It rained constantly, and one day, to her great surprise when she stepped to the window, she saw that the tree and the window sill were covered with snow. She opened the window, in order to scatter, as usual, crumbs of bread for the little birds that lived in the tree. But, what did she see? A poor little bird with its eyes closed, and quite cold. "Poor little bird!" she exclaimed, taking it in her little hand, and breathing upon it in order to warm it. Then she ran to mamma crying, "Look, mamma, what I have found! I fear it is dead." And her mamma went immediately to get some cotton, with which she made a soft warm nest for the poor little bird. Gradually the little bird began to get warm and opened its little eyes. Then it began to eat, and at last to hop around the room. Little Mary, full of joy, ran to get a cage, put the little bird in it, saying, "Now this will be your little house, and I shall be your little mamma, for it is cold out of doors, and it rains." From that day he was little Mary's friend. Every morning he woke her with his song, and Mary from her little bed wished him "good morning." After the winter came the spring. The trees began to put forth new leaves, and the little birds began to build nests among the branches. But Mary's little friend was still in his cage. He heard the songs of the other birds and saw them flying about. He, too, would have liked to be with them in the open air, and he became sad and stopped singing. Mary noticed this, and one beautiful day she opened the cage, gave a last kiss to the little bird and let him fly away. The happy little bird flew to the tree opposite the window and there began to sing with all his might. Every morning after that he pecked at the window to greet his little Mary. After the story the children imitate the little birds in their games. When they return to their tables they build with cubes and bricks the little bed in which Mary slept, the window on which the little bird was found, the garden and the tree covered with snowflakes are made in the sand table. The little balls are made to fly like the little birds; they are caught in the hands, as Mary did the little bird, etc. Thus every occupation is related in some way to the little story. The various occupations may be seen in the time-table, which, however, is subject to all kinds of occasional variations, depending on the seasons, on the events of daily life, and on the phenomena of nature. The chief purpose of the teacher should be to make the children happy, to lead them insensibly to the good and to secure the natural development of their natures. SILVIA BRASSIELO. The majority of the children of my class were prepared in the first class. Hence they are led much in the same manner, especially during the first part of the scholastic year. I aim, above all, to make my children happy and good, and as I notice their powers growing I require more prolonged attention, greater precision in the work, more promptness of obedience, indeed, progress in every respect. The garden with its flowers, with the plants, with the animals, and the fountain, furnish material for the subject of the week, which is introduced much in the same manner as in the first class, but at every point tending to lift the children to the higher plane of the third class. Furthermore, I seek to make the children familiar with industrial life, more particularly with the arts and trades that affect their own existence, in order to get them to feel their dependence and to awaken in their hearts the sentiment of gratitude. Certain occupations, too difficult for the first part of the year, I take up after New Year or toward Easter. This is the case with drawing and perforating, which require a steady hand and greater attention. The gymnastic games are carried on in this class more systematically. Thus in marching I aim to secure more precision and agility in the movements. To this are added the ball games in the open air. This does not exclude, however, the free running and playing in the garden which affords me an opportunity to observe my children and to study their temperaments. In the proper season there is added the occupation of gardening, which is much enjoyed by the children, and affords opportunities for observing the development of the common herbs and vegetables. Finally, by means of the observation of nature, I seek to lead the children gradually to the recognition of the Creator, to lead them to love Him and to be thankful to Him. CARUSIO ELMINDA. Third class. In his kindergarten, Froebel has created an environment where the child can develop harmoniously its physical, moral, and intellectual powers. I. The gymnastic exercises, the games, songs, the free plays in the garden strengthen the physical powers of the child, and secure to him that condition or health so indispensable to his normal development. II. Love is a fountain which must be reached in the education of the child. All in the kindergarten is love; love of the teacher for the children, of the children among themselves, and for their other mamma. This love should extend to all within the reach of these little ones and find fresh food in intercourse with nature. To let the child live in nature is one of Froebel's fundamental ideas. To make the flowers speak, as well as the bird and its little ones, and the meanest worm, to endow them with a soul, with affections and feelings, while the child is near, so that he may love and respect them-this is the great secret. The world of the little child should teem with love, and he is happy when, with the teacher's help, he apprehends this life. Respectful and loving intercourse with nature are, then, the cardinal points of the child's moral education. He becomes good through contact with nature. This is true everywhere, but has especial value for our city of Naples, where as a rule