General Practice in Kindergarten Education in The United States By Mary Dabney Davis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Philosophy, Columbia University New York, N. Y. 1925 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries https://archive.org/details/generalpracliceiOOdavi General Practice in Kindergarten Education in the United States By MARY DABNEY DAVIS, Ph. D. In Cooperation with the Research Committee of the Department of Kindergarten Education of the National Education Association OLGA ADAMS (MRS.) MADELINE DARROUGH HORN ALLENE SEATON M. MADILENE VEVERKA National Education Association 1201 Sixteenth Street N. W. Washington, D. C. 1925 GENERAL PRACTICE IN KINDERGARTEN EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction . 8 Chapter I Statement of the Probeem and Sources of Data . 9 Need for the Study of Kindergarten Education . . 9 Problem before the Research Committee . 9 Sources of Data . 10 T reatment of Data . . . 1 1 Chapter II Indications of the Present Status of Kindergarten Education in the United States . 12 Present Extent of Kindergarten Service in the United States . 12 State Kindergarten Laws . 13 Kindergarten Extension . 14 Early Elementary Grades as a Unit of Education . 15 Provisions for Kindergarten-Primary Teacher Training . 16 "Rules and Regulations” of Boards of Education Concerning Kinder¬ gartens . 16 Kindergarten Courses of Study Combined with Elementary Courses.... 18 Kindergartens in General School Surveys . 18 Studies in the Progress of Kindergarten Children . 18 Costs of Kindergarten Education . 21 Summary . 22 Chapter III School Conditions Represented in the Study of Stenographic Reports.. 23 Bases Upon Which Kindergartens Were Selected for the Report . 23 Number of Elementary School Buildings and Number of Kindergartens in these School Systems . 24 Teachers' Estimates of the Typicalness of the Days Reported . 26 Weather Conditions on the Days Reported . 27 Nationalities of the Children in the Schools Reported . 27 Range of Ages Among the Kindergarten Pupils . 27 Dates on Which the Reports Were Taken . 27 Number of Children and Teachers Represented . 27 Activities Omitted from this Day’s Program . 28 Summary . 29 Chapter IV Page An Analysis of Time Schedules . 31 Distribution of Time Represented by Stenographic Reports . 31 Method of Handling the Time Allotment . 31 Geographical Groupings Explained . 32 Method of Classifying Kindergarten Activities . 32 General Assembly Periods . 32 Music . 30 Language and Literature . 42 Work Periods for the General Arts . 44 Physical Activities . 49 Comparisons of Time Divisions for Public, Private and Training Schools . 56 Time Divisions for Afternoon Sessions . 56 Examples of Time Schedules . 58 Summary . 61 Chapter V Kindergarten Education as Represented by Stenographic Reports . 63 Distribution of Stenographic Reports Throughout Country . 63 Comprehensiveness of Stenographic Reports . 63 Accuracy of Interpretation of Stenographic Reports . 64 Method Used in Recording Contents of Stenographic Reports . 64 Descriptions of Kindergarten Rooms . 65 Methods Used in Scoring Stenographic Reports . 67 Summary Analyses of Kindergarten Periods . 71 General Assembly Period . 71 Discussion Period . 75 Music . 79 Language and Literature . 82 Work Periods for the General Arts . 87 Physical Activities . 92 Signals Used to Gain Attention and Control . 97 References to Number Work and Reading . 97 Cooperation with the Primary Grades . 99 Summary . 99 Chapter VI Kindergarten Education as Represented by the Kindergarten Inquiry. . . 101 Construction and Purpose of Kindergarten Inquiry . 101 Summary Analyses of Kindergarten Inquiry . 102 Names Given for Kindergarten Activities . 102 Summary of Names . 103 Activities Included in Kindergarten Periods . 103 Time Devoted to Each Activity . 111 Records and Reports . 111 Aims of Kindergarten Activities as Stated by Teachers in Kinder¬ garten Inquiry . n3 [ + 1 Page Summary of Methods . 119 Administration of Kindergartens . 120 Kindergarten Attendance . 120 Admittance and Promotion . 121 Divisions of Morning and Afternoon Sessions . 123 Kindergarten Enrollments . 124 Length of Teacher’s Day . 123 Supervision Provided for Kindergartens and Primary Grades.. 125 Summary . 127 Chapter VII General Summary of Kindergarten Education as Represented by Steno- graphical Reports and the Kindergarten Inquiry . 128 First Stenographic Report . 132 Second Stenographic Report . 138 "Addenda : Public School Systems, Private Schools and Teacher-Training Institutions Contributing Stenographic Reports . 151 Public School Systems and Teacher-Training Institutions Replying to the Kindergarten Inquiry . 153 Bibliography . 154 « LIST OF TABLES Page Table r. — Increase of Kindergarten Service in LTnited States During Last Fifty Years . 12 Table 2. — Distribution of 140 Courses of Study Which Include Kindergarten 19 Table 3. — Bases Upon Which Kindergartens Were Selected Within the Cities Reporting . 24 Table 4. — Professional Training of the Teachers Whose Work is Analyzed in this Study . 25 Table 5. — Range of Ages of the Pupils . 25 Table 5«. — One Day’s Attendance . 30 Table 6. — Geographical Distribution of Stenographic Reports According to Kinds of Schools with Number of Minutes Reported . 30 Table 6«. — Classification of Activities . 34 Table 7. — Time and Periods for Assembly and Discussion Work Related to All Other Time and Periods Reported . 38 Table 8. Geographical Distribution of Assembly and Discussion Time and Periods . 38 Table 9. — Time and Periods for Music Related to All Other Time and Periods Reported . 41 Table 10. — Geographical Distribution of Music Time and Periods . 41 Table 11. — Time and Periods for Literature and Language Related to All Other Time and Periods Reported . 45 Table 12. — Geographical Distribution of Literature and Language Time and Periods . 45 Page Table 13. — Time and Periods for Three Work Periods Related to All Other Time and Periods Reported . 50 Table 14. — Geographical Distribution of Time Devoted to Three Work Periods 50 Table 15. — Geographical Distribution of Periods Devoted to Three Work Periods . 52 Table 16. — Time and Periods for Physical Activities Related to All Other Time and Periods- Reported. i . 52 Table 17. — Geographical Distribution of Time Devoted to Physical Activities.. 55 Table 18. — Geographical Distribution of Periods Devoted to Physical Activities 55 Table 19. — Summary Analysis of Time and Periods for Public,. Private, and Training School Kindergartens . 57 Table 20. — Summary Analysis of Time and Periods for Morning and After¬ noon Sessions . 59 Table 21. — Distribution of Stenographic Reports by Size of Cities . 63 Table 22. — Geographical Distribution of Stenographic Reports . 63 Table 23. — Distribution of Method Scores Among Kindergarten Activities.. 70 Table 24. — Geographical Distribution of Method Scores . 71 Table 25. — Replies to Kindergarten Inquiry Distributed by Size of Cities and by Geographical Divisions . 101 Table 26. — Methods for Kindergarten Activities as Reported in Kindergarten Inquiry . 1 18 LIST OF CHARTS Chart I. — Time in Daily Schedule When General Assembly Occurs . 37 Chart II. — Time in Daily Schedule When Discussion Occurs . 37 Chart III. — Time in Daily Schedule When Music Occurs . 40 Chart IV. — Time in Daily Schedule When Language and Literature Occur.. 43 Chart V. — Time in Daily Schedule When One Work Period Occurs . 48 Chart VI. — Time in Daily Schedule When Two Work Periods Occur . 49 Chart VII. — Time in Daily Schedule When Physical Activities Occur . 54 Chart VIII. — Variations in Average Daily Attendance by Months During-the Kindergarten School Year in 80 Cities . 122 Division of Time in Kindergartens . . 28 Photograph of Kindergarten Room . 