OUR NEGLECTED CHILDREN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14777, 9 March 1910, Page 2

OUR NEGLECTED CHILDREN

THE WORK OF KINDERGARTENS. FROEBEL CLUBTANNUAL MEETING. Some brief but very interesting- addresses, relative to the work carried on by kindergartens and similar organisations among the very young children of our cities were niado at the annual-meeting of the Froebel Club, which was held yesterday in the Y.M.C.A. Hall. Mr R. Gilkison was chairman. ' The Chairman . expressed his pleasure that ao many members were- present. Ho referred to the useful kindergarten- work done by the club—which was purely selfsupporting —and said that, during the last year, which, like the preceding 12 months, had been in niany respects a red-letter year in the history of the club, they had been greatly assisted by the work of Miss Ensom, who had introduced some up-to-date American methods.

The Secretary (Miss.Lpgie) read-the following report:—" In presenting thc° seventh annual report of the Froebel Club the. committee, wishes to state that the year has been one of progress. The membership, which had boon declining of late, has improved. The programme of .work drawn up for the session has been faithfully carried out. Meetings wero held on tho afternoon of the fourth Thursday of the month, from March to October, Some of our kindergarteners contributed papers on kinder garden principles, methods, and materials, which were much appreciated, and, throueli tho courtesy of the Evening Star, have appeared in print.' Free discussion has always beon encouraged, a feeling of sociability prevails among, the members, and the meeting together to talk over matters of mutual interest has proved helpful, during the year a new constitution has been drawn up; for the better working of the club it was deemed advisable to be on < the sauna basis as kindred clubs. Correspondence has been opened up with the Sydney Kindergarten Club, which has given a very ready response. The International Kindergarten Union has written according thcDuncdin Froebel Club a hearty welcome as a member ot its union. We would here express our indebtedness to the New Zealand Attorneygeneral (the Hon. Dr Findlay), who so willingly lectured on the club's behalf. The lecture, entitled "The Man. on' the delivered in Burns Hall on July 23, was a, great success, and helped to aug. momVthc funds of the club. The closing meeting of the session took the form of a social gathering. The Froebel Club has been fortunate, in welcoming as a member Miss Ensom, a kindergartner of wide experience, whe comes to us full ■of enthusiasm and with earnest desire to broaden our club's sphere of usefulness.",.

HEREDITY AND J3NVIROXMKXT. . Tho Rev. R. E. Davies moved the adoption of the report. lie. said that owing to his short residence in Duncdin, ho had not become very fully acquainted with the history of the club, but its aims and objects had his entire sympathy, He commented on the usefulness of such organisations as the Froebel Club, which worn a, healthy sign in any community. It. showed that general prosperity had riot failed to rouse a sense of duty in tho minds of many individuals in regard to children. Ho believed that tho education of young children demanded tlie .keenest intelligent and perception on tho part of ..those undertaking it. This work of education was a delicate task, requiring the efforts and sympathy of tho most highly educated' persons, rather than the harsh process of making children memorise kernels of thought which, excellent in themselves, were, to the childish, mind, .wholly incomprehensible. Just as the flower owned in response to the sun's rays, so would the children's minds open •to the properly- i directed efforts and sympathetic personality of a highly-trained teacher. The environment of the child, young and impressionable, bad ■an almost inconceivable effect j upon tlie development of character. Tlw { child took colour from its suvroi'tiHlina?, and when there was brought into its life the best . and . most beautiful, there v/ero afforded infinite opportunities of helping not only. flip individual but also the community as' a whole. Tho effect of environment 'on the growing child had been ascertained by careful observation 'by the great American organisations, and it had been'proved that if the.child was taken away early from the influences' of wickedness and vice it was bound to do 'well. .If, it were not removed from those influences to 'the influences of a clean life, it would tend to become n criu.iir.al. As'for the qucstion'-of 'heredity; which, .for. so long- had : acted- as ! almost 'a paralysing ' factor where'-" efforts for. social elevation, by ..m-frans of child-saving was concerned, it was now held by students tliul the, acquired .'characteristics of the parents were not transmitted 'to the- children All that the children, received- was a .predisposition 'that was all. And .if they could the children'at their earliest age and bring .thcrii into touch with; all that was good anil-noble the .probability was that they would win those children away fiom siri, oveieomo any vicious tendencies which had been imparted- to them, and giva them a new inheritance and greater opportunities in life. Proceeding, Mr Davies pointed out that there were two kinds of spoiled children—the rich and the poor,—ami care in the education of- tho young children was necessary in all grades of society. They had' learned much in • regard t-a teaching young children; there was still much to learn.. With regard to religious instruction, he believed that three-quar-ters', of the child's education/ up (o seven years of age, should be religious.- Therefore, he believed religious instruction should be imparted bv the schools. Up to seven years of age the spiritual faculties of the child could best be ministered to, and if they sought social betterment they _ were overlooking their opportunities-in this-re-spect. He had always admired the busi-ness-like and scientific way in which the Church of Rome dealt with the question of educating the child. . Realising the importance of the subject, that Church had engaged certain learned men to study 'the training of children and all that pertained thereto. Those men liad taken 13 years to do their work, but-they had done it well, and had produced a great book dealing with their subject, which was regarded as an authority. Mush was wanting in our educational system, and it was to be regretted that it was necessary to introduce tho -desired methods through tho back door, as it were, by such useful oriraw'satioiis as the Froebel Club. Tlw motion was seconded and duly carried. The Treasurer ivriortcd that on the year a operations there was a credit balance of £15 Bs. Mr Mark Cohen moved the adoption of this report. Ho regretted that the Froebel system, which had bean known to them for 21 years, had not been' included in the educational sjatem of the Dominion. The results which had been secured by it, and its proved success in other parts of the world, made it very desirable that it should receive fuller recognition at tho hands of tho educational authorities. The latter, he believed, were making a great mistake 'in not .adopting the - kindergarten as tho ■ basis of the education of ; children.

