Cora P. Waters, Springdale, Pa.,

Kindergarten of School No. 17, Patterson, N. J., by

B. E. Tompkins

Lydia A. C., Dover, Ohio,...

Teacher, 39 Morris St., Yonkers, N. Y.,......

Just now, as you have finished reading this, why not send whatever you can spare. Send contributions to the Kindergarten Primary Magazine, Manistee, Mich. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE KINDERGARTEN-PRIMARY COUNCIL OF THE WEST May, 1918, Los Angeles, Cal.

RESOLVED:

1. That we recognize as a fundamental truth, valid for the guidance of educational practice thruout the school, the Froebelian doctrine demanding self-activity, self-expression and self-realization on the part of the pupils.

2. That we welcome with keen appreciation the notable and increasingly successful efforts on the part of a number of summer schools, normal schools, "Schools of Childhood," and elementary schools in progressive cities to remove the sharp distinction between the kindergarten and the primary school and to secure for the children between the ages of four and eight the advantages of the Froebelian doctrine.

3. That among the measures taken for this purpose we especially commend the growing practice of normal schools and kindergarten training schools to unite preparation for kindergarten and primary work in the same course, as well as increasing efforts in a number of primary schools to utilize under leadership the spontaneous play-activities of the children in connection with their work.

4. That among practical measures on the part of schools we commend and urge for the present: athe introduction of spontaneous play-activities under leadership with children (up to the age of eight years); b-the use of outdoor work whenever feasible; c-the use in indoor work, of movable tables and chairs; d-the housing of these children in separate buildings, if possible.

5. That we urge upon normal and training schools the establishment of a course of training which shall develop a practical working basis for the vital union of kindergarten and primary education and lead to diplomas and certificates that shall entitle the holders to teach in kindergarten and primary grades.

6. That we invite school officials, teachers, parents and others interested, as well as Parent-Teachers Associations and other organizations, to join us in efforts in behalf of these aims in the several sections of the Pacific Slope. Clara S. Brown, Sec'y. Pomona, Calif.

Dr. W. N. Hailman, Pres.

Vacation days are over and we are facing one of the greatest years of the World's story!

The educational world is alive to its meaning. The new president of the N. E. A. with a strong committee is seeking the appointment of a minister of education who shall sit in the President's cabinet. The education of our children shall no longer be represented in a secondary bureau. Our Commissioner of Education at Washington must rank with the highest officials because no weapon in the world is equal to the school.

Just today has come into my hand the new paper from the government printing office in Washington, entitled "School Life" published by the Department of the Interior, Franklin K. Lane, Bureau of Education, P. P. Claxton. How well it is named! School Life!

Efforts are being made to put this new periodical into every school house in the land, the list numbering to date 178,000.

Doubtless individual teachers can secure a copy free by writing to the Commissioner of Education, Washington, D. C.

"School Life" contains the thrilling address of Secretary Lane given at Pittsburg before the N. E. A. last July which every teacher should read. Let me quote a few of its thrilling thoughts:

"Americanism is purpose-it is a consciousness thru our whole being that things can be achieved by work and by will, and that is the lesson that you are to carry-that you are carrying, that you are preaching every day to the children of America.

"Americanism must be to us a political religion. Religion is a consciousness that there is something better than yourself toward which you are striving. The man is religious who believes he stands in the compelling presence of an ideal, and an ideal is always something that you are not, but that you hope to be. Christ is the representative of our religion. We see him on the cross, and to us he represents sympathy, sympathy for the torture thru which men move in order to work their way up the Jacob's Ladder to Heaven."

"There is a big man and a little man in every one of us; and this day is great because the big man has come out!" "This America that spends fifteen thousand million dollars in this year in making war is the same America that stands for five and a half million people in the United States who cannot read or write any language, and this America that takes out of its pocket $50,000,000 for the Red Cross is the same America that has stood for years without wincing at children working in the factory and los

ing the chance for education. But that America is gone. We have come upon a new day."

Long ago kindergartners came upon that "new day." Long ago kindergartners learned to follow the ideal. That is why our brave representative, Fanniebelle Curtis, and those associated with her, are facing death to carry our message to the refugee children of France and Belgium, and may we not pray that she may yet carry it back to Germany, poor Germany that rejected it for militarism!

Let no kindergartner fail to make it known in her circle of friends and in her wider community that Prussia flouted Froebel and the kindergarten. It Iwas no child of theirs. Let those in our country who have opposed the kindergarten understand that Froebel looked to America to grasp his thoughts of child education. Our great teacher, Madam KrausBoelte, who studied with Froebel's widow, could not carry out her ideals in Germany, but brought them to America where with others she has planted the good seed. It is because the kindergarten believes in ideals that it has lived and must live and grow till it reaches even back to the land of its birth.

Dear Kindergartner, dear Young Kindergartner, are these big thoughts overwhelming to you? "No" indeed," I hear you say. It is Youth that ever cries Excelsior. But while we must not forget the Mount of Vision and must climb it often for an outlook, now is the time to begin our daily duties, to meet the little ones as they come out from their home nests, to keep them happy, to teach them to dance and to sing for pure childish joy, to lead them to grow stronger physically, mentally and morally day by day by learning to solve the very little problems of child's life.

