school board of Milwaukee in 1882 to inquire into the operations of the St. Louis Kindergärten, it was determined to establish a public Kindergarten in that city. In his annual address to the board for the year 1883 the president, Hon. Joshua Stark, says: The Kindergarten has during the past year been treated as part of our school syg. tem. Whether it shall be a permanent feature of the system will depend upou the wisdom and caution of future boards. That this is the irue niethod of education for children of tender years is no longer questioned, and it should not be abandoned so long as we are compelled to provide schools for infants of 4 and 5 years. It requires of the teacher, however, something more than love for children or skill in their en. tertainnent. The success and permanency of the Kindergarten, I think, depend upou the appointment of mature, intelligent, and thoroughly qualified teachers to direct them, and judicious restriction of their cost. The school board of San Francisco has from the first manifested the deepest interest in the Kindergarten. Two of the Kindergärten established in that city bave already been adopted by the board as connecting classes. At a meeting of the classification committee of the board in the present year, at the instance of Deputy Superintendent O'Counor, it was decided to recommend that a Kindergarten teacher be employed, at an expense not to exceed $20 per month, to teach the normal class the Kindergarten system, and that all substitute teachers be required to take this instruction with the normal class at least once a week. This is an important step, for it is through the normal schools that the adjustment of Fröbel's system to our pnblic schools must be made, if it is to be made at all. It was undoubtedly the recognition of this fact that led to the efforts before mentioned in reference to the introduction of a Kindergarten department in the Cook County Norial School, which department now includes a training class as well as Kindergarten. A number of the leading city superintendents have expressed themselves strongly in favor of the Kindergarten. Hon. S. A. Ellis, superintendent of schools, Rochester, N. Y., says in bis report: In several cities of the country Kindergärten have been established in connection with the public schools and under the management of the boards of education. While it would not at present be possible for this board to adopt this plan, I sincerely regret that the little ones who apply for admission to our primary grades every year are unable to have the excellent training these schools give to young children before they come to us. The work of these schools, as is well known, is largely ethical in its character, for Fröbel believed that only through careful moral training of the young could the truest and noblest types of character be formed. We may not bave the Kindergarten, but could the teachers in our primary schools catch a little of the spirit and enthusiasm of Fröbel, and make some of his methods their own, there would soon be visible all along the line of our work the signs of increased moral growth and progress. KINDERGARTEN AT MADISON. The annnal meeting of the Fröbel Institute of North America was held at Madison in July, during the session of the National Educational Association. The meetings were largely attended and great interest was manifested in the proceedings. The Kin. dergarten exhibit formed an important feature of the educational exposition at the same place. Portions of it were arranged with special reference to illustrating the possibility of union between the Kindergarten and the public school training. In addition to our own country, Japan and Switzerland were well represented. In the former country, the encouragement of Kindergärten is a noticeable feature of the recent progress in popular education. Seven of these schools were reported in 1882, and the system has obtained such favorable recognition that the following notification was issued during the present year by the education department: It being very injurious to children under school age (i. e., below 6 years) to admit them into schools and to give them the same education as children of school age, the government of each fu or ken shall cause such children to be trained according to the Kindergarten system, SECONDARY (INCLUDING PREPARATORY) INSTRUCTION. TABLE VI.-INSTITUTIONS FOR SECONDARY INSTRUCTION. The following is a comparative summary of the number of institutions for secondary instruction (exclusive of bigh schools, preparatory schools, and departments of normal schools and of institutions for superior instruction) making returns from 1874 to 1884, inclusive (1883 omitted): Yo. of institutions. 1,031 1, 143 1, 229 1, 226 1, 227 1, 236 1, 264 1, 336 Xo. of instructors 1, 482 1, 588 5, 466 6,081 5, 999 5, 963 5, 747 5, 961 6, 009 6, 489 Sa of students.... 98, 179 108, 235 106, 647 98, 371 100, 374 108,734 110,277 122, 617 138, 384 | 152, 354 7, 449 7, 023 620 $1,160 $28, 157 21, 140 5, 980 137, 408 12, 700 2, 612 21, 923 29, 550 2, 223 1, 950 160,202 3, 120 155, 503 4, 800 31, 403 8, 555 40, 543 790 18,212 1, 613 92, 550 600 5, 900 6, 025 9, 575 39, 820 52, 740 43, 718 71, 559 1, 600 11, 101 2, 244 71, 034 3, 800 17, 540 2, 515 119, 049 2, 450 25, 839 7, 147 25, 270 10, 118 99, 838 53, 983 438, 961 1,000 83, 823 8, 319 53, 464 1, 900 10, 250 981, 847 191, 225 8,000 11, 595 5, 356 24, 721 9,010 82, 988 190 40, 386 19, 927 28, 661 64, 644 936 5,800 35, 006 21 213 16 13, 103 9 2, 857 29 | 19, 809 2 3,330 25 13, 650 6 4, 350 8 8,185 4 8, 675 1 9,000 15 31, 977 75 14 5, 100 1 200 2, 650 1 150 6 5, 311 5 4,743 3 3, 833 1 630 $177, 300 $22,000 027 61, 800 772 019, 700 70,000 7,000 28,000 452, 650 122, 674 340 71, 700 598, 200 721, 500 775 190, 500 23,000 359, 869 14, 400 134, 700 40,000 1,085 550, 500 46,000 1, 796 215, 800 27, 500 312 248, 350 168, 327 776 812, 700 175, 050 4,076 3,725, 795 816, 397 1, 464 356, 820 22, 000 759 524, 555 114, 030 131 232, 200 34, 870 2, 3324, 505, 9377, 234, 098 400 597, 500 150,000 510 179, 500 584 274, 900 343,000 3,000 558, 500 14, 000 75 5,000 63,000 200 2,000 14, 000 500 189 61 59 50 46 120 243 16 6335 68 26 155 63 244 76 bi, 066 440 719 273 207 194 60 20 1632 482 50 131 153 536 426 0158 106 260 97 73 40 10 219 85 113 46 34 6, 180 800 9, 111 11, 118 1, 217 2, 100 7,000 11, 900 30, 120 4, 675 836 922 944 085, 509 43, 313 21, 938, 219 11, 351, 526 1, 246, 089 2, 395, 69 o Classification not reported in all cases. TABLE VII. — PREPARATORY SCHOOLS. Detailed statistics of preparatory schools will be found in Table VII of the appendix. The following is a comparative statement of tbe statistics of these schools as reported to the Bureau from 1874 to 1884, inclusive (1883 omitted): Number of institutions... 91 102 105 114 114 123 125 130 157 109 Number of instructors. 746 736 796 818 819 860 871 1,0411, 183 Number of students........ 11, 414 12,954 12, 369 12,510 12,538 13, 561 13, 239 13, 275 15,681 18, 319 697 TABLE VII.- Summary of stalistics of preparatory schools. a Includes students preparing for classical or scientifio course, the number included not being specified. |