there is little interest in nature and little sympathy for lower animals. III. All the occupations, in a general way, strengthen and develop the intellectual faculties. In the work with these the teacher should proceed from the easy to the difficult, without leaps, without omission, so that each new knowledge may be prepared by its predecessor. It is needful, besides, to present to the child known objects, to enlarge the number of the sensations he receives from these objects, so that he may form accurate perceptions. All teaching should tend to establish habits of order, of accuracy, of neatness, and nourish in the child the sentiments of the beautiful and the good. In his work the child should experience a sense of gratification that makes him love his work. In his occupations the child is, at first, directed by the teacher; subsequently he invents for himself. In this lies the chief value of the occupation; for it is creative work that gives strength of mind and engages all its powers, and enables it to feel, as it were, its own value. My class, being the third of the kindergarten, forms the bridge from the kindergarten to the school. Here the children are to be prepared to become good scholars. Hence, certain occupations become more important than others. Such are drawing, number and language exercises, the discussion of objects, and preparation for writing. The conversations tend to enlarge the ideas, to increase the knowledge of the child, as well as to give him conscious control of his speech. Having selected a subject of conversation, I let the children make many short sentences about it. If I have spoken, for instance, of a dog whom I named Fido, I let the children tell me all that Fido can do. "Fido eats; Fido drinks; etc." I let the children see clearly that when I say Fido sleeps, I do not mean that he runs; and that when I call Fido, I do not mean Julius. I aim to impress upon the children that each word corresponds with a thing, an action, etc., and that everything has its own name. When they have appreciated the full word, I let them break it up in syllables, and finally in these various syllables I let them find the various sounds, leaving to the school the work of continuing this study on the synthetic side. Of equal importance are the first number exercises from 1 to 10, always in the form of play, and keeping away from all abstract work. I let my children count numbers of things. These exercises constitute mental gymnastics, and of much value if care is taken to avoid premature considerations of abstract work. I add to these general remarks a time-table which will show how the various subjects are distributed. ELVIRI CERBONI. Reception of the children, conversation, and inspection of class room. Review of in 9 to 9:30...... 9:30 to 10..... Story 10 to 10:30. Object-lesson... Rhymes, adapted Building.. cidents of the week. Paper cutting. Tablets or Interlacing. rings. Out-door walks, songs, and gymnastic exercises. 10:30 to 11:30. Building or clay, Perforating... Folding.. 11:30 to 12.. 12 to 1 110 1:30 1:30 to 2:15. 2:15 to 2:45. 2:45 to 3 according to story. Songs and games, and preparations for luncheon. Return to the class room, preparation of lesson, and distribution of material. Weaving.. Paper cutting Games... Dismissal. Sticks Embroidery Drawing. VI.-ENGLAND. The first deliberate efforts in behalf of infant education in England date back to the philanthropic work of Robert Owen at New Lanark. For the benefit of the poor people whose interests he had made his own, he established in connection with his schools a preparatory department or "training school," to which children were admitted at the age of 3. Here they were "perpetually superintended to prevent their acquiring bad habits, to give them good ones, and to form their dispositions to mutual kindness and a sincere desire to contribute all in their power to benefit each other." The first teacher employed by Robert Owen in this work was Buchanan. Buchanan's work attracted general attention, and in 1819 he was called to Westminster, where he established a similar school under the auspices of Brougham, James Mill, Macaulay, and others. In 1820 a similar school was opened at Spitalfields and placed in charge of Wilderspin. Wilderspin was an educational genius. To him is due the name infant school, as well as the general and abiding impetus to the work which led to the establishment of the Home and Colonial Infant School Society, and made infant training a prominent feature of the work of the British and Foreign School Society. The Home and Colonial Infant School Society was founded in 1836 for the purpose of improving and extending the existing system of infant schools. With the aid of Miss Mayo and Robert Dunning they accomplished much good. They sent into the field many well-trained teachers; they arrested the further growth of the "prodigy system" of precocious forcing, which was making sad havoc of child-like modesty and innocence; they placed their work broadly on Pestalozzianism; they established the practice of grading children for purposes of instruction, and abolished the gallery system, and banished arbitrariness and bitterness from their modes of discipline. In the course of time they admitted some kindergarten practices into their work, but left the honor of establishing the full kindergarten to the older British and Foreign School Society. This society had been established in 1808 as an outcome of efforts on the part of a number of philanthropists to aid Joseph Lancaster in his efforts to establish free schools, i. e., schools "open to all, without distinction of sect or party." To this purpose the society has faithfully adhered to this day. Indeed, the development of popular education in Great Britain is largely, if not wholly, the work of this society. The names of Brougham and