We must lead them to choose songs and games and colors and even occupations for do not big Americans have to know how "to choose," to elect? Oh yes! "Great oaks from little acorns grow."

What shall be our ideals of method this year, this very month of September? Will you take paper and pencil and re-state them for yourself in your own words? Will you mail them to me that I may know you better and possibly help you better? Please take this for a personal invitation.

The children learn by doing; so do we. Do not say you cannot write. A kindergartner under my supervision in New York once told me she could not write, but since that day she has written one of our most helpful books! It helps us to put our own thoughts on paper even tho we may not all hope to write books!,

A POSSIBLE OUTLINE BY WEEKS TO BE VARIED AS OCCASION REQUIRES

Jenny B. Merrill, Pd.D.

Conversations, and Picture Stories, Songs

FIRST WEEK

September 3. Our pleasant room. See our pictures. Listen to our piano. Smell our flowers. Play with our toys. Look out of our windows. Draw pictures on our blackboard.

September 4. Learning each other's naïnes. Good morning, Mary. Good morning, Eddie, etc. Singing "Good Morning." Shaking hands around the circle.

September 5. Our doll. What is her name? Sing Rockaby to our doll. Have you a doll at home? What is her name? Can you bring her to kindergarten? Who lives in your home? What is your sister's name? Have you a baby?

September 6. Pass a picture to each child. Let each one tell what he sees in the picture. Try to have pictures of pets for this exercise. Imitate sounds of cat, dog, chicken, lamb, cow and sing a song about one.

SECOND WEEK

September 9. Talk about Saturday and Sunday experiences. What day is it now? What is mother doing today? Can you play "This is the way to wash our clothes?" Shall we wash dolly's dress today?

What do we need? How can our boys help? September 10. Story about a child who was always early and always clean. Did you ever say "Thank you" to mother for washing you? Who has learned to wash himself? (All imitate the motions of washing hands and face.)

September 11. Talk about the day, rain or sunshine. Sing about the sun or rain.

September 12. Our ball. What it can do. (Incidentally its color). Ball game introduced.

September 13. Our flowers. Making a garden on the floor. Visiting a garden, or a story about "Fannie's Garden," improvised. Make a garden on the sand table as you talk, or play the children are flowers. Who heard bees buzz this summer? Can

you buzz like the bees? What do they make? Finger play of the bees. (Poulsson)

THIRD WEEK

September 16. Home experiences on Saturday and Sunday. New hymn as "Father, we thank Thee for the night."

September 17. Story. Goldilocks.

September 18. Story retold, possibly dramatized. (This will depend upon responsiveness of children up to this time.)

September 19. Picture of farm animals passed. Sounds they make. The barn yard. Who has been in a barn? On a farm?

September 20. Story of the farm. Draw on children's summer experiences. Use pictures for those who have not been.

FOURTH WEEK

September 23. Home experiences on Saturday and Sunday. A new hymn.

"Thank our Father, all ye little children

God is love, God is love."

September 24. Story of Benny's visit to the seashore. What did he do? Here is a pail like Benny's. What shall we do with it? What else do we need?

September 25. Pass shells and pebbles. Feel them for rough and smooth. (Training sense of touch.) Have pictures of the seashore hung low near the sand table. Imitate rush of the waves.

September 26. A Mother Goose Rhyme as, Jack and Jill. What is a hill? Have you seen a hill? Where is it? Can you make a hill? How? Review. Finger plays.

September 27.

September 30. Home experiences. Did you find any leaves on the ground? How did they get there? Did you see any birds? Song about a tree, a nest, a bird or falling leaves, as desired.

REMARKS

These conversations, stories and songs must be very simple during the first month. Still they must provoke thought and lead to action.

The main aim during this month is to get acquainted with the children by creating a social atmosphere and getting them to talk without too much interrupting for the lesson of inhibition, holding in, as it were, for the sake of others. This can be accomplished gradually, without introducing the artificial method of holding up the hand for permission to speak. This is still done in some kindergartens but it is not desirable. It is apt to destroy the freshness and naturalness of the child. The child will possibly talk with gestures. Let him do So. We do not talk enough with our hands.

The topics chosen may not be the best for your particular environment but they are suggestive. Consult your own song books for appropriate music.

Use the piano sparingly at first, possibly just one note for signals. Use very simple marches. Sing to the children. Do not force their voices. Remember to sing high. It is best to sing not lower than E flat.

Try to lead the children to suggest work to do as, making the garden in the sand, or filling the pail with sand, or drawing something you have talked about. Place several kinds of materials out and accustom them to choose which they will use. Do not forget to group as soon as possible. It is an economical plan as a few pairs of scissors, fewer crayons, a dozen of each gift possibly and so on. However, the real reason for grouping is not economy but better organization. It may seem difficult at first but those who have tried it, do not return to simultaneous dictations as every child with a third gift, or fourth, every child drawing at the same time.

It is not wise to bring out all kinds of materials