the functioning of centers before their nascent In the first place, the kindergarten of the future will be true to its name, a garden of children, a place especially adapted to the nurture of children and in charge of those who understand their condition, their needs and the laws of their growth. If it is to be a garden and not a hot-house, it will generally be out-of-doors, in the sunlight and open air, among the trees and flowers, associated with the birds and animals, providing healthful conditions for the body, appropriate food for the hungry senses, abundant exercise for the growing muscles, ample scope for the imagination, and unfailing topics for stories and conversation. The health of the child will be the prime consideration, the chief aim being to develop Physical health and strength are of sufficient importance in themselves to receive most careful attention during these early years, but they assume increased importance when it is known that they are essential to the highest and best development of the intellectual and moral powers. Spontaneous activity will largely displace prescribed sedentary occupations, and large lungs, good digestion, a strong heart, and steady nerves will greatly outrank pegsticking and a meager knowledge of sphere, cylinder and cube. The kindergarten of the future will recognize the supreme importance of play in the education of the child and will provide ample time and suitable places for it. Few things seem to disturb the minds of kindergartners. so much as the suggestion of free spontaneous play, and yet nothing is so characteristic of childhood nor so potent in the general development of the child. It is by far the wisest and most efficient teacher he will ever have, because it calls into well-timed and wellmeasured action both body and mind without forcing or neglecting either. It trains the senses, exercises the muscles, stimulates the imagination, excites thought, increases knowledge, and promotes normal growth. It involves a concentration of attention, a persistency of effort, an exercise of ingenuity, and an intensity of action never secured in any other way. No school, not even a kindergarten, has yet succeeded in securing such absorbing interest, such harmonious cooperation of mind and body, and such large and lasting results. We wonder that the child does not completely exhaust himself, until we learn that the effect. of spontaneous action upon the nerve cells is very different from the effect of work, or action under the compulsion of the will. Genuine play draws only slightly upon the energy of the brain while imposed duties rapidly exhaust it. A healthy child is fatigued a hundred-fold more rapidly by enforced sitting-still than by active play of his own choosing. Much of the kindergarten play is only makebelieve, just playing play, and lacks most of the value of real play. Spontaneity and imagination are largely lacking. I refer to industrial plays, plays representing adult interests and imitating things about which the children know nothing. These bogus plays will certainly give place to the genuine plays of childhood, which are of three kinds; the frolic or telligent recognition of the end, and the end of our kindergarten training is nothing less than the complete development of the human being as a member of society. The kindergarten cause has advanced through the recognition of this end of education, which it shares, in common with other educators. Nothing is more significant today in the kindergarten world than the desire to demonstrate more truly the Froebelian ideals of education involved in the word "kindergarten." The Pilgrimage to the land of Froebel means a desire to come anew under the influences which gave this system of child nurture to the world. That great, mysterious force of contact of spirit with spirit is the secret of inspiration and development. The spirit of a great man and the influence. of his work can best be felt when we stand amid the scenes which he looked upon and where his life work was wrought. The future of the kindergarten is not to be a further development of technicalities, nor of elaboration of materials, but a return to the simple creed of its founder, that a child is like a plant in a garden, needing understanding care and guidance and simple conditions of living which shall ensure the best fruits for human life-and so, not a "subprimary," nor "open-air school" but "Kindergarten" shall it be! We must judge children by their efforts and not by their productions. The child born with clumsy fingers, probably tries as hard as his little neighbor who does everything well, and he therefore needs encouragement and commendation, instead of comparison with others. to his disadvantage.