school board of Milwaukee in 1882 to inquire into the operations of the St. Louis The Kindergarten has during the past year been treated as part of our school sys tem. Whether it shall be a permanent feature of the system will depend upon the wisdom and caution of future boards. That this is the true method 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 entertainment. The success and permanency of the Kindergarten, I think, depend upon 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 have 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'Connor, 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 public 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 Normal 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 his 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 have 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 annual 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 Kindergarten 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 high schools, preparatory schools, and departments of normal schools and of institutions for superior instruction) making returns from 1874 to 1884, inclusive (1883 omitted): 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 the statistics of these schools as reported to the Bureau from 1874 to 1884, inclusive (1883 omitted): 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. 1881. 1882. 1884. 697. 746 736 Number of instructors.. TABLE VII.— Summary of statistics of preparatory schools. 114 114 123 860 871 a Includes students preparing for classical or scientific course, the number included not being specified. |