TO FOLD A PAPER DUCK J. M. Niven, Toronto, Canada 1. Take a square of any size. 5. Double the center crease, and it will make the body of the bird. Draw up the small end for the neck. Press the head forward to make a long beak. 6. From smaller squares, a family of ducklings may be made. Children may find amusement in the evenings by floating them in a saucer of water. 2. Fold over one corner to lie on opposite corner. 3. Open the square and fold two of the sides over to meet diagonal crease. 4. Turn over and press the point back two-thirds of the way, Bend the very tip forward. THEODORE ROOSEVELT The Greatest American of his Time Why was Theodore Roosevelt recognized by Europeans as well as Americans as a great man? First, because he was a harmoniously developed being; his physical, mental and spiritual nature being in equilibrium. Second, he was welll born, that is he came from good stock. His forebears came from Holland, the cradle of liberty. Holland had civillization and education and some of the conveniences and refinements of life when England was a sparsely settled country of thatched cottages. When the puritans were driven out of England they took refuge in Holland and later, voluntarily made the pilgrimage to America, to realize in their own institutions some of the Ideals they had gained in Holland. Third, his intellectual, emotional and executive powers were balanced. What he felt his mind conceived and his will executed. He was an idealistic, ambitious, moral. Love in its various manifestations, as friendship, patriotism, domesticity was his ruling emotion; common sense his intellectual faculty and courage his dominating characteristic. As a man of means, he was independent of circumstances; as a man of American culture, he was a devoted student and follower of Emerson's strenuous philosophy; as a man, happily organized, his higher faculties ruled his life and made the subtle human appeal which wins popularity. The world loves rectitude especially when embodied in a being of such universal characteristics that he can understand and sympathize with the whole of humanity. When he felt that life, with its allurements and griefs was slowly receding from consciousness he folded his arms above his great heart and fell asleep as gently and simply as a child upon its mother's breast. May his dreamless sleep be as profound and sweet as his soul was magnanimous and pure. Mary E. Law, Toledo, Jan. 9, 1919. THE GLAD MONTH Written for this Magazine Oiive Wills, Cheyenne. May my greatest joy today, Why the glad month? Isn't a birthday and any and all recurring celebrations of most fascinating interest to all people? Then how much more intense is the joy to a child, and I believe the Valentine celebration comes almost next to Xmas in bringing this gladness. Yes, the sentiments have been abused of course, in the so-called comic valentine, which in truth is mostly only full of coarse rudeness and hurt. Therefore let the teachers in all ways possible make the valentines tell of sweetness, love and kindness to others. Then in this month we also have the interesting and ever inspirational birthdays of Lincoln and of Washington. With these two of course, we now will weave many stories in patriotism and bring in not only love of our own dear country but also a love for the other peoples of the earth. Now is the time to forever wipe out the scornfully used terms, Dutch, Dago, Greek or Pollock, and to know they are all brothers. To have a sympathy for and an understanding of timid little Italian, Greek or Japanese that enters the class and all too often sits off alone and lonely. So this year all good Americans will send an "I love you" to all nations of the earth. A pleasing valentine may be made by cutting out of some old magazines the picture of a globe, paste it onto a heavy white drawing paper then cut this to fit the globe picture except at the bottom leave an oblong for the verse or the "I love you." An interesting way to arrange the February one would be to paste over the square for the 12th a picture of Lincoln or some incident in his life. The 22nd something of Washington. The 14th a heart or a valentine symbol. The 24th, the birthday of the artist, Winslow Homer, a picture of "the Fog Warning." Then have a language lesson using this picture for the subject. The fisherman in his strange hat and clothes rowing the big boat and looking very anxiously over his shoulder at the great clouds of fog that loom up on the horizon and that always mean so much trouble to the fishermen and the sailor. The waves are rather high making rowing more difficult, but there in the boat is the results of his days work, the beautiful big fish, and in the distance is another kind of boat. Note the lessons in the ways of propelling various boats. You could even go further in your language work and place a picture of Dickens for the 7th. Then read or tell some simple story of his. Now let us turn to patriotism and some of the symbols children so love to make. Fig. II shows a cannon. This is made by folding a 4 inch square of paper into four squares. Cut off two squares and of these cut two circles. If the children cannot cut them free-hand allow them to trace around a circle 2 inches in diameter. Take the other half of the square which is 2x4 inches. Fold this the NEW KINDERGARTEN MOVEMENTS (An address given at Hunter College, New York City, Before the Public School Kindergarten Association) The "New Movements" in education are the natural outgrowth of the old, making for progress. There are two tendencies or influences affecting every movement in life,--the progressive and the conservative; the former leads forward, making for growth, development, progress; the latter acts as a balance-wheel, gives