EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 142, 19 June 1922, Page 7

EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG

SOME OF! THE SPECIAL SCHOOLS*

.-INTERESTING IMPRESSIONS.

(FKOU OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

LONDON, sth May.

Miss Allen (daughter of Sir James and Lady Allen), who, in ■Dunedin, was always much interested in Kindergarten work, ia taking- a. year's course at the Gipsy Hill Training College, and she i» finding her studies particularly absorbing-. Tho object of the college, at its inception, was purely for the study of the Montessori method. Now it is recognised by the Board of Education as a. training centre for teachers preparatory to their joining the London C.C schools; and consequently it provides a wide course of education. Its principal is Miss do Lissa, who formerly was head of the kindergarten in South Australia. A fellow-student with her in her college days was Miss Knsom, of Dunedin, under whom 'Miss Allen had her training. Miss do Lissa, holds the Montessori diploma, and the coX lege is a large and leading one, with a permanent residential staff, there are, as . well, lecturers of the Montessori. method, English, eurythmics, music, psychology, . and biology. A class of children from oiio ■ of the local schools comes at intervals to demonstrate eurythmics, and naturally tho little ones feel very proud to be thus the ' instructors of future teachers. Miss Allen was much interested to Hnd that ths nursery rhyme system of, teaching rhythm in use at Gipsy Hill College is very similar to the methods to which she became accustomed at tho Dunedin Free Kindergarten. The use of the hands and feet,is general \a_ obtain the required effects. The Montessori system is not now intended only for backward or deficient children. It is Used for all _children, and in its advanced stages it is very valuable, and ia largely employed. As a stuctent-of Gipsy Hill College, Mis« Allen has the privilege of visiting any of the schools in and around London-that specialise so as to meet the varied defects and needs of the pupils. Thus she' has been particularly interested in the clinics, of which there are many. Each school has its dental surgery with complete fitments; a room fitted with X-ray apparatus for the cure of scalp trouble and diseases; if medical advice considers that^ adenoids ought" to ba removed, the operation can be done on the spot. There are uniformed nurses to look after the patients, and all the apparatus attached to a- clinic is up to date. So are its card index methods. Each child treated has a card record,' to which from time to time additions are made, and if the child leaves the school for another district, the record-card is sent on to the new school. All .these privileges are provided free. THREE DEGREES. Mental tests are interesting. ■ For children of varying ages there are recognised degress of mental development. Each agp has its brilliant child, its medium child, and it 6 dvi1 child. A.U kinds of questions are put to them to test their knowledge and progress of mind, and the answers usually work out very much -&9 the teachers expect they will. . Some.of the problems, indeed, seem more likely to tax the thinking powers of grown-ups. Here, for instance, was the problem- plaejed Irafore children between seven . and eight:—"lf you were standing at the' gate of a round field, and threw your ball apparently into the middle, but could "not see it, _ what would you do to find-it?" One ohild soon hit upon the correct solution, which was to take a- circular-tour-in. that field, going round and round, "and gradually working towards the centre. Generally speaking, there is a good level of intelligence among the children, though one bright child of seven was at a loss, to explain in whal way wood and coal resembled each other. . HEAVEN IN A SLUM. , Miss M'Millan's o^en-air kndergarten has been established in the middle of a suburban slum, and all the pupils are slum children. The enthusiasm of the head has enabled, her to develop a littl© square with gardens, where each child has it^ own plot, and where it works happily. Sunshine or fog, hot or cold, wet or fine, the little ones turn up to their open-air shelter to have their lessons. This is evidence of what zeal and initiative can do, even in the most squalid surroundings, to bring pleasant and healthy hours to slum children. j LEFT. TO THE TEACHER, It seems that the London County Council tell their teachers, in the infant schools at any rate, that they are free to use any new method they like, but they have to supply their own materials to carry out their ideals. At one of the East Acton schools, where Miss Cruickshanks is the head, the teachers have bought all the newest Montessori apparatus, so keen, are they to get their pupils on. Here the advanced methods of Montessori may be seen in mixed classes of forty or fifty children. All kinds of arithmetic are taught with strings of beads which are attractive to handle, and which easily deprive even cube root of its drudgery. Miss Cruickshanks has' invented a new way of reading whereby h'ttle pupils begin by using toys; then they arrive at the Look and Say and Phonetic systems all together. A NATURE CLASS. Recently at the Gipsy Hall College there were two students taking the curriculum who already were teachers, one of whom had been trained at the Froebel Institute. Both were very keen about Nature walks. In the vicinity is an oldfashioned school, stodgy and hopeless, so the girls tried introducing there' a new method of teaching the pupils. Permission was obtained for a party of fifty to spend the day in some neighbouring woods.. Each child set out with a little muslin bjg slung round its neck, filled with coloured chalks; other apparatus included two pieces of brown paper and a small cardboard box. On the whito slips were drawings of things they were to try and find—trees, i flowers, leaves, berries. On the brown they were set to draw a fir erte, with wild flowers beneath.- Into the cardboard box were put all the specimens they could find, as set out by tho teachers. The children—quite ordinary, mostly poor, and full *of boisterous youth —behaved like pattern children, and were keenly interestedi all the time: some of them did really beautiful sketches, and they all- filled their boxes with sprouting acorns, seeds, and what-not. Anything that showed signs of taking root was planted subsequently in the school grounds. If the teachers have the iniative and real interest there is no doubt that they can usually insprre the children with enthusiasm, and pleasantly teach them much without undue effort. When Miss Allen took a class for a country walk she gave them the story of Peter Pan and his home underground. A COMPARISON. Generally speaking, Now Zealand school buildings are more attractive in every way than are many of those round London, which are externally dull and uninspiring, and naturally are not pleasantly situated in crowded areas. Numbers of them were put up in the old days when people were unenlightened. They are ugly and unsuitable structures of gloomy brick, and the classroom accommodation is much too small. Many teachers would give a good deal to have buildings like those in New Zealand. At the nursery schools here tiny tots of 2jj are sent to be taught and made happy, for woairing parents have not much time to devote to their babies at an age when they need to be watched to keep them out of mischief and harm. • ; " Apart from actual Montessori methods, a, great featuro of up-to-date 7 educntion is individual intuition. Each child, as far as possible, has its own special work,!"so that all kinds of things are being- done in ono room simultaneously, and ' tha classes are not small.