A child of 6 years who has learned to play earnestly, to have a purpose in view, and to concentrate on the accomplishment of his self-accepted task will not wish to be distracted by irrelevant conversation or by "fooling." It may be that some kindergartners do not realize that it is at the kindergarten period of a child's life that he develops from the holding of very incidental purposes to purposes which are more complex and require some degree of skill and continued effort for their attainment. If the kindergartner fails to understand this phase of development, she may continue to lead the child step by step when he is ready and anxious to be shown the end of the process and to guide himself on the road toward it. As the child sees only trivial steps, and knows that he is having no share in the determination of where they lead, he feels little responsibility for the ultimate result. He must occupy his mind with something, so his imagination plays with each step, and as he has no definite purpose to steady his ideas, they take a fanciful turn. This arriving at a result by the piecemeal dictation of the teacher promotes the habit of mind wandering. Again, a kindergartner may not understand the educational value of crude results which have been attained by the initiative and selfdirected effort of the 5-year-old child. Instead of helping him to improve in the direction which he desires, the kindergartner may set an end for him which he must often make attractive to himself by means external to the process involved in gaining it-he must let his imagination express itself through play or conversation because he is not interested in what the teacher has planned for him. He develops the habit of caring little for final results and of taking his enjoyment as he works along. Perhaps the primary teacher may misunderstand the child's desires and powers. It may be that those who offered the criticism that the kindergarten children "indulged in unnecessary communication and ill-timed play" did not set tasks for the children which called forth their effort; the work may have been too easy, repeating something learned in the kindergarten; or the primary discipline may be too strict, making no allowance for a child's joyous attitude toward work and his desire for social encouragement. If in kindergarten and primary grades problems can be presented to the child that are of vital interest to him, that he is anxious to solve, problems that involve thought in order to select and adapt ways and means, then he will have no time for the distractions of talk and "play." He will develop judgment and self-reliance by striving independently. Such a method used in the kindergarten would aid in overcoming the other fault mentioned by the primary teachers that kindergarten children are too dependent in periods of handwork and need constant help and supervision. The inferences are that the qualities which the primary teacher appreciates and finds valuable in her work are those mentioned under "advantages" of kindergarten children; otherwise more adverse criticisms would have been made. This shows primary ideals far removed from the old-time education, when quantity in reading, writing, and number work, together with a degree of submissive obedience, constituted the main measurements for a child's school work. In 19 replies it was stated that the kindergarten saved the child time in his progress through school; 6 said that there was no saving; 5 said that the children were brighter at first, but showed no difference at the end of a year. This last criticism should provoke investigation, but as "brighter" at the beginning of the term probably meant more self-reliance, attention, and responsiveness (good life habits), as well as ability to take up the technical school work, the same kind of tests should be applied at the close of the year. The adjustments suggested are very interesting when it is remembered that the suggestions come entirely from those outside the kindergarten. It is stated clearly by 7 correspondents that the only change desirable must be made in the first grade; 2 think the kindergarten should make all the changes; 12 suggest a connecting class; 25 state definitely that no connecting class is necessary, and many more imply it, while 22 urge that teachers and kindergartners should consult together and try to formulate mutual aims and practices. The particular adjustments suggested for the kindergarten are: (1) More independence in handwork periods.. (2) More quietness during occupation and other table work. (3) Age limit be removed, so that a child may be placed in the class which is best suited to his development..... 15 (4) Time in the kindergarten be limited to one year, since repetition dulls interest and a child gains habit of acting without exerting mental energy.. 644 (5) More attention be paid to the use of English in conversation.... (6) Introduction of reading and writing....... The adjustments suggested for the first grade are as follows: (1) Introduction of more handwork........... (2) Greater freedom, discipline less strict... 4 221 (3) Movable chairs and tables, and use of circle for conversation and games.... 14 (4) Smaller classes, so that the teacher may give individual attention to the children..... (5) Seatwork more creative, not mere following of teachers' dictation, more time allowed for this method of developing creatively..... (6) Elimination of number work, except in actual problems.... 8 7 5 The following is quoted from a carefully written, open-minded discussion of the problem by a first-grade teacher: "In the kindergarten the child deals principally with things; in the primary, with words. In the kindergarten the play instinct is appealed to chiefly. 95948°-152 In the primary school, attention, concentration, must be secured and the memory must be trained." In these few sentences are sharply contrasted the principal points that need adjustment between the two classes. A child does not on his sixth birthday jump from an interest in things to an interest in words, nor from a desire to play to a state where he is always attentive and exercising his memory. His dealing with things in the kindergarten should have given him content for words, and more "things" should be supplied him in the grade, so that this content may be enlarged. Appeal to the true play instinct develops habits of attention and concentration, which should carry over into the grade, and the grade should strengthen these habits by giving the play spirit just a shade more of the aspect of work. The letter sent to supervisors of kindergartens and kindergartners by the Commissioner of Education was as follows: DEAR MADAM: I desire especially to know what the primary-grade teacher may reasonably expect of a child who has had kindergarten training; also, what adjustments if any, need to be made between the kindergarten and the lowest primary grades, in order that there may be a closer relation between the two. Your experience and observation should enable you to speak with some degree of authority on this subject. May I, therefore, ask you to write me fully in regard to both points? Your letter will be greatly appreciated and may be the means of much good to the children in the country. Yours, sincerely, P. P. CLAXTON, Commsisioner. It is interesting to note that the characteristics mentioned most. frequently by primary teachers as the noticeable result of kindergarten training are the same as those which the kindergartners have aimed most consciously to develop. Views of kindergarten supervisors and kindergartners are here given: Reporting affirmatively. (1) Formation of good school (and life) habits, such as regularity, punctuality, order, cleanliness, politeness.... 