65 INTRODUCTION Three years ago the officers of the Department of Kindergarten Edu¬ cation of the National Education Association, under the chairmanship of M iss Alma Binzel, proposed that a study be made of kindergarten educa¬ tion in the United States. The opportunity to conduct the study was offered to the writer, who formed a committee to assist in formulating plans and in gathering data. With the cooperation of the Executive Committee of the National Education Association, the study has been completed and is now reported. The Committee, called the Research Committee of the Department of Kindergarten Education of the National Education Association, represents the main geographical divisions of the United States. Miss M. Madilene Veverka, Kindergarten-Primary Supervisor of Los Angeles, California, represents the western division ; Mrs. Ernest Horn of Iowa City, Iowa, and Miss Olga Adams of the School of Education in the University of Chi¬ cago, Chicago, Illinois, represent the Great Plains and the Great Lakes divisions; Miss Allene Seaton, Supervisor of Kindergartens in Louisville, Kentucky, represents the southern division ; and the chairman represents the eastern division. The Research Committee wishes to take this opportunity to express its appreciation for the cooperation of school administrators and kindergarten teachers throughout the country for contributing the material for this study. The committee desires to acknowledge the assistance received from Miss Agnes Winn, director of the Division of Classroom Service of the National Education Association. The chairman also gratefully acknowl¬ edges the advice and assistance given by Dr. J. R. McGauhy, Dr. Bess V. Cunningham, Dr. W. H. Kilpatrick, Professor Patty S. Hill, Dr. George D. Strayer, and other members of the faculty of Teachers College, Colum¬ bia Universitv. CHAPTER 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND SOURCES OF DATA Need for the study of kindergarten education — There are two groups of professional and lay workers who are interested to know what constitutes general practice in kindergarten education of the United States in 1925. One group consists of those people who do not know what they may expect to see when they visit a kindergarten. The other group consists of kindergartners and administrators who, because of their experience and training, are prepared to examine present kindergarten procedures, and to evaluate them on scientific bases. The existence of the first group of professional workers referred to above is proven in the replies of 129 school superintendents and elementary school principals to the question, “What are the subjects or activities, the aims and the methods used in kindergartens?” Those replying were men and women enrolled in classes in supervision and educational administra¬ tion during the last summer session at Teachers College, Columbia Univer¬ sity. Of seventy superintendents, 32 either made no response or stated that they did not know, and thirty of them added that they had no kinder¬ gartens in their school systems. Of fifty-nine elementary school principals, 27 either made no response or stated that they did not know, and twenty of them added that they had no kindergartens in their schools. If these professional workers may be considered as fair samples from the educa¬ tional field, the question may easily arise, “Is the first step in a child’s edu¬ cation intelligently administered if the administrator knows nothing of the possible tools of education for children of this age?” The existence of the second group of professional workers referred to above is proven by the studies that are now being made to determine the effect of kindergarten training upon the pupil’s changes in behavior, upon his achievement in the early primary grades, and upon his progress through the elementary grades. This group of workers may be interested to know to what extent kindergarten education adheres to its traditional materials and activities, and to what extent its programs of activities and the kinds of materials used have been influenced by modern psychology and child study. Both groups of workers would do well to know that there is a constant increase in the number of kindergartens established throughout the coun¬ try, and in the number of children attending them ; that from a philanthrop- ically supported institution the kindergarten, as shown by the United States Bureau of Education reports, is becoming a part of the public school systems of the country. Problem before the Research Co?nmittee — The problem before the Re¬ search Committee has been to present facts representing kindergarten edu- t9l cation in the United States. All evaluation of present practice in kinder¬ garten education has been left for future studies. To he truly representa¬ tive of the country as a whole it was decided to include in the study, kinder¬ gartens from public, private and teacher-training schools located in all the geographical divisions of the country. To present an accurate picture it was decided to gather first-hand descriptions of kindergarten sessions, and to supplement these with statements from teachers of what they do in kindergartens. Because comparable data concerning the administration of kindergartens is not available, it was thought best to devise a means of gathering pertinent information. Sources of data — -The data used in this study have been provided, first , by stenographic reports of full sessions of kindergartens, and second, by the replies to a Kindergarten Inquiry received from kindergarten teachers and school administrators. These data have been supplemented by the opinions of 507 professional workers regarding the subjects, aims and methods of kindergarten education. Each committee member assumed the responsibility for gathering the stenographic reports from her division of the country. At least four were to be requested from each state, — two from public schools, one from a teacher-training school, and one from a private school. The chairman pre¬ pared official form letters to accompany the personal letters of the com¬ mittee members, the first letter explaining the study and asking for the contribution of a stenographic report. Directions for the stenographer and a letter to the teacher whose work was reported were sent to the cities offering to contribute reports. T he directions for the stenographer were made jointly by the committee chair¬ man and by an expert stenographer, experienced in reporting lessons, after they had visited and had made a report of a kindergarten session. The stenographer was also requested to state on a blank provided, the number of boys and girls in attendance, the nationality and color of the children observed, the amount of time covered in the report, the activities which were included in the report and the date on which it was taken. The letter to the teacher provided for an expression of her opinion regarding the natural¬ ness of the day’s work reported and asked for the following information : Do you consider this day’s work fairly typical of your usual work? Please list subjects which you teach beside those represented in the report. What is the range of ages among the children in your kindergarten? Describe any effect of the weather upon the attendance or the work per¬ formed. Describe any effect of the nationality of the children upon the day’s work. Please list any unusual happenings. Make any statement you wish which will throw light upon the report. PI ease add your time and subject program, telling what activities each period may include as you teach it. A letter was sent to the person in supervisory charge of the school re¬ ported asking for information which included the bases upon which the [ 10 1 kindergartens were selected to be reported, a statement of the teacher’s professional training, the number of elementary school buildings and the number of kindergartens in the school system, and the bases on which new kindergartens are established. A letter of appreciation acknowledged each report as it was received. The committee chairman analysed the data contained in the reports de¬ veloped by the Kindergarten Inquiry, and analysed the replies. The mail¬ ing list for the Inquiry was taken from among the cities which reported salaries paid to kindergartners in the inquiry made by the Research Division of the National Education Association in 1923. Cities of all sizes in each of the geographical divisions were included in the mailing list. Treatment of the Data — The problem divides itself into six logical steps. 