Graham, of Althorp and Russell, of Forster and Mundella, are prominently connected with its labors. In order to accomplish its object, the society maintained a number of central model and experimental schools; established colleges for the training of teachers; employed agents. and inspectors whose duty it was "to visit and inspect British schools, confer with local committees, aid in the establishment of new schools, deliver lectures, hold parents' meetings, and in various ways help forward the work of popular education"; supplied schoolbooks and school material, and kept a watchful eye to aid sound educational development. In the fall of 1874, Sir Charles Reed, acting under the society's instructions, engaged Miss Eleanor Heerwart to inaugurate the kindergarten work in the Stockwell Training College. In addition to the classes of senior and junior students, a class was formed for teachers, meeting once a week, and a class for pupil-teachers, four times a week; a specimen kindergarten was established, the children being taught two hours each Saturday morning. (Seventieth Report.) The soil had been well prepared for the favorable reception of really good work. Miss Barton, Madame Michaelis, Miss Manning, Madame de Portugall, Prof. Payne, and others had already done much to show the value of the kindergarten. Miss Heerwart herself had successfully conducted a kindergarten in Dublin since 1862, and had proved her unusual ability as a teacher and as an apostle of Froebel in many other ways. Rev. J. R. Byrne, one of the inspectors of the British and Foreign School Society, had given special attention to "the value of the kindergarten system as a means of education in infant schools." He had reported concerning it in terms of unqualified approval. "Notwithstanding its foreign name," he says in his report, "there is no 'fad' or gammon about it whatever. It is as English, common-sense, practical, as they could wish it to be who prize these qualities above everything else. I naturally, as an inspector, valne highly whatever conduces most to making children 'pass' in the standards, and I find that this kind of thing makes them pass. Not only do they become brighter and happier under it, but their progress in ordinary schoolwork is all the more sure and rapid." The work under Miss Heerwart's direction proved so prosperous that in 1876 permanent premises had to be provided, and additional kindergarten classes were established. In 1882 there were five such classes, two kindergartens proper, one "transition class," and two advanced "kindergarten school" classes. The society's report for this year says that "those who have visited either of the kindergartens and seen the life and happiness and progress of the children will not need to be assured that the experiment has been successful." The same report congratulates the society on the fact that the "education department, whose vice-president has more than once seen something of the work at Stockwell, has introduced into the code a clause requiring that infant schools must make provision for appropriate and varied occupations' in order to obtain the next grant." At the same time the executive committee reported that "no better use could be made of the new college at Saffron Walden than for the training of infant schoolmistresses on kindergarten principles. " In 1883 Miss Heerwart retired from her work. The Stockwell kindergarten establishment was strong enough to be transferred to private hands, and the society was enabled to give its entire attention in this direction to the new Saffron Walden Training College. Up to July, 1883, 42 students had received practical training in a two years' course, besides 47 others who had received a partial course, and 92 mothers, nurses, and acting teachers who had attended the evening classes. (Seventy-ninth Report.) The last distribution of certificates to students who had successfully finished their two years' course at the Stockwell college was made the occasion of most gratifying testimony to Miss Heerwart's efficiency. The certificates were presented by Mrs. Forster, Dr. Arnold's daughter, and Matthew Arnold gave words to her gratification. Mr. Alfred Bourne presented Miss Heerwart with a beautifully illuminated address of appreciation, a number of photographs, a gold watch and chain. The address bore the signatures of Forster, Mundella, Miss Shireff, and others. Mr. Fitch had sent in his tribute of respect in a letter in which he attributes to the diffusion of Froebel's principles by Stockwell and Miss Heerwart "the improved tone and spirit of our infant schools." Nor did all these changes entail the abrogation of kindergarten work in the Stockwell schools. In the practicing schools of the institution it continued to flourish under excellent teachers, and subsequently one of these took up with a number of students a course of instruction "in the life and principles of Froebel and the different branches of kindergarten work." The establishment of Saffron Walden Training College is due to the munificence of George Stacey Gibson, who gave the society for this purpose a site of 2 acres and £10,500. This sum was subsequently increased by gifts from other sources. The college was opened in the spring of 1881 with suitable ceremonies and dedicated to its purpose of training teachers for infant schools. It began its work with 30 students. In 1889 it counted 50 resident students. Of the 161 who had attended up to this date only 12 had left after less than two years of residence. Among other factors that led to the establishment of higher standards in infant education the London Froebel Society occupies a prominent place. I regret exceedingly that I have failed to obtain sufficient data concerning its early history. It was formed in 1874 "for the purpose of promoting cooperation among those engaged in kindergarten