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to appeal to him. Among these is the inclination to collect things, a form of activity both mental and physical. Given the proper stimulus, i. e., the one that appeals to the child as an individual, and this tendency to collect may result in work of huge proportions. If the tendency, as frequently happens, be merely the collection of any objects whatsoever, simply the gathering together of material, then it is the kindergartner's privilege and duty to provide material of educative value or to lead the child to find it for himself. The child thus directed becomes a changed being simply thru the utilization of his motive for work, which was a crude, uncultivated, restlessness forcing him to act in a certain ill-defined, but positive way.

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Lacking almost entirely the knowledge and content of words, it is no wonder that the child ideas are largely composed of symbols of a different kind. They seek for expression of their ideas, however, quite as eagerly as do children of a larger growth, but more emphatically than they in the form of dramatization. It is only thru their bodies that they can make themselves clearly understood. It is only thru the bodily actions of others that they are able fully to understand them. The same sort of irrepressible energy that impels them almost constantly merely to move impels them frequently to move in living pictures. Life is a medley of disconnected incidents. The desire to set forth the incidents experienced is all-forceful. Surely it is not necessary to point how eagerly the kindergartner seizes upon this tendency to accomplish work. The child in the kindergarten who has been permitted to work with ideas in this way knows far better how to work with them in a more abstract form when he is ready to step forth into the larger world of word ideas. Who shall say which form of work is the more valuable in bringing about desirable change? In fact, the change wrought in a child's mental and ethical nature by work done in wisely selected drama can hardly be estimated, and its value can hardly be overestimated. Again we find the motive for work emanating from the child himself.

Not only is the kindergarten child interested in his own action and that of his fellows, but all that moves holds him a willing captive. He unconsciously stretches forth his hands to the flying bird, imitates the motion of the running horse, or follows to its hiding place the shy rabbit. All living, moving things wield a power over him. It is not that he wishes to attend; he must attend. And so the kindergarten is filled with live animals, the living-conditions of which are as nearly as possible like those of their free brothers; or, better still, the children and animals live together in a veritable out-of-door kindergarten-permissible in many parts of our country-and are taken frequently from their own little garden out into the larger one of the adjoining bit of world. Who can ever hope to trace the changes in brain-cell patterns that must result? The motive supplied by the child himself, intense active interest in living, moving animals, the kindergartner obtains, in addition to actual knowledge of animal life, increased sympathy, respect, pity, tenderness, love for, and actual care of, animals involving various forms of

mental and physical work. The motive for work is once more child

born.

Sometimes two tendencies-two motives of action or work of opposite types are made to co-operate admirably. There is in all animals-and the human being is no exception-the instinct for self-preservation, expressing itself often in young children in a kind of aggressive self-defense exercised without necessary provocation. We say the child likes to fight. There is also prominent in most children the parental or protective trait as shown in love for and care of babies, dolls, animals, "teddy bears," etc. The desire to fight can certainly also be traced to this origin. The kindergartner simply directs the tendency into its proper channel. The kindergarten child who involuntarily flushes and clenches his small fists when he sees an animal cruelly hurt or a weak or deformed child cruelly teased is on the high-road to good citizenship. The world needs fighters of this sort; and the motive for this form of the world's work does not have to be artificially supplied.

It is the tendency to imitate that leads a child to wish to do what he finds others doing. This is, obviously, one of the most fruitful sources of education. The amount of hard work accomplished thru imitation among children is enormous. The kindergartner skilfully turns the motive for work of mere imitation into desire for co-operative work where imitation is more or less called into play.

But why multiply instances? The purpose of this paper has been accomplished if the following points have been made clear:

1. The kindergarten has a recognized place in the scheme of education. 2. It is in a state of progressive evolution.

3. Its general problem is not radically different from that of other educators. 4. It deals with children at a time when they are in a peculiar mental condition.