1. The presentation of evidence concerning the development and legal status of kindergarten education in the United States. 2. The presentation of evidence to show that the stenographic reports received, represent varied school situations throughout the country. 3. An analysis of the time schedules of the schools contributing stenographic reports. 4. An analysis of the contents of the stenographic reports. 5. An analysis of the replies from 535 teachers to the two sections of the Kinder¬ garten Inquiry and the replies* 1 from 162 cities to the administration section of the Inquiry. 6. A general summary of the findings from the data. The treatment of the data in each step will follow the outstanding periods of the day, i. e., the general assembly, the discussion period, music, language and literature, work periods and physical activities. The three sets of data are used to make the picture of kindergarten education more complete and, through their comparisons, to assure the development of as accurate a pic¬ ture as possible of kindergarten education in the United States. 1 Data based on replies from Teacher-Training Institutions to the Administration Section are included with cities. i ii i CHAPTER II INDICATIONS OF THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE KINDERGARTEN IN THE UNITED STATES The present extent of kindergarten service in the United States — The kindergartens of the United States started in philanthropically supported schools and in private schools. They have won their way into the public school systems of the country by supplying a type of education which har¬ monizes the home and school experiences and which has contributed to the welfare of little children. This has been done through its own program of activities and through arousing the interest of parents and professional people in the possibilities of growth inherent in child nature. Dr. Wm. T. Harris of St. Louis, Mo., took the initiative in 1873 in making kinder¬ gartens a part of the public school system. The demonstration kinder¬ garten at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876 gave to the kindergarten its first general publicity. A material evidence of the growth of interest in kindergartens is found in the statistics from the Bureau of Education in Washington, D. C., which give as accurate a picture as can be drawn of the increase in the number of kindergartens, the number of kindergarten teach¬ ers and the number of kindergarten pupils in the United States during the last fifty years. Table 1 — Increase of Kindergarten Service in the United States During the Last Fifty Years Kinder- Date gartens Teachers Pupils 1873 . 42 73 1,252 1882 . 348 814 16,916 1892 . 1,311 2,535 65,296 1900 . 4,811 9,641 225,394 1922 . 8,889 11,842 555,830 Following the geographical grouping of states used in the analysis of the stenographic reports, these 1921-22 figures are distributed as follows: Geographical Divisions of Country Kinder¬ gartens Teachers Pupils Eastern . 3,358 5,187 233,186 Southern . 670 954 33,178 Great Lakes . 2,556 3,012 162,928 Great Plains . 1,314 1,523 72,805 Western . 991 1,166 53,733 This distribution shows that there are fewer kindergartens in the south¬ ern and western states. The fact is significant that many recent additions to the kindergartens of the country have been made in these states and have 1 12 J also been made in small towns which have not before shown interest in kindergartens. Estimated from the Federal Census, there were in 1920, in the United States, 4,765,661 children of kindergarten age. Of this number, 11.7 per cent were enrolled in kindergartens in the year of 1921-22. This ranges among the several states from .1 per cent in Arkansas to 37.7 per cent in the District of Columbia.1 2 Rapid as has been the increase of enrollment in kindergartens during the past fifty years, there is a large field of service for the future. This service is both to extend the opportunities for the education of little children and to improve the quality of education that is given. State kindergarten laws — "Ehe extension of the field for service is de¬ pendent in the first place upon the provisions for kindergartens contained in the laws of the several states of the country. A bulletin dealing with Kindergarten legislation" has just been issued by the United States Bureau of Education. This bulletin gives the essential facts concerning the kinder¬ garten laws of each state. It shows which states have and which have not adequate laws for the certification of teachers, points out in what respect the laws of the different states need improving, and becomes a manual in helping the lay person to understand the kindergarten laws of his state and to be intelligent in helping to better these laws. Forty of the states now have kindergarten laws. Four other states3 have no need for special laws sincq the entrance age for public schools has been placed at five years and kindergartens may be established as a part of the public school systems. Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland and Mississippi have, as yet, enacted no laws. In 34 states, there is a “permissive” law, in six states there is a “mandatory- on-petition” law, and in three of the “permissive” states there is a manda¬ tory law for certain qualified cities. These laws have different significance in the several states due to their specific wording or to the bearing which related and qualifying laws have upon them. The New Jersey and Wis¬ consin laws illustrate the two types of laws mentioned, and are here repro¬ duced. New Jersey — 201. (145) The Board of education of any school district mav establish a kindergarten school or a kindergarten department in any school under its control, and shall admit to such kindergarten school or department anv child over the age of four and under the age of seven years who shall be a resident of the district; provided, that no child under the age of five years shall be admitted to any public school unless such school shall be a regularly organized kindergarten school or shall have a kindergarten department. 202. (146) Every teacher in a kindergarten school or department shall hold a special kindergarten certificate, issued by the State Board of Examiners. 203. (147) The expense of kindergarten schools or departments shall be paid out of any moneys available for the current expenses of the schools, and in the same 1 Distribution and ranking of states is given in Bulletin, 1925, No. 7. Bureau of Educa¬ tion. Washington, D. C. 2 U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1925, No. 7. 3 Massachusetts, Nebiaska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island. [13 ] manner and under the same restrictions as the expenses of the other schools or departments shall be paid. II isconsin — (No. 144, S.) Chapter 228, Laws of 1921. An Act to repeal section 40.10 of the statutes, and to create a new section relating to the establishment of kindergartens. 