-Froebel's Occupations. "Blessed is the man who never forgets that when he was a boy he spake as a boy, he understood as a boy, he thought as a boy, and who does not expect boys to put away boyish things until they become men.” "It takes more than a gun to hit a targetand more than ammunition. A wobbling hand wastes a good bullet-a wavering aim must miss." Every word has only the meaning which its hearers can receive; you cannot express honor to the shameless nor love to the unloving THE KINDERGARTEN OF THE FUTURE. (Frank Edson Parlin, Superintendent, Cambridge, Mass.) Some of us, who appreciate the genius of Froebel and heartily approve most of his fundamental principles of education, believe the orthodox kindergarten is neither sacred nor perfect, that the position of the conservative kindergartners is both unwise and untenable. that they emphasize the most defective parts of Froebel's system and forget his most vital and valuable principles. We insist that we are not only true friends of the children but of the kindergarten, but friends who sincerely believe radical changes are desirable and absolutely imperative, if the kindergarten is to survive. Kindergartners need to study something besides the writings of Froebel, and to study Froebel anew in the light of modern knowledge of the child. If Froebel were living and familiar with the results of modern research dealing with the growth, development and education of the child, he would be one of the most severe critics of many of his own methods and much of our practice. To imitate Froebel blindly as though he were infallible is no more wise than to follow in like manner the teachings of the leading chemists. or physicians of the eighteenth century. He was wise for his time but not for all time. It matters not how old or systematic or aesthetic our theories of the child's education may be, if they are in conflict with the fundamental laws of his growth and development, they are simply wrong and must be abandoned. In the kindergarten, the laws of the child's physical growth and development, especially the growth and development of his nervous system, must determine the time and the method of his training, for the brain is not only the chief organ of the mind but of the body and of life. At birth the child has as many brain cells as he will ever have, but they are at very different stages of development and will require widely varying periods and conditions to mature. The brain does not develop symmetrically as a whole but in spots, and there is an invariable sequence in the order of its functioning. Nature's order is always from the lower to the higher forms, the higher being conditioned upon the lower, and she allows no departure from her order and time without exacting severe penalties. If, in our the functioning of centers before their nascent period, nature responds as well as she can and we secure certain precocious results; but the premature development always falls short of the normal and results in a case of arrested development. Moreover, we interfere with the development of both the centers below and those above, and so dwarf the possibilities of that brain and actually diminish the sum of human power. At birth, the only organized. centers are those controlling the general sensibilities, the vital functions and certain reflex movements. After birth, the sensory and motor centers are the first to develop, rapidly at first and then more slowly up to maturity. The lower intellectual organization and language center follow, and the higher intellectual and moral development come much later. At the kindergarten age, the child's brain is very immature and entirely unprepared for most of the intellectual work now required. It is ready for sensory, motor, and language training only. These centers should be freely exercised up to the point of fatigue, but not to exhaustion, for it is only by such exercise that nascent cells can be developed to their maximum capacity. The theory of an allround symmetrical education for young children is in direct conflict with the laws of their growth. Nature strongly emphasizes one thing at a time, the rest being incidental and supplementary. In our short-sighted anxiety to transform young children into little men and women we do at great labor and cost much needless and even harmful work. It cannot be insisted upon too strongly that the condition of the child must determine the character of the kindergarten. Physical health and strength are of sufficient importance in themselves to receive most careful attention during these early years, but they assume increased importance when it is known that they are essential to the highest and best development of the intellectual and moral powers. Spontaneous activity will largely displace prescribed sedentary occupations, and large lungs, good digestion, a strong heart, and steady nerves will greatly outrank pegsticking and a meager knowledge of sphere, cylinder and cube. The kindergarten of the future will recognize the supreme importance of play in the education of the child and will provide ample time and suitable places for it. Few things seem to disturb the minds of kindergartners so much as the suggestion of free spontaneous play, and yet nothing is so characteristic of childhood nor so potent in the general development of the child. It is by far the wisest and most efficient teacher he will ever have, because it calls into well-timed and wellmeasured action both body and mind without forcing or neglecting either. It trains the senses, exercises the muscles, stimulates the imagination, excites thought, increases knowledge, and promotes normal growth. It involves a concentration of attention, a persistency of effort, an exercise of ingenuity, and an intensity of action never secured in any other way. No school, not even a kindergarten, has yet succeeded in securing such absorbing interest, such harmonious cooperation of mind. and body, and such large and lasting results. We wonder that the child does not completely exhaust himself, until we learn that the effect of spontaneous action upon the nerve cells is very different from the effect of work, or