The Kindergarten

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1. Introduction



" Kindergarten " signifies a children's garden, or a garden of children. This name was selected by its founder, Friedrich Froebel, because it expressed his idea of development directed by a knowledge of the organism to be developed and aided by the selection of a right environment. But this name fails to express another important aspect of the institution; ''the garden of children" gives no suggestion of its social aspect. According to the founder, the object of the kindergarten is as follows: - "It shall receive children before the school age, give them employment suited to their nature, strengthen their bodies, exercise their senses, employ their waking mind, make them acquainted judiciously with nature and society, cultivate especially the heart and temper, and lead them to the foundation of all living." He was unable for a long time to find a suitable name. He called the institution " a school for the psychological training of little children by means of play and occupations." At one time he called it "the children's in stitution", or "Flay School". He would often exclaim, "Ah! How I wish I could find a name for my youngest born ! " He was once walking over the hills towards Blankenburg with Middendorff and Barop. Suddenly he stopped and shouted joyfully, " Eureka, I have found it! 'Kindergarten' is the word." Thus he came upon the name accidentally. But, in his day to name the institution a "garden" was an audacious idea. The most modern kindergarten aims to be much more than a garden, a refuge or a nursery, though it has these values incidentally. The kindergarten aims to make use of the natural instinct of the child for play and to divert this activity into more orderly and meaningful channels than it would follow if left undirected. It aims to put before him certain ideals which he shall later make his own and which shall become effective motives in his post-kindergarten days. It aims, too, to create for the child a social environment which shall evoke his appreciation of a cultural social atmosphere. In the kindergarten he is more than 'Ego'. He is to realize that, however fondly his mother may regard him as the only important human unit, he is, as a matter of fact, but a single member of a large social group. In this way his thought and his interest become less selfcentered and he learns something of the social arts and graces. It is from this point of view that the definition of the modern kindergarten is as given by Professor Monroe, ''a society of children engaged in play and in various forms of self-expression, through which the children learn something of the values and meth. ods of social life without as yet being burdened by its technique." But, in reality, it seems to me that some kindergarteners are not well prepared to realize their ideals. Perhaps because the followers of Froebel have been chiefly women his theory and practice have been carefully and faithfully conserved and cultivated and there has not been, as yet, much reformation and modification, especially in the play program. The games, gifts and occupations are overemphasized and in some kindergartens the outdoor-work has been almost eliminated. In any event, it seems to me that there is much room for controversy in the methods of the kindergarten training. These methods are not limited to the kindergartens in Japan : this criticism can also apply to some kindergartens in the United States. When I was an instructor of education in a Girls' Normal School in Japan I was asked by many parents whether or not for a child there was any advantage in kindergarten training. Since then, the kindergarten problem "has been of particular interest to me. I have sought to study the status of the kindergarten in different countries and more particularly in Japan. The present thesis embodies the results of this study.