1 he people of the State of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Section 40.10 of the statutes is hereby repealed. Section 2. There is hereby created a new section to be numbered and to read: 40.10. The school board or board of education of any school district however organized, union free high school districts excepted, shall upon petition of the parents or guardians of twenty-five or more children more than four and not more than six years of age establish and maintain a kindergarten in charge of a legally qualified kindergarten teacher for the instruction of said children. In case such district maintains two or more school buildings, the parents or guardians here¬ tofore mentioned shall reside not more than one mile from the building in which it is proposed to establish the kindergarten. When a kindergarten shall have been established as hereinbefore provided, it shall constitute a part of the common public schools of the district and the taxes for maintenance of such kindergarten shall be levied and collected in the same manner as other taxes are levied and collected for the support of the common schools. When a kindergarten shall have been estab¬ lished, it shall not be discontinued unless the enrollment for the preceding year shall have been less than fifteen. Section 3. This act shall take effect upon passage and publication. (Approved by the Governor May 11 and subsequently became a law upon publication.) ■ There are three essential features of satisfactory kindergarten legisla¬ tion which should be common in all states. “They must designate the authorities to whom the establishment of the kindergartens is to be en¬ trusted, and specify the kind of districts or communities in which the estab¬ lishment is permitted. They must state the sources from which the support of the kindergarten is to be derived ; and designate the authority for issu¬ ing teaching certificates.”1 Kindergarten extension — The extension of kindergarten opportunity for all children is aided by many women’s organizations through giving legisla¬ tive assistance and through including kindergartens in their educational propaganda. This has been and is a live issue in the educational program of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, American Association of University Women, National Congress of Parents and Teachers, and Na¬ tional League of Women Voters. l’he International Kindergarten Union is the organization which has maintained a definite program of work in behalf of kindergartens for over thirty years. The breadth of the kindergarten field served by the I. K. U. is largely due to its active membership, to the work of its extension com¬ mittees, to the professional stimulus of its annual conventions and to its 1 U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1925, No. 7. [ 14 1 affiliations with other national educational organizations. Branch organi¬ zations of the International Kindergarten Union established throughout the country are cooperating and consolidating their activities with those of the National Council of Primary Education and with other professional organizations dealing with the elementary school. Other active agencies for kindergarten extension are the kindergarten divisions of the several state educational organizations which contribute programs at the annual state conventions and carry on professional activi¬ ties pertinent to the improvement and extension of kindergarten education within the states; the Council of Kindergarten Supervisors and Training Teachers, an organization affiliated with the Department of Superin¬ tendence of the National Education Association ; and the Department of Kindergarten Education of the National Education Association which is sponsoring this study of kindergarten practice. The early elementary grades as a unit of education — Through the cooperation of these kindergarten organizations with organizations pri¬ marily interested in the work of the early elementary grades, it has been possible for the kindergarten to contribute its best methods of work and its educative materials to the primary schools. In return, the kinder¬ garten has received help from the primary schools in analyzing its objec¬ tives and in evaluating its results in terms of the future progress of its pupils in the grades. The educational principles for kindergartens and the elementary schools are identical. A statement to this effect is made by Dr. Bobbitt as follows: Objectives of schools of different levels — So far as valid, leaving aside the voca¬ tional, the foregoing are the objectives of general education in schools of all levels: pre-primary, primary, elementary, junior high school, senior high school, and junior college. All of these schools are training for the same adult life. All are aiming at the same ultimate goals. Some are nearer the beginnings of man's educational journey, some are nearer its consummation. All the parts, however, make up one journey. It should be direct, consistent, straight, unconfused.1 The same educational “agencies” which have furthered kindergarten work are extending their interest into the Nursery Schools. The close connection of these schools with the Child Welfare Centers stimulates scientific studies of the mental as well as of the physical welfare of chil¬ dren. These studies are contributing facts about the kinds and rates of physical and mental growth of little children, and about their interests and tendencies in behavior. These facts are sound foundations from which to analyze the educational methods and procedures used in kindergartens and primary schools. These analyses should result in adjustments of methods and objectives which will improve the quality of the education offered for little children. This is an essential part of the process of expansion in all kinds of work, and in this instance specifically applied to kindergarten. 1 Bobbitt, Franklin — How to Make a Curriculum. Houghton Mifflin Co., N. Y., pp. 30. [ 15 ] Provisions for kindergarten-primary teacher training — The unifica¬ tion that is being strengthened between kindergartens and primary grades has made a demand for teachers whose training has included both lines of work. 1 here seems to he a tendency to engage teachers for a division of a school organization rather than for a single grade in the organization. City school systems are organizing their supervision units to cover kinder¬ garten and primary grades and they expect the teachers to understand the teaching work of this unit of the schools. Training of teachers is for a period of childhood — from four to eight tears of age in this instance. The work of the teacher is far more effective when she understands the mate¬ rials and procedures used in working with the children a year younger and a year older than those whom she is teaching. Training schools are providing courses which prepare students to teach during this period of childhood just as they have provided courses to pre¬ pare students to teach in the intermediate grades and high schools. A marked advance has been made in recent years by combining the separate kindergarten and primary courses into kindergarten primary courses. In 1913, there were 39 state teacher-training institutions that gave kindergarten courses. Of these, hut one was listed as a kindergar¬ ten-primary course. In 1922 there were 83 state institutions that gave some measure of kindergarten instruction, and more than 60 were speci¬ fically designated as kindergarten-primary courses. The work is being further strengthened by placing the kindergarten and primary grades under the same supervisor. Of 120 cities that reported kindergarten supervision in 1922, over half reported that the supervision of both kindergarten and primary grades was in the hands of the same person.* 1 “Rules and Regulations ” of boards of education concerning kinder¬ gartens — An effort was made to see the extent to which kindergartens are considered a part of the elementary schools by looking for statements concerning them in the Rules and Regulations of hoards of education. Twenty-five of the thirty-eight examined stated some kinds of regulations concerning kindergartens. From the other rules, it was difficult to deter¬ mine whether or not these school systems provided kindergartens. In nine cities, the rules specifically state that the school organization includes the kindergarten, for example, “The Public Schools of this district shall be classified as kindergarten, elementary, secondary, and special,” — and “the school organization shall be on the K-6-3-3 plan.” Other state¬ ments regarding the course of study, the dates of admission, age of admis¬ sion and promotions take for granted that the kindergarten is an integral part of the school system. The kindergarten is known bv a name which does not easily fall under the classification of “grades” and until public 1 An Evaluation of Kindergarten-Primary Courses of Study in Teacher-Training Institu¬ tions by Nina C. Yandewalker, Bulletin , 1924, No. 3. Department of