action under the compulsion of the will. Genuine play draws only slightly upon the energy of the brain while imposed duties rapidly exhaust it. A healthy child is fatigued a hundred-fold more rapidly by enforced sitting-still than by active play of his own choosing. Much of the kindergarten play is only makebelieve, just playing play, and lacks most of the value of real play. Spontaneity and imagination are largely lacking. I refer to industrial plays, plays representing adult interests and imitating things about which the children know nothing. These bogus plays will certainly give place to the genuine plays of childhood, which are of three kinds; the frolic or aimless capering and laughing due to an over In the first place, the kindergarten of the future will be true to its name, a garden of children, a place especially adapted to the nurture of children and in charge of those who understand their condition, their needs and the laws of their growth. If it is to be a garden and not a hot-house, it will generally be out-of-doors, in the sunlight and open air, among the trees and flowers, associated with the birds and animals, providing healthful conditions for the body, appropriate food for the hungry senses, abundant exercise for the growing muscles, ample scope for the imagination, and unfailing topics for stories and conversation. The health of the child will be the prime consideration, the chief aim being to develop a strong, well-organized body to serve later as dividual play, in which each child follows his own choice, working out his own devices, and imitating scenes from his own observation; and the group plays in which all play together. The frolic is nature's safety valve. It may be somewhat noisy but it reduces the tension, distributes the circulation, and wakes up the whole body. The free imaginative play is more quiet, but, from an educational point of view, most valuable. For it there should be a large collection of all kinds of simple playthings. The ideal place is by the side of a large rock or under a big low-branching tree. In this kind of play no direction is needed, only unobtrusive oversight with now and then a little sympathetic cooperation by one who will be learner rather than teacher and who will not shatter the child's world of imagination by injecting ideas from the adult world of fact. Here let the child test, plan, construct, tear down, and make himself lord of his little domain. After a while there is need of play which will change the emphasis from mental to physical activity, and the old hide and seek, run and catch, circle and singing games are best. Our kindergarten will surely associate childhood with the myriad forms and voices of nature. The animals and birds, and trees and flowers, the clouds and winds speak to the child as they will never speak to him again. The spirit of nature calls to the fresh spirit of the child to know her and to love her. This is his golden period for gathering through his senses a stock of elementary ideas. The time for classified knowledge and scientific thought comes later. Now is the time for harvesting the materials of thought-sense and motor impressions. The country provides the most natural food for the mind of the child; without it, it is difficult to secure a normal development. "God made the country, but man made the town." One is the created world, the other the manufactured world. The ideas from one are general and standard, those from the other, individual and special. The sensations from the city differ from those of the country both in kind and in quality. They are man-made, too obtrusive and noisy. They shout to the senses of the child and tend to confuse, over-stimulate and tire him. They come too fast, present too many details, and do not give sufficient time for reaction. Nature presents objects and forces more quietly and harmoniously. She little investigator can observe and experiment without distractions. She neither gorges nor starves him but gives him each day his daily bread. Her influence seems to develop rather than to ripen him, to implant the germs of wisdom rather than of smartness. To starve the senses in childhood is to dwarf the intellect in manhood and to impoverish life. Our kindergarten children should also see the works of man and man at his work— locomotives, fire engines, boats, and beautiful buildings; the carpenter, mason, farmer, and blacksmith; policeman, fireman, boot-black, and newsboy; trench-digging, road-making, street-cleaning, and house-building; in fact, every place and everything within the radius of their safe and possible observation. They should see the materials, the processes, and the results. Therefore, the home of our kindergarten will be near the large parks or in the outskirts of the city, and means of transportation will be provided so the children may have both rural and urban experiences. The kindergarten of the future will give much attention to oral language training, the children doing most of the talking. After new discoveries and new experiences, they will be encouraged to tell about them as directly and as clearly as they can, being allowed to use. gestures freely to aid their thinking and expression. The kindergartner will listen patiently, explain clearly, and answer truly. It is a peculiar fact that the language center of the brain develops in connection with the hand most used in acquiring thought or in expressing it, being located in the left