THE SPIRITUAL ASI'ECT. Mrs A S. Paterson, in -seconding this ' motion, spoke of the necessity of the kindergarten teacher being thoroughly trained, before assuming any responsible position in tliis system of education, which concerned : itself primarily with the' spirtual development of the child. The teacher herself must have this spiritual development. She must s*ek first, the kingdom of God, and, having found tin's, all other desirable. qualities would be added through patient and sustained effort. One of Froebsl's followers hwr said that, it must always be borne in mind that clear ideas and useful _ deeds exist in tlw 'heart as undefined sentiments before they are born in the intellect and will. It is the defining and deepening of these sentiments that make character, and cliaracter-buildins was t.lw kindergartener's chief work. Suppose a rcachcr. had . 12 infants to educate, not -instruct. No two would be alike in character. One would be tyw self-conscious, another untruthful, a third inclined to be helpful, another hypersensitive, and so on. By her intuition— the measure of her spiritual development— and her understanding of the mind of the child, llio result of her study of psychology and child nature, the wachor would.bo able to bring out—to educate—the gocd characteristics. The bad she would not recognise, and by process of time the encouragement of all that was gocd and discouragement of the opposite'would help in the, making of sfron?, reliable, and efficient characters. Thus all this had to b»_ dene by play or work that was so much like play as not to be otherwise to the children The teacher's thoughts and acts count more than her words. These (the words) should be well chosen, and when they took the form of a story should convey in an interesfinj; and amusing manner some important lesson, encouraging a'love of truth, beauty, and goodness. They would acknowledge that .the intellectual development of such a teacher' should be considerable, and did they wonder thatl2 infants were as many as she should have in-charge at. one time, and. that tlw crowding of these infants into too narrow a space would mako it impossible to cfleefu-' ally 1 use this .wise and wnpiferfal-'method of :

o.ii'.u-.il.v.i? • AlVr .'ill ihey would perhaps 6a.y, Ho* wera tin! infants trained' befora the advent of these kindergarteners? She answered: By ' ■ mothers, whore the children had such goctl fortune us to have such mothers as the trained kindergartners represent. Where such mothers wore there, was the best, place for the..spiritual..development and growth of character of the child; but, unfortunately, very many mothers of to-day were too busy outside the home to attend to tho upbringing: of their children, and home-making, which, should lie considered the most important and honourable occupation for women, was being-neglected for careers which gave more immediate: returns. • The regeneration of society—social, civic, .political, and national—must begin in the home and a training that was on tho lines of a good home training was that.of the Froebel kindergarten. "Let us do all in our power to encourage and help those who are devoting their lives to this high calling." The motion was unanimously carried. • ''• FORMAL KUSINESS. '

The report, of the librarian, showing-that the average mimbsr of books ■ taken out each month..was 16, was Adopted.

Miss Gard'ner read front a, magazine Bcsttd'logi's article' on " Fro'ebcl's Kinder-garte-n." The following office-bearers were elected; President, Mrs A. S. Patorson (re-elected); vice-president, Mrs Fels; secretary, Miss I/igie; correisponditii! secretary, Miss Paterson; treasurer, i\\n> Fels; librarian. Miss Goldsmith; .'onimitlce—tjio office-bearers and Misses Alexander, Brickell,' Dutton, Ensom, 'and Finlay.