5. Its function, like that of other departments of education, is to supply desirable forms of work.

6. The motives for this work are to be found in certain powerful tendencies inherent in the child himself.

HOME AND SCHOOL LIFE IN GERMANY

AMALIE NIX, PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN PEDAGOGICAL SOCIETY OF
MINNESOTA, ST. PAUL, MINN.

For the past twenty-five years many of our great scholars have crossed the ocean to study at the universities of Germany, to acquire that knowledge which they have sought in vain in our youthful mother country. More recently, the school system of Germany has been made a subject of study by our teachers and students of pedagogy. Most of these agree that the present high standard of intelligence of the German nation has its origin in the careful training of the child. Whether on American, English, or German soil, childnature displays a striking resemblance everywhere. The duty of molding the

character of developing and cultivating those qualities in children which will make them noble men and women-worthy citizens-is left to the mother, father, and later to the teacher. Children are taught to be industrious in Germany, respect older people, be courteous and charitable to everyone. The typical German home justly deserves being called the preparatory department of the primary school. The spirit of reverence shown here for parents, sisters, and brothers, the sweet spirit of submission to all parental authority, is particularly noticeable and impressive to the observing stranger. The sunny expression on the children's faces prove that they are happy to obey, and to recognize law in their own homes. A spirit of harmony pervades the atmosphere of most German homes, another admirable feature which a foreigner observes. From these relations necessarily follow the beautiful ties of affection that bind together the different members of a family forever. In mentioning respect shown for age, I ought to have added that this applies to things as well as to people. Children take pride in being allowed to sit in the same chair, or use the same old-fashioned writing desk which had once been prized by a great grandfather or other ancestors. Even mothers are proud of showing their thirty- or forty-year-old son's or daughter's first little chair or table, yes, all their schoolbooks from the days of their childhood. And how neat these are kept! This is especially surprising to Americans, who could hardly speak in Germany of the widespread custom of buying and selling schoolbooks here second hand. The lack of piety shown by such a deed would horrify our German friends. We know well that the buying and selling of old schoolbooks is not confined to the poorer classes in our country.

You are all aware that the Germans are exceedingly fond of outdoor life. Often they go many miles from a city to a distant suburb or another city, as from Berlin to Potsdam, or into the country on foot, generally accompanied by their families. During the pleasant spring, summer, and autumn months breakfast and supper are served in the garden. Most professional people are not early-risers, neither do they retire early. In Berlin, for instance, you see the same number of people on the street at twelve o'clock at night as at twelve at noon.

Perhaps a touch on the servant problem might be of interest to you in connection with what I have to say about the German home. Servants are cheap and plentiful, are engaged by contract for a year, and obliged to furnish references. If dissatisfied, they must inform their mistress three months before leaving of their intention of changing. The mistress of the house is governed by the same rules. A servant cannot be dismissed without extending to her the courtesy of a fair warning. As a consequence, we find in many German homes old, reliable servants, who have spent probably half of their life-time, or more, in the same family, sometimes serving the next generation. In speaking of servants, I would include nurse girls who take care of children under the age of four. The children of the well-to-do and wealthy classes are turned over to a governess, who must hold a teacher's diploma.

The governess has charge of them until they are old enough to attend school, in some families longer. She eats at the family table and is considered a member of the family. If in moderate circumstances, the mother guides and instructs her children until they are old enough to attend school.

We cannot help feeling that the German home is an ideal home in many respects.

Sweet is the smile of home; the mutual look,

When hearts are of each other sure;

Sweet all the joys that crowd the household nook,

The haunt of all affections pure.