62 (2) Power of expression, involving fluency of language, also fund of ideas, as well as dramatic expression...... 72 (3) Power of observation, concentration, and attention.... 76 2834 45 (6) Self reliance, initiative, adaptability, ability to cope with situations without direction................ (7) Ability to work with others, willingness to wait one's turn, to cooperate, to share responsibility...... 44 (8) Responsiveness, willing obedience, and compliance with suggestion. (9) Knowledge acquired through actual experiences in kindergarten. 19 28 (10) Ability to imitate, follow technical suggestions................ 43 (11) Interest in taking up any form of school work (“a desire to know and to do") 11 (12) Control over muscular coordination...... 36 (13) Musical ability and rhythmical control.. 65 (14) Initial entrance to school made easy and attractive.. 6 (15) Ability to read and write more quickly........ 3 It is not possible to compare the actual figures in the two sets of answers, because the questions were not the same and the number of answers not equal. Comparison can only be made very loosely between the percentages of frequency with which each characteristic was mentioned within its own set of answers. By this comparison it is possible to judge somewhat of the relative importance of the characteristic to the different groups. Making deductions from these percentages in a very general way, it might be inferred that kindergartners aim to develop more power of expression and more power of observation and attention than the primary teachers found the children had attained when they reached the first grade. The kindergartner tries to develop muscular coordination and musical ability as well as power to imitate. Is the difference in percentages in these latter respects due to the fact that the kindergartner values them more highly than the primary teacher? Or does a child have small opportunity to show his development in these respects in the primary? If the child is more efficient and enjoys life more when developed in these directions, should not the primary teacher have an opportunity to continue the kindergartner's line of education? On the other hand, the primary teachers find that the child has gained in good school habits, in responsiveness and obedience, to a greater extent than the kindergartners have apparently expected. Are these qualities noted in the grades because they are found particularly useful in the primary? Do these habits create the atmosphere which the primary teacher finds conducive to development under her teaching, because they supply the more passive, receptive attitude in education? This latter can hardly be the case, for primary teachers also value self-reliance and initiative. Both primary teachers and kindergartners are found to esteem social development and manual dexterity. Kindergartners mentioned several other points which they emphasized, and which they thought would be of benefit to a child entering the first grade. These are: (1) Development of senses... (2) Knowledge of color and balance. (3) Knowledge of form, size, shape...... (4) Knowledge of concrete number and counting.... (5) Ability to listen to a story and to enjoy good literature.. (6) Development of memory..... (7) Quality of tone in speaking. (8) Use of phonics........... Kindergartners mentioning. 73 24 24 38 19 7 4 4 There are several questions that arise in considering the kindergartners' emphasis on the first three points above, and these must be answered before a better adjustment of kindergarten and primary can be made. Has the development of the senses reached its height at 6 years of age so that it is not necessary to continue further education in this way? Or is the kindergarten overemphasizing the development of the senses, particularly in technical points of color and form discrimination? Or is the grade neglecting a part of the child's education? The answer to all three questions might be partly "yes" and partly "no." At the age of 6 the larger, cruder, discriminations as to color, size, form have been made, and the senses can be developed further through the detection of the finer variations that come through the effort to paint, read, write. Possibly the primary teacher is not educating the whole child because she does not see the importance of developing the senses by finer discriminations or she may feel that education of this kind is implied in the larger purposes of the first grade. Could she use games that would call for still more discrimination? Possibly the kindergartner is overemphasizing the importance of the work she is doing in this direction. Scientific observers have shown the ineffectiveness of abstract instruction with young children; yet kindergartners often spend much of their time "teaching" color. Dr. Dewey shows how discriminations actually arise when there is a vital need for them. By rolling an object, the child makes its roundness appreciable; by bouncing it, he singles out its elasticity; by throwing it, he makes weight its conspicuous distinctive factor. Not through the senses, but by means of the reaction, the responsive adjustment, is the impression made distinctive and given a character marked off from other qualities that call out like reactions. Children, for example, are quite slow in apprehending differences of color. Differences from the standpoint of the adult so glaring that it is impossible not to note them are recognized and recalled with great difficulty. Doubtless they do not all feel alike, but there is no intellectual recognition of what makes the difference. The redness or greenness or blueness of the object does not tend to call out a reaction that is sufficiently peculiar to give prominence or distinction to the colortrait. Gradually, however, certain characteristic habitual responses associate themselves with certain things; the white becomes the sign, say, of milk and sugar, |