VALUE OF SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 150, 29 June 1928, Page 8

VALUE OF SERVICE

KINDEEGARTEN WORK RICHER AND FULLER LIFE .Service ought mot to mean self -.-■'' immolation;- it ought to mean self expression of a kind that, helps other people to express themselves. ■ Everybody ought to live that the , otter people about them have more life. . . . • -■ : ■ ; In a very well-reasoned and interest- \ ing address, spiced at times with a . clever touch of humour, Miss M.'Richmond, founder of the 'Free: Kindergarten movement in Wellington, expressed these views at: the annual meeting of . ... the Wellington Free Kindergarten Asr sociation last evening. Miss . Richmond, who was very warmly welcomed, stated that there were really three ways of looking at life. Those three ways "' had an important influence on kindergarten work, although at first it might appear that they had nothing to do with it. ; ': • ' ' • ' '.:''..:'■■ ' '. -■■ ■'• •.: BALANCED CHARACTER. , "We hear a great deal about equality of opportunity," said Miss Bichmond. "That means; that everybody should be given a fair chance in life, but not more than a fair chance; too much is as bad as too little. Mr. 'Do-Little' is not a balanced character, but neither is Mr. 'Overdone.' »-.':■ What we want to induce in our citi- ,- zens is a balanced character, and I "■.'■.■ think we kindergarteners have 'set about the right way io do it. ■''.'.'One"■• ; of our good points is to begin at1 the. ■•-. beginning; another good point is we remember in our schools all the three ways of life—enjoyment, achievement, and service. The child is made happy, ;•':' he is taught that happiness is not merely a passive;, receiving of benefits, but : comes also and more fully through selfactivity; he is taught to achieve, and finally and best of all he is taught to help: others—-the small brothers and sisters who surround him— and learns the pleasure and value of service. ■..'..'.■ ■'. •: LIFE OF THE SOUL. "A distinguished man reading' Milton's 'Areopagitaca,'. said it dis not make him think of tho freedom of th 9 -'■■ Press, but of the immortality of , the .'■ soul. So when we see the little ones gathered together we are moved to \ think of something greater than free compulsory and secular education, great as it is. We are moved to think of the life of the soul, and I believe that women are specially qualified by nature to supply this .. life. - r No one.';. not the most gifted woman, should consider it below her to try to understand how to do this. No'one", not even the hum- ' blest, should think the' task too hard for her. We women are fitted by Nature; to understand children, and the child-like, but we may stultify, nature and never grow into -our full inheritance- by turning our minds away from the little lowly-.labours of. the. nursery and despising the small, difficult.drudgery of early edudation." MOTHER WIT AND LOVE. When they saw. a number of little' ones gathered together they thought of their bodies, but also and more vividly of the soul fhat found expression in their bodily activities,; of the\ spirit. . that animated and guided them and' ■ shone in their eyes! The ideal of all education was to-trainband discipline that spirit, and the. first. and most - powerful factor in the enterprise was mother wit and mother love. Mother" . wit and mother love found full and free . expression in kindergartens and kindergarten methods. That activity;-: was in complete accord with one form- '. ula of service: "So work that ethers working beside you may do their work better,- more happily, and more successfully." ; FIRST THINGS FIRST. In the kindergarten teacher and taught supplemented each mother; the life of both was. made richer . and ■ fuller, and more life was created. The- ... kindergarten taught children from the .' beginning to lift things up. That habit made for individual happiness, for good citizenship, and for the peace of the world. The other habit, the habit of pressing' things;. down, made for misery, treason, and war, industrial or military. We must begin at the beginning, but be careful to put first -.. things first. '- ' ' .'.■■'"■■' •'■ ' In conclusion, Miss Richmond wished the Free Kindergartens all success, "and more power to them." "I do not wish to see them taken over by the city or by the Government,'?" she added. "They are run now by mo- -J , therwit and mother love, and I doubt whether Mr. Forsyth, of the Education Board, Mr. Strong, of the Department, or even the Minister ;of Education himself, could do better." : At the conclusion of her address a vote of thanks was passed to Miss -.'-...,• Richmond.-. ' •.■'.:.'