work, of spreading the knowledge and practice of the system, and of maintaining a high standard of efficiency among kindergarten teachers." These objects the society seeks to accomplish by lectures, discussions, public meetings, publications, the examination of students and the granting of certificates to the deserving, the inspection and registration of kindergartens, and other similar methods. Miss Shireff is president of the society. Among its vice-presidents are Mr. Fitch, Prof. Meiklejohn, Mme. Schwabe, Miss Heerwart. From its organization to 1890 it conferred certificates upon 219 kindergartens. In this work of exami tion of teachers it is joined by the Kindergarten Company, of Bedford, and with this constitutes the National Froebel Union. Candidates for examination must first pass a preliminary examination in the analysis of easy sentences, in essay or letter writing, in English history, in geography, and arithmetic. Candidates who have passed this preliminary examination and who are not under the age of 17 may acquire the elementary certificate on passing an examination in the biographies, principles, and methods of Froebel and Pestalozzi; in a general knowledge of plants, animals, the physical facts in nature, and the simple facts of health; in kindergarten gifts and occupations; in music and singing; in class teaching and drawing. A more extended examination in geometry, algebra, physiography, physics, chemistry of common life, botany, zoölogy, music, gifts and occupations, history of education and theory of education must be passed in order to obtain the higher certificate. The value of this work of examination on the part of the Froebel Union seems to be quite generally conceded. In 1887, 73 candidates presented themselves for examination; this number in 1888 increased to 128, and in 1889 to 169 candidates. This increase becomes still more significant when it is remembered that each candidate pays an examination fee of one guinea for the elementary and higher certificates, or 108. for the preliminary certificate. Nor are these examinations confined to kindergartners, but are more and more sought by elementary teachers and their employers. Since 1888 the society has furnished the London school board "an examiner in the theory of kindergarten teaching." The society does not control the preparation of candidates for the work of examination, yet it prefers that those who present themselves should have attended some properly constituted training college. Even with reference to the annual course of lectures held by the society, it is distinctly stated that "these lectures are intended to help students prepare for the elementary certificate examination, but do not dispense with the necessity of regular training and instruction in these subjects." Fortunately, England is thoroughly alive to the necessity of providing infant schools for the children of the people. In 1874 the number of children under 6 years of age on the registers of the schools receiving grants from the education department was 617,910. In 1884 this number had risen to 841,128, an increase of 36 per cent in ten years. At the same rate of increase 1894 would yield a list of 1,143,924. Yet, inasmuch as England has just entered into the high tide of the popular education movement, this number will probably be very much larger. Fortunately, too, the kindergarten movement has been in the hands of thoughtful and competent persons, who, while they know how to take into account popular demands and even prejudices, know also how to keep the work steadily in the direction of progress. Foremost among these is Rev. Alfred Bourne, the efficient secretary of the British and Foreign School Society; Miss Eleanor Heerwart, Miss Manning, Miss Snell, Madame Michaelis, Mr. A. H. Sonnenschein, Miss Shireff, Miss Bayley, and Miss Lord. While, therefore, there is much schoolishness even in the good kindergartens, there is throughout the Kingdom-because of the efficiency of these kindergartens in preparing children for the work of the school-a growing demand not only for the adoption of kindergarten ways and means in the infant schools, but for the employment, in elementary schools, of teachers who are familiar with the theory of Froebel. The extent and character of the schoolishness in the English infants' schools and kindergartens will be apparent from the time-tables published in the appendix. The time-tables will show the gradual inflow of the kindergarten spirit both in the infant schools and kindergartens, and clearly prophesy the coming victory of child nature over school or, rather, over the subject of instruction. The same gratifying fact is apparent from a number of utterances by leading persons. Thus in the noteworthy conference on education during the international health exhibition at South Kensington, in 1884, Mr. Severn, an enthusiastic admirer of the kindergarten, spoke in glowing terms of a star play he had witnessed in a South Kensington school where his own children were taught. "The game in question was called 'Our Solar System.' A boy, big for his age, and with a radiant face, represented the sun. He held a high pole in his hand at the top of which silk ribbons were fixed, of different lengths, to represent the relative distances of the planets from the sun. In reply to the question as to which planet was the nearest, all responded at once 'Mercury,' and the happy throng of about 30 or 40 children arranged in a circle sang a verse descriptive of the planet. A little Mercury then stepped up to the pole and, taking the shortest ribbon, revolved around the radiant orb of day. Miss W. then asked which was the next planet, and they all answered Venus' without the slightest difficulty; his own pretty little girl revolved around the sun, with the next longest ribbon, in her proper orbit. Then came Earth and |