PICTURES TELL STORIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22356, 29 February 1936, Page 6 (Supplement)

PICTURES TELL STORIES

VALUE IN KINDERGARTEN WORK TRAINING THROUGH THE EYE In every branch of kindergarten work extensive use is made of pictures. Old story books, magazines, scrap books, fans and even chocolate box lids provide a varied collection from which aids are chosen for each lesson. Reading, phonics and number lessons, as well as poetry and story periods, are all supplemented by tho use of appropriate pictures. The small newcomer to the Montessori class, unable to read his own name, soon learns to distinguish his particular hat, peg, chair and kindergarten bag by the help of small picture scraps. In a little while tho special animal, bird or flower which indicates his belongings becomes quite familiar. It is a quick, easy way of helping him to observe and remember. In addition to the beautiful nursery rhyme and fairy tale friezes which make the kindergarten room such a delightful place for children, it is sometimes the custom to have a " beauty I The pale leaf falls in pallor, bat 1 one green leaf turns to gold: ! We that have found it good to be j young will find it good to be old. I . —G. K. Chesterton. ! I " hanging in a prominent position in tho room. As the name suggests, the " beauty picture " is especially intended to appeal to the child's artistic sense, but care is taken to choose simple studies which a child may appreciate, and to see that the subject is, if possible, one of seasonal interest. _ It is usually a cut from some magazine or fairy tale book which has been mounted on a stiff foundation. Very popular are the puzzle pictures which are included in most kindergarten cupboards. When choosing the pictures—two exactly alike for each puzzle—it is wise to select a bold design in bright colouring. Paste the pic-

tures on separate sheets of cardboard, leave one complete and cut the other into fairly small, irregular pictures. Reading cards, which are used to supplement the printed readers of the children, have attractive pictures pasted at the top, while simple stories, referring to the subject, are printed below. In this way a good variety of reading matter is provided. Some of the delightful child studies featured in the advertising sections of many periodicals make excellent headings for reading cards. One such card, showing a coloured picture of a smiling boy waving a toothbrush, is completed with a few simple sentences: — See my new brush, I use it three times a day, It helps to keep my teeth clean. Other cards deal with health, games, correct foods, and many other subjects of interest, printed in short simple sentences, and varying according to the age and reading ability of the children. For tho child who has mastered tho recognition of numbers from one to ten, there is a useful set which can be made from a sheet of scraps or a number of small pictures and some strips of cardboard. On two inch squares of cardboard print clearly, in black ink, preferably the numbers from one to ten. Now cut ton strips, measuring about eight inches by two, and along these paste pictures or scraps to correspond with the numbers. This set affords practice in counting. A set of Days of the Week cards is always popular with small children. It is made up of seven pictures, each of which shows some event of the week such as washing, ironing, cleaning, shopping, visiting, and the names of the days are printed on small separate slips. Tho child arranges tho days in correct order, and then places the pictures in the scquenco in which he thinks they occur during tho week.