PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION.

Shannon News, 6 November 1925, Page 3

PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION.

AN INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT. During' her sojourn in Scotland, Dr. ElizaneUi Bryson, of Levin, attended several of the conferences held in Edinburgh by the Congress of the Work! Federation of Education Associations. The subjects brought up for discussion are international in their application, but .although certain ol tiie methods outlined and suggested below have, been carries' into effect by the education authorities of New Zealand, there are still many people^who have no clear conception of what, is being accomplished in other parts of tilt,, world.

During the sitting of the conference it was urged that, .in view ot the supreme importance of the first years of childhood, provision should be made in every educational system for a specialised education suitable to the needs of the pre-school period. Such education, whether given iij the home or in groups, would Include the formation of desirable physical habits, mental attitudes and character traits in an environment conducive to freedom, health and joy of living. Perseus specially trained, both on the mental anti physical sides, would be in charge ol this education, in close co-operation with the parents, and since the welfare of every nation depends upon the full development of its children, public funds should be available for Ihis purpose. In both England and the United States nursery schools were achieving wonderful''results because the training was being carried out in a logical way, the period of this foundation-educa-tion being from the age of two- up to the time the child is seven years old. A fine example of what can be accomplished by such schools, was supplied by a delegate Ivi.m Manchester, England, who had personally trained a large number of children taken from the slums. She slated that the average child dealt witn had, at the age of seven years, developed into a perfectly normal well-made child, eager for life and new experiences and mentally alert. It could read and spell perfectly, or almost so, and also wrote well and easily expressed itself, both in English and French, it was also quite a common occurrence for siicli children to count, measure, design and have a grounding in science. hither the nursery school would become a paltry thing or else it would soon influence not only the elementary schools, but also the secondary. It will provide a new kind ol child to be educated, and this must react sooner or later, not only on all the schools, but the whole* social life and government of our international relationships. CHILDREN AND FEAR.

One speaker, Miss cle Lissa, Principal of the Gipsy Hill (London) Training College, indicated ihe lines upon which the training of nursery school teachers might he developed. No longer was the child regarded as a vessel to be filled, but as a force to be directed, and since the teachers were to work with living and growing things, the basis "of all study must be investigation into the nature of these living organisms, and that study should extend to pre-natal life. * Speaking of the effects of fear upon the child, she said it lowered vitality, depressed the circulation, and caused real physical degeneracy. Fears must he rigorously excluded from the environment of the child. What used to be done by fear must be done by love. Teachers in America are now receiving at least, three months’ training in tbe nursing of sick children, while there was every likelihood ol similar conditions being enforced in Great Britain. PARENTS AND TRADITION.

Miss Murphy, of Chicago, said that the physical condition of the children was, in a degree, due to the intelligence in the home. The open-air schools of her city had in the initial stages, produced discouraging results because of file home conditions, but parent groups have now been established throughout the U.S.A. in order to stimulate an interest in child training, both educationally and physically. The upshot was that parents were being made to realise that their children were living in the world of tomorrow, and not in the world of the parents’ traditions. HYGIENE.

The old methods of teaching hygiene were, said another speaker, proved to be ineffective. Nowadays, it was the aim of teachers to show children “how to live,”' as the Americans expressed it, and to that- end the students were obliged to live up to the hygiene they taught. A most dfisiiable condition was that of encouragincr to eat more and more of the food that was good for them, instead ol that which took their fancy, or was easy to get. The trouble in regard to the'nutrition of some children was that habits for ill-health were ol en formed in the home, leaching the children how to five is equally important as teaching them to wide and read, but parental ignorance has to be overcome, and it was sug b • _ that eating in groups was one o , simplest methods in the formation good habits. In the group a child would eat food that he scorned a home, and school luncheons formed one of the best methods of educating children to eat the right food.