Interior, Washing¬ ton, D. C. I 16 ] thought includes the education of children prior to the present first grade of the school systems, it would seem highly desirable to have some state¬ ment such as has been quoted appear in the Rules and Regulations to indi¬ cate the extent of the school system. Such a statement implies that a policy providing kindergarten education has been accepted by the board of edu¬ cation. Twenty-one of the Rules and Regulations prescribed entrance ages. Twelve gave these as 4 to 5 years, seven as 5 years and two as 6 years. Age on Entering Kindergarten1 Kindergartens are intended for children one or two years younger than those in the first grade. In most States children are allowed to enter kindergarten at 4 years of age. Three States admit them at 3 years and six States do not allow them to enter until they are 5. It is customary to divide the children in two groups, so that the older children attend one session and the less developed ones the other. This makes it possible to have two kindergarten grades, with a course of study planned to meet the needs of each group. The limits of time within which the entrance age stated must be reached to allow admittance at the opening of school were stated in a few instances, e. g., A child must be five years of age on or before the first Monday in October for the first semester, or the first Monday in March for the second semester. Excep¬ tions to this rule must be recommended by the principal, with reasons, on a return card blank provided for the purpose. This recommendation must be approved by' the assistant superintendent. In most cases, there are no regulations about accepting an applicant dur¬ ing the semester. If the attendance does not overcrowd the room, or if the child has had some experience in another school, or is otherwise fitted to adapt himself to the children who have been attending the kindergarten, the tendency has been to admit him at any time during the semester. Of nine regulations found, three limited admission to the first month of each term, one included the first eight weeks of the term, four admitted chil¬ dren at the opening of school with age provisions such as these — “if of school age by January first” — “if of school age by the twelfth week of school.” One regulation left the admission to the decision of the super¬ intendent. Eight of the 25 rules of boards of education made statements concern¬ ing promotion requirements. Five were based on a chronological age of 6 years, one on an age of with the provision that the child have at least half a year of kindergarten experience, one on attendance in kinder¬ garten at least one semester and one on the findings of intelligence tests plus chronological age. The variety of bases which determine admittance and promotion in kindergartens is further shown by the replies to the Administration Sec¬ tion of the Kindergarten Inquiry. kindergarten Education Circular No. 2 (Revised November, 1923) Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C.; Bulletin, 1925, No. 7, p. 6 [ 17 I Kindergarten courses of study combined with elementary courses — Another rather interesting evidence of the inclusion of kindergartens in the elementary school is found in the courses of study provided. This has been found in 140 city general, special subject, state and county courses. Those mentioned here have not been evaluated for the worth or inclusiveness of their content, and the total number cannot be related to any total number of courses which do or do not include kindergartens. Under certain controlled procedures of evaluation and selection, some valid estimate of the practice and value of including kindergartens in the primary and elementary courses of study could be made. The more recently pub¬ lished courses of study listed in the Bibliography, with one exception, in¬ clude kindergartens and primary grades. The crude number of courses represented here, and their wide geographical distribution, are decided indi¬ cation of practice. The large number which include kindergartens with the first three grades, kindergartens with the first six grades and kindergartens with the first eight grades show the most popular methods of building the courses of study. The extremes of practice in covering the whole educa¬ tional situations from the kindergarten through the high school, normal school or college, and of covering just kindergarten work are interesting to note. The small number of courses of study in fine and industrial arts is surprising. It would seem that in courses of study dealing with this subject the advantage of beginning to develop skills in the kindergarten would be appreciated. See Table 2. kindergartens in general school surveys — The inclusion of the kin¬ dergarten in the general survey of school systems has resulted in increas¬ ing its opportunities for service. The Baltimore, Md., and the New Bed¬ ford, Mass., surveys are excellent examples of this. The Baltimore sur¬ vey has resulted in a one hundred per cent increase in the number of kin¬ dergartens, in the number of children enrolled and in the number of trained teachers. It has been the means for improving the kindergarten equipment. It has also made possible a definite correlation between the kindergartens and first grades. In the Springfield, Mass., and Stamford, Conn., surveys a score card was used to analyze the teaching situation and to make recommendations based on standards rather than on opinion.1 The relation of the kinder¬ garten and primary grades is emphasized in the Watertown, N. Y., survey. An analysis of the cost of kindergarten education would be a decided con¬ tribution in some future survey. All these examinations of the kinder¬ garten are wholesome moves toward improving the work done and toward making it an integral part of the schools. Studies in the progress of kindergarten children — One of the first scientific studies of the progress of kindergarten pupils was made by 1 By students of Kindergarten, First Grade Department of Teachers College, Columbia Uni¬ versity, under the direction of Miss Mary M. Re d. 18 ] Table 2. — Distribution of 140 Courses of Study Which Include Kindergarten 1 [ 19 ] Facts taken from the Elementary Curriculum Research Bureau of Teachers College, Columbia University. W. J. Peters 1 in California. Matching two groups of children in intelli¬ gence, one group having attended kindergarten and the other not, he then compared their progress through the first five grades. Mr. Peters found that the kindergarten children when reaching the fifth grade 'were 3.4 months younger than were the non-kindergarten pupils. Attaching a com¬ mercial value to these three months, he says that the kindergarten is a saver of life and money. The evidence of this study has been borne out by a “Kindergarten Project'' in the state of Ohio conducted by the Bureau of Educational Research of the Ohio State University. The results of this study will be available in final form during 1925. In a bulletin devoted to kindergartens published by the Minneapolis schools, an interesting table of figures shows the increase of kindergarten and first-grade enrollment during the last 24 years, as well as per cent which each enrollment is of the elementary school enrollment. As the number of kindergarten pupils enrolled increased, the number of first- grade pupils enrolled decreased — the kindergarten in this way providing for the immature child. To this relationship of enrollment credit has been given for aiding in the elimination of retardation. Another extensive investigation of progress of kindergarten-trained pupils was made by Mrs. H. P. Smith in the schools of Lawrence, Kans. Because the kindergartens have been a part of the school system but three years, Lawrence is a particularly good place in which to study kinder¬ garten progress. This is reported in detail in the Elementary School Journal of Lebruary, 1924. Another study is planned to supplement this one. A further stimulus to the study of the effect of kindergarten education upon first grade retardation is given in School Life for May, 1924. A nation-wide inquiry shows that in 1918, one child in every four, on an average, was retarded in the first grade. This startling fact has led to a general effort on the part of principals, superintendents and teachers to eliminate this condition. Educational tests and mental testing have become quite generally the basis for promotions from kindergartens to first grade, and the immature children have lingered in the kindergartens until mature enough for the work of the first grade.2 In the matter of retardation, great value is being attached to the oppor¬ tunity in kindergarten education to provide a ready speaking vocabulary through having the opportunity for constant practice in using it in worth¬ while situations; to provide a background of experiences with social, indus¬ trial, and natural life; to develop good health habits and those social-moral characteristics essential to right living. The effect of such training upon children is best measured within the kindergarten months of attendance or within a year or two of the kindergarten experience. Measuring it 1 Peters, W. J. — A Study of the Progress of Kindergarten Pupils. Journal of Educational Research , February, 1923. 