling that story in dramatic way; as .she related j tlio events the blind poet lms to won- | derfnilv described tUie handed round i pictures and explained the-m. The j .small kindergarten flowors loved their story hour, they hastened to gather round her, so that the bi-weekly event was one of tho favourite hours of the days on which it fell. From the Iliad the story-teller went on to deal with other equal'y interesting and graphic tales. Lives <if the poets were vividly narrated, and specimens of their poems were made instinct with life ac the stories of them were related. Tlio children were enraptured", with Longfellow'k Hiawatha, wno, .through Ikb adventures, became a living personality to them.