hemisphere of right-handed persons and in the right hemisphere of the left-handed. The language. training must necessarily be largely individual, each child having frequent opportunities to tell. the story of his experiences and to ask his questions. The most profitable language exercise for the acquisition of language power is the one in which the child tries hardest to give adequate oral expression to his own thought. Of course the kindergartners will continue to tell the children the old favorite stories, which have stood the test of ages, and will teach the choicest selections from children's poetry. In fact, they will give much more attention to the art of story-telling. They will not only learn a large number of the very best stories for children, representing all sorts of conditions, appealing to all of the wholesome sons; but they will study to tell each story in the most appropriate words, tone and rate of speaking, with just the right emphasis, gesture and facial expression. They will carefully note the prevailing mental condition, or state of feeling of the class, and selecting a story to match it, will, after seeing that every child is in a comfortable and attentive attitude, tell the story in the most vivid, charming and effective manner. Having completed the story, they will not immediately proceed to something else, but will give the children time to think, to recover somewhat from the spell, to talk it over and to ask questions, which should always be answered intelligently, in harmony with the spirit of the story, and, as far as possible, in its very words. Whenever a story is retold, it should be in the same words and manner as at first. After the children are familiar with it, some child may tell it instead of the teacher. This will finally lead to the acting or dramatizing of some simple stories. But what will the kindergarten of the future do on cold and stormy days? When the weather drives the children indoors, they will go to a large, well-lighted and well-ventilated room, fringed with a row of seats and furnished with a piano, picture and story books, and all sorts of playthings. The Froebelian gifts with their formal lessons, their abstract ideas, and their poor mathematics, will be found only as building-blocks. The children will dance, play games, sing songs, and tell stories; they will test, invent, construct, and carry on all the bustling business of a Lilliputian world. The kindergartners of the future will be a most important factor in the community and in the lives of the children. She will have a healthy, well-trained body; a quick, sensible, and versatile mind; and, above all, a great warm motherly heart. She will be the friend, companion, and guide of the children. She will really and truly love them and understand. them not only sympathetically but scientifically, the laws of their growth, the order of their development, their instincts and interests, their physical needs and mental requirements. She will know and love nature, be able to recognize the trees, identify the flowers, call the birds by name, and tell the story of the hills and stones. She will know the best plays and games, the best childhood songs and be able to sing them, the children's ingly and always in the same way. She will be able to run, throw a ball, roll a hoop, skip a rope, make a whistle, steer a sled, and do all the other things which little folks expect of their grown-up friends. Finally, the kindergarten of the future will respect the individuality and spontaneity of the child and give ample scope for his imagination and initiative. It will provide an environment rich in its opportunity, inspiring in its suggestion, wholesome in its influence; but will give far less attention to regular programs, formal instruction, and sedentary occupations. It will be more of a nursery and less of a school. It will stand for the rights of the child; the right to healthy normal growth; the right to play in the open air and sunshine; the right to see something of the works of God and the ways of men; the right to be a child, to think as a child, to speak as a child, to understand as a child, in order that, when he becomes a man, he may put away childish things and be as much of a man as possible. LUCY GAINS INSPIRATION. UNA LOUISE GILLETTE. Lucy Reynolds shivered as though a cold blast had suddenly struck her, but it was only the Supervisor who opened the door, and advanced into the room with that superior air which only the mighty know so well how to assume. Lucy had a sickening feeling of dread as she rose from her desk but she returned the frosty smile bravely and turned with feverish haste to the children, as though in some way they could help her to establish a sympathetic relation between herself and the Supervisor. "Your teaching is full of sentimentality," remarked the Supervisor at the end of the session. "Mothers make the same mistake the world over! Less feeling! More scientific training is the need of our homes as well as our schools!" Commenting thus scathingly on the sad deficiencies of mother-kind, Miss Johnston settled her eye-glasses the more firmly on her thin nose and looked coldly and disapprovingly at some drawings of trees, made by the children, which decorated the blackboard. "What are those?" she demanded icily. Lucy answered as best she could. "Ah!" remarked the lady, with meaning. The girl's frail figure trembled, nervously she clasped and unclasped |