2 In schools where kindergarten children are promoted on the basis of intelligence tests, the subsequent classification of first-grade children is a factor in the elimination of re¬ tardation which must not be forgotten. [ 20 1 within these limits of time lessens the possibility of having contradictory influences affect the children. There is a need for more scientifically con¬ ducted investigations of the lower primary grade work. Costs of kindergarten education — The matter of recording all school •costs varies throughout the country. It is a matter of fairly recent date that effort has been made to have comparable accounting systems in the several public school systems. Statements of kindergarten cost are usually misleading or difficult to interpret and are seldom comparable. They seldom indicate the kind of expenditures included or the length of the school day or the size of the classes. Chapter VIII of the Report on Elementary School Costs in the State of New York, prepared for the Educational Finance Inquiry Com¬ mission, shows graphically how variable are the reported costs of kinder¬ gartens. The total cost in 1921 ranged from $21 to $113. The range in costs of teachers’ salaries and of expenses other than teachers’ salaries found within these total figures is just as great as the range in the total cost. Such extreme variations, as here shown, point to the need of some accepted standards regarding the size of class and length of the kindergarten day. Some kindergartens were operated with an average daily attendance so small that the entailed per pupil cost cannot easily be defended. On the other hand, the average daily attendance was so large in some cases as to indicate that half-day sessions were held. In these cases, the per pupil costs were correspondingly low. Two interesting cost statements are made by the business departments of the Detroit and the Minneapolis school systems. Detroit, in its 79th Annual Superintendent’s Report, gives the student-hour cost in terms of the subjects of the course of study. For kindergartens alone, this cost was approximately ten cents ; for kindergartens and the elementary grades, this average was approximately seven cents ; for the intermediate grades ten cents and for the high schools twenty cents. Minneapolis, in its kin- •dergarten bulletin of 1924, compares kindergarten and first-grade pupil costs. The cost for supplies, 65 cents per pupil, is similar for the two, •disregarding the significant item of first-grade books. The teaching-service •cost is $3.01 for kindergarten children and $4.56 for first-grade children •each month. The daily expense is 15 cents for kindergartens and nearly 23 cents a day for first-grade. These figures show an expenditure for kindergarten education which is less than that of other departments of the school system. Certain necessary considerations in kindergarten accounting are sug¬ gested as follows: 1. Consider the provisions made in the state laws for using moneys from the general fund for children of kindergarten age. 2. Determine the allotment of expense on either a full or a half day pupil attendance. 3. Account for the number of half-day sessions held in one room under one teacher. [ 21 ] 4. Make the proper allocation of the teacher’s salary for half a day if she teaches hut half a day. 5. Pro-rate a fair share of general charges for administration and operation to the kindergartens. Summary — The several instances of kindergarten activities described in this chapter show the following facts: — 1. 1 here has been rapid growth in the number of kindergarten pupils and kindergarten schools during the past fifty years. 2. I he education of 4 and 5 year old children is being accepted as a responsibility of the public school system. 3. The kindergartens are being regarded as an integral part of the public schools as shown by their inclusion in state legislation, rules and regulations of boards of education, elementary courses of study and train¬ ing school programs. 4. Scientific investigations of kindergarten education are being made and there is a ready field for more studies both in kindergarten instruction and kindergarten administration. [22 1 CHAPTER III SCHOOL CONDITIONS REPRESENTED IN THE STUDY OF STENOGRAPHIC REPORTS The analysis of time schedules and of the day’s program in kindergartens which follows in the next two chapters is made from stenographic reports of full sessions of kindergarten work. There are 137 of these reports which have been contributed from 34 states and the District of Columbia. The purpose of making this study is to show the general practice in kinder¬ gartens throughout the country. This necessitates two things : — 1. That the reports include samples of the many and various school situations throughout the country, and 2. That the reports express what goes on in these schools under normal circum¬ stances. With this in mind, an analysis of certain factors has been made to show the school conditions represented by the reports and to show the natural¬ ness of the situations as they were reported. This analysis is based upon information which was given by the teachers of the schools reported and by the persons in supervisory charge over kindergartens. Bases upon which the kindergartens were selected for the report — The reasons for this selection fall under three heads — the teacher con¬ cerned, the school concerned and the pupils. Many of the schopl directors stated two or three of these reasons. As might have been expected, the ability of the teacher influenced the selection of the school to be reported. Table 3 shows that the reports represent the work of teachers who were considered by the administrator in charge to be of outstanding ability, or of average ability, of teachers having wide experience, training and pro¬ fessional enthusiasm as well as those who are able to carry on their work under conditions which are unnatural and disconcerting. As stated by the several superintendents, the reports represent three times as many schools of average practice as of exceptional practice and about the same number of schools whose pupils have average or exceptional social back¬ ground. [23 ] Table 3- — Bases Upon Which Kindergartens Were Selected Within the Cities Reporting 1 Selected on a teacher basis . 80 For her ability to conduct the kindergarten efficiently according to her particular theory of education . 3 5 For her poise under trying circumstances . 15 For her professional attitude . 9 Because she represents the average ability of the system . 9 Because of her wide experience . 8 Because of her training . 4 Selected on a school basis . 3 5 The school represents the average practice of the system . 20 The school was easily accessible to the stenographer . 9 The equipment is particularly interesting . 4 The attendance is one of the largest in the system . 2 Selected on a pupil basis . 