stability and retains all that is worth keeping of the past. The progressive and the conservative have been called the two legs upon which civilization walks. True progress must come naturally out of past experiences yet as Kipling says "What was ample yesterday does ont cover the palm of the hand of to-day." What, then, is the new objective of kindergarten education, of all primary education? For the kindergarten period is not a separate period, but the beginning of a period which carries thru the pri mary. This objective is the development of the social qualities and individual abilities of the child, as opposed to the development of material. The child should go to kindergarten, not so much because of the value of the kind of materials used there, but because of the opportunity for him to come in contact with those of his own age, of those who approximate his own ability and interests; because of the opportunity to give and take, not found in the home; of the opportunity to learn to work and play together, the latter calling for the highest in him. The kindergarten is the child's first initiation into the social world. The qualities needed to live in this social community are initiative, power of self-direction and control,-giving the opportunity for personal freedom, not as a negative term, but as an opening up of opportunity to carry forward problems in which he is interested; his freedom coming from the balancing of his individual and his social side, the team play, the "together" spirit. These qualities give strength for the democracy of tomorrow, for the children of to-day will be the citizens of to-morrow. The citizens of a democracy must be trained to be wise and just leaders, and intelligent followers. The measure of a child's ability to fill these two positions is more important than the number of facts, or the amount of knowledge he possesses. Children must be trained to live next to others, to know how to be neighbors, to spell "tolerance" with capital letters. The materials we have at hand for this training are threefold,-the children, the teacher, and the materials, and the problem is to fit them together to be developing. The place of the teacher is that of guide, director, advisor, friend; to give help when help is needed, to supply material, to plan for the children to get the most out of the material,-but from the child's point of view. Class room arrangements must be such that the children can come together in voluntary groups to work out their own problems, where they can have freedom to get and give help, to select problems and material wherever possible, and where they will be free from the domination of the teacher, from being forced into a mould of grown-up standards. It is not possible to educate by constantly saving a child from his mistakes. He can be saved from some, to prevent bodily harm, for example, but it is generally better to learn from actual doing,-from failure as well as from success. The material used is the same which has usually played a part in child life, and its range is only limited by its accessibility and the child's ability to use it. In the history of the development of children's toys, we find that blocks, balls, dolls, toys have been used; so we too must use these and anything else that will stimulate the child to set up his own problems; therefore it may be kindergarten material, materials used in the home, as sewing, or it may be nature material. The best material is that which has the greatest holding power, that which the children select themselves and which they use in a way which will carry forward their development. The best method is that which will encourage the child to seek knowledge. Nature really knows the best way, but we have been slow to see and follow. Playgrounds, for instance, have sometimes helped more than schools. Formal dictated work gives immediate results; the freer method shows results more slowly and gives crude results, but the development is greater. Freedom gives the child an opportunity to find various ways to accomplish his ends, makes him versatile. It gives him respect for what he produces. He learns to do by experimenting, imitating, and studying the finished object; he co-operates in the making of the program because what he does one day, gives the teacher the clue for the materials and problems of the next. Thus the program is a flexible and not a fixed, unalterable дво MILWAUKEE MEETING 1919 THE ARMENIAN FUND Since our last issue we have received the following contributions for the Armenian fund: $2.25 1.00 .50 -75 The next annual session of the National Education Association will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 29-July 5. The many new hotels in Milwaukee enable the city to provide adequate hotel accomodations for a large meeting. The auditorium furnishes one of the best meeting places for the general sessions to be found in the United States. It not only provides a place for seating ten thousand people, but under the same roof, provides four meeting places, each accommodating an attendance of one thousand. There are several smaller rooms under the same roof. There are other meeting places near the Auditorium. The auditorium itself, will be considered the main headquarters. State Superintendent, C. P. Cary, has the fullest cooperation of the teachers of Wisconsin for making this meeting one of the most successful in the history of the Association. The presidents of normal schools, colleges, and the university, and the county and city superintendents of the state, ali join in working for the success of the Milwaukee meeting. STICK AND RING LAYING, PAPER INTERLACING AND PAPER CUTTING SUGGESTIONS, Lydia A. C., Dover, Ohio "A Kindergartner" "Teacher" "Friend" B |