Our American educators who have studied in Germany have expressed their appreciation of the German people by the significant words: Das Volk der Denker-the people of thinkers. That the German nation deserves to be called "Das Volk der Denker" is proved by the excellent schools which we find in Germany. The schools of Saxony rank among the highest and none are superior to those of the province of Thuringia. The teacher who is favored to visit the schools of Blankenburg, Weimar, and Jena finds that, beside stepping on sacred historical and classical soil, he has been rewarded by gaining considerable knowledge thru this valuable observation trip. He realizes that he is benefited in his psychological researches, that he is inspired by the new educational thought, altho he may be surprised to learn that coeducation is still in its infancy. But also in this direction some progress can be detected within the past few years. In most schools the boys are separated from the girls, still there are those which are coeducational. Prominent educators are beginning to see that the false barriers which had been erected long ago can entirely be done away with by coeducation. They know that, after having tried the experiment, from the moment their schooling begins, the relations of the boys and girls assume an entirely natural aspect; there is no mystery, no nonsense. They have also discovered that the presence of girls has a refining influence on the boys, making them gentler in manner and more careful in speech, and that the boys teach the girls self-reliance. Most German universities have become coeducational during the past ten years; altho it is still difficult for a woman student to obtain a degree, which seems strange, since Germany's most noted professors have by far a greater admiration for the successful scholar than for his degrees. Women can, however, take special work and are given credit for showing a marked progress in this, provided that they come well prepared, and have acquired a thoro knowledge of the German language. Normal school diplomas are recognized abroad and the progressive American teacher who enters a German university is held in high esteem by Germany's greatest scholars. Her fame depends on the results obtained; if these are of an inferior kind, the degrees, which accompany her, when admitted, are worthless. The boy from a country school who comes to us now with the proud remark that he had just completed the sixth reader before leaving his school and asks for admission to the seventh grade will be

examined and probably placed in the fourth grade. You who heard Ella Flagg Young's address on Monday evening are all heartily in sympathy with her views on the degree question. If degrees were conferred only upon professional people of superior educational standing, they would be of great value. I wish to call attention to Mark Twain and Minnesota's great governor, Johnson, who have both been honored recently with degrees from universities of standing. Men and women of superior intelligence are recognized abroad, and more and more in our United States also, in no little measure due to the elevating influence of our intellectual, broad, and just President Roosevelt.

In returning to Thuringia-in German, Thüringen-"das immergrüne Herz Deutschlands," or "der Garten Deutschlands," I can assure you that a trip to Blankenburg alone would justify the use of the adjective "sacred." But some of you may have been in Blankenburg and, like myself, may have been silenced at first by the grandeur of the scenery and next by the memories of days gone by. A glance at the time-worn "Froebelhaus," at the modest monument erected to Germany's ideal teacher, Friedrich Froebel, with its significant inscription, "Kommt lasst uns unseren Kindern leben!" and his favorites-ball, cylinder, and cube-above, is an inspiration to the teacher, never to be forgotten. The father of the kindergarten-your and our much admired Froebel-lived and worked here for many years. It is a great pleasure to converse with the people, who still remember Froebel, or can relate what their parents knew of him, his striking personality, his kindergarten, and his famous school for kindergartners, his girls' training school.

The German people consider Schiller the ideal poet of Germany; Goethe the greatest poet; the ideal teacher is Friedrich Froebel. Schiller, Goethe, and Froebel lived, worked, and died in Thüringen.

You have heard that less is known of Froebel's life than of his works. When I spoke to you of the ideal German home, you knew that Froebel's home-the home in which he was born-could not be included. Born April 21, 1782, in the village of Oberweissbach, as the third son of a preacher, he lost his mother when but a year old. Between the ages of three and thirteen he was under the supervision of a stepmother, who did not understand child nature. In the impressionable years of his childhood, he was deprived of his freedom, not even allowed to come often into contact with the great "book of nature." Instead of the sunshine of motherly love, the most rigid form of discipline reigned supreme in his father's home. In spite of these unfortunate conditions, the boy's tenderness, his love for what is good, true, and beautiful, could not be crushed. It was by accident that an uncle appeared one day in the preacher's household. His sympathy for the unhappy boy was aroused, so he asked permission to take Friedrich with him to his home. And the parents let him depart willingly. The uncle brought Froebel into a home where he could enjoy nature, freedom, and the association of playmates. At the age of seventeen we find him studying forestry; at eighteen, a student

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