12 As average in attendance and social background . 5 As above average in ability . 2 As representing extremes of social background in one city . 2 As representing groups of foreign children . 3 Total . 127 The kind and amount of training which these teachers had received is interesting not only for the indication of the kind of work which might be expected, but because it tends to show the professional enthusiasm of teachers working with little children. See Table 4. Number of elementary school buildings and number of kindergartens in these school systems — To gain an idea of the extent to which kinder¬ gartens are considered a part of the school systems which have contributed stenographic reports, effort was made to find the number of elementary school buildings and the number of kindergartens in each school system. From the 108 responses, 2,676 elementary buildings were reported and 2,258 kindergartens. This means that 84.4 per cent of the elementary school buildings in the systems represented by the stenographic reports include the kindergarten in their organization. An error which enters into all kindergarten statistical reports is probably found here. That error is the uncertainty whether the kindergartens reported are separate-room or¬ ganizations, and if so, whether there is more than one to a building, or whether there are different sessions under the same teacher in the same room. It is believed that this error is small in this report because of the careful explanations which accompanied the responses. The answers to the question “What factors determine the buildings in which kindergartens shall be established in your system?” gave a variety of responses. The tendency in these systems is to make it possible for all chil¬ dren to have kindergarten experience. There is appreciation for the need 1Tli is analysis does not include those private and training schools which employ but one teacher. [ 24 1 [25] of kindergartens in congested districts and use is made of the state laws in the establishment of kindergartens by petition. This opportunity to petition for a kindergarten is a healthy stimulus to the interest of parents in the education of their little children. The replies of the 51 school sys¬ tems which answered the question are distributed as follows: Reasons Given for Establishing New Kindergartens Pupil Basis . 23 The estimated need of the district . 13 The estimated social need of the district . 3 When there are 20-25 children of kindergarten age . 4 When there are 12-15 children of kindergarten age . 3 Program Basis . 20 A kindergarten in every school . 17 No criteria, but an effort is made to have kindergartens in all build¬ ings . 3 Building Basis . 12 The size of the building . 6 The school area . 4 New buildings contain a kindergarten room . 2 Petition Basis . 9 Enough Population to Finance the Kindergarten . 1 Teachers' estimates of the typicalness of the days reported — -The value of the reports used in this part of the study depends upon whether or not they represent the teacher’s average practice. To determine this, the question was asked, “Do you consider this day typical of your usual work?” One hundred and twenty-one teachers answered “yes.” Eight teachers said that it was fairly typical and explained their replies as follows: 1. The day was devoted to Hallowe’en preparations. 2. Two said that the presence of the stenographer and visitors subdued the children. 3. The work was more teacher-directed than usual, and out-of-door play was omitted, due to rain the day before. 4. The work was more organized than usual because a practice student had been in charge of the kindergarten a week before. 5. The room had been used the night before for some social activity and all the school material was not in place. 6. Lunch was omitted. 7. Emphasis was placed on the foreign child’s use of his English vocabulary, therefore less emphasis was laid on self-initiated work. Four teachers said that the day’s work was not typical, due to the following reasons : 1. Hallowe’en preparations. 2. The school building was under repair. 3. Butter was being made and the cream was not ripe. 4. The children were noisy because school had been closed four days preceding the taking of the report. In the analysis of the content of the reports, allowance has been made for these unusual circumstances. [26 ] The weather conditions on the days reported — I he teachers’ replies to the question regarding the weather conditions on the day reported, showed but few cases where either the attendance or the usual responses of the chil¬ dren were affected. In six cases the weather, either rain or cold, reduced the attendance. In two cases, the room was so warm that the children were less alert and less attentive. Other than these cases, the weather had no effect upon the day’s work. Nationalities of the children in the schools reported — Sixty per cent of the 4,488 children are reported to be Americans. That may, of course, mean that in some instances the parents were foreign born. The follow¬ ing nationalities were represented in groups: two groups of Mexicans, two groups largely Italian, and one Polish group. The schools reported 26 “mixed” nationalities. Those most frequently mentioned are given as fol¬ lows: Italian in 10 schools; Jewish in 5 schools; German in 4 schools; Mexican, Austrian, Polish and Russian in 3 schools each; Finnish, Jap¬ anese, Chinese, Canadians, Norwegians, Swedish and Scotch in 2 schools each ; and the other nationalities were listed in one school each. This was evidence of the variety of nationalities represented in the schools which contributed stenographic reports. In addition to these, there are 4 groups of colored Amercian children represented. In summary, then, these kinder¬ garten reports represent 60 per cent white American pupils, 3 per cent colored Americans and 37 per cent of several groupings of different na¬ tionalities. The'range of ages among the kindergarten pupils — The outstanding point shown in Table 5 is that a two-year range, usually from 4 to 6 years, expresses the average age range in all of the 137 schools represented. Indicated by their median high and median low ages, public schools seem to have older children than either of those in corresponding groups. This is also shown by the fact that no child younger than three years was found in the public kindergartens. The number of children two and three years old who are listed in the private and training schools show that there is a tendency to care for these younger children. Dates on which reports ivere taken — The middle 50 per cent reports were made on or between October 22 and November 6, 1924. Ninety per cent of the reports were made between October 15, and November 22. Only 10 per cent taken after November 22, and 5 per cent after December 8. The dates on which the greatest numbers were taken were October 15, 22, and 29, 1924. The original plan was to avoid the first and last days of the week, as well as days near any festival. The plan was followed in about half of the kindergartens. Since the observance of festivals plays a large part in kindergarten activities, it is well that they are represented in the reports studied. The number of children and teachers represented — Three-fourths of the 4,488 children represented in the reports are enrolled in the public schools. [ 27 ] It is not possible to generalize about the number of pupils per teacher. It is interesting to note the wide ranges in the numbers of pupils per teacher and to see how wide the ranges in numbers are as reported in the Kinder¬ garten Inquiry. Facts about the one day’s attendance and the number of teachers are given in Table 5A. Activities omitted from this day’s program — Each teacher was asked to list the activities which occur in her kindergarten but which were not used the day on which the report was taken. 1 he variety in the list of omissions indicates that every subject and every material is not represented in each days program of activities. 1 he summary Fist includes instances of omis- >ion of all activities except the assembly and work periods. Dramatization was most frequently mentioned. Since the number of omissions for the other activities is simdar, the day s programs which are studied may be con¬ sidered as normal. THE D/I//0/0/Z Of f/Mf /A/ /f/HfffOHfTf/VO /tCOOTD/A/6 TO Trt£ O0/WP0O/T£ PllOTA^TA/TO OP Ttft f /?£ POTTO PA/PLYOPO [28 I Summary — The data in this chapter indicate the following facts concern¬ ing the stenographic reports analysed in this study. 1. The schools represented in this study were selected first — because of the teachers’ abilities; second, because they represent interesting or average practices; third, because of the abilities and nationalities of the children. 2. All but two of the teachers whose work is reported, have had two or more years of training; 15 per cent have a college degree, a third of these being a master’s degree ; and over half of them have attended sum¬ mer school or have carried extension study. 3. The school systems from which the reports were contributed tend to provide kindergarten education for pre-school children. 4. In nearly all of the schools reporting, the teacher considers the day’s work as typical of her usual work; the day was not disturbed by unusual weather conditions or by any omission of activities from the day’s programs. 5. The reports represent wide variations in the attendance for one or two teachers and in the nationalities and social backgrounds among the children. 6. The reports represent schools enrolling children from 4 to 6 years of age. 7. The activities in the kindergartens reported occurred, in 90 per cent of the cases, between the dates of October 15 and November 22, 1924. The variations in the school conditions from which the stenographic reports were taken, and the teachers’ estimates that the days are typical of their usual work, are evidence that this source of data is representative of general practice in kindergartens. I 29 I I able 5A — One Day's Attendance . E-. Q £ < f-, St o I oo no -+ c> .Vj "“R £ bjr, o i o 5^ fS R ^ O .R 5*v *=$ CS 'o' ■S o R k. u. ft 'U fti rt o *- u W c£ o o o o . o -t NO l/) l/) lo ^ 'O LO o NO CN o o to lO o o to o 00 oo o H [30] CHAPTER IV AN ANALYSIS OF TIME SCHEDULES Distribution of time represented by the stenographic reports — The time schedules of 131 kindergartens1 2 are analysed in this section. Sixteen public school schedules for afternoon sessions are treated separately. The other 115, including public, private and training schools, are analysed ac¬ cording to geographical divisions of the country. The number of reports from these divisions, as related to the number of kindergartens provided as given on page 12, shows a one per cent representation for the eastern and Great Lakes divisions, a 1.6 per cent representation for the Great Plains division, three per cent for the southern and two per cent for the western division. The total distribution of the reports among the three kinds of schools and among the geographical groups is shown in Table 6. Method of handling the time allotment — The time allotment is ana^ lyzed according to the main divisions of the kindergarten curriculum, assem¬ bly periods, music, literature, general arts and physical activities. In each analysis, the organization is as follows: 1. The name of the subject. 2. A general statement of the educational purpose of the work for this period. 3. A distribution of the names given to this work by 131 teachers. 4. A list of the activities in order of popularity which were recorded on the time schedules as occurring during this period. 5. Graphic representation of the place in the day’s program for this subject. 6. An analysis of time for each subject in terms of per cent' and by geographical groups. a. Time and periods related to all other time and periods reported. b. Geographical distribution of time and periods reported. c. The median lengths of periods for this subject. It must be understood that these time programs in a majority of cases are flexible. This was repeatedly stated by teachers who in no sense wanted their schedules to be considered static. Remarks to this effect mat be quoted, for example, “the program is considered flexible to allow for special days, seasons, excursions, outdoor play, unexpected happenings of interest, visits to the gymnasium, special needs of the children." One training school teacher expressed the need for a program, while describing its flexibleness in this way, “as the practice students change every 12 or 13 weeks, a definite schedule makes the work run more smoothly.” 1 With 3 reports, i private and 2 public, no time schedules were received. Three reports arrived too late to be included in the time analysis. 2 In finding per cents, the division was carried to three places and the nearest whole number was used. [ 31 ] Geographical grouping explained — To be assured of representation for all sections of the country and to provide for possible variations in practice, classifications were made on the basis of the following five geographical groups: Eastern (Industrial) — including Connecticut, Maine, Massachu¬ setts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Is¬ land and Vermont. Southern States — including Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, M aryl and, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Great Lakes (Manufacturing) — including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Great Plains (Agricultural) — including Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, M issouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. W estern States — including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Mon¬ tana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. This classification has been used in many educational studies. ~ Method of classifying kindergarten activities — The nomenclature used for the different activities on the time schedules is most varied. In order to group similar activities, all descriptions of them were gathered from the teachers’ and stenographers’ blanks. Further descriptions were obtained from the reports themselves when needed. Because of the great variety of names used for the same kindergarten activities, an effort has been made to select a nomenclature which meets the following criteria: 1. The name used must suggest the content of the activity. 2. The name must indicate that the activities include the beginnings of the ele¬ mentary school subjects. 3. The name must be comprehensible to both the average professional and lav person and to the kindergartner. 4. Either the name itself or the organization of all the names together must express the social and closely integrated nature of all subjects in the kindergarten curriculum. General Assembly Periods The names in Table 6A explain the nature of these periods. The gen¬ erally accepted purpose is to meet to exchange ideas, to cultivate the power of self-expression, to clarify impressions and to develop a sense of responsi¬ bility in contributing information and in expressing appreciation for the contribution of other children and of the teacher. Fundamentally social in purpose, the assembly periods contribute consciousness of standards of work and behavior and add to the children’s fund of information. The beginnings of geography, history and civics in the kindergarten are shown bv observances of the contour of the land, of the weather, of historical festi¬ vals and local historical events, of the community organizations for ease of transportation, recreation and supplying of needs. Though some of this dis- I 32 J cussion runs continually through the work period and the language and literature periods, most of it takes place during general assemblies. Names given to this period — Eighteen different names were given to these periods. Listed in order of their popularity, they are as follows: 1. Conversational period . . . 24 8. Greeting . . . . 5 2. Morning circle and circle . . . 15 9. Conference . . . . 4 3. Opening exercise . . . 13 10. Criticism of work . . . . 3 4. Discussion period . . . 11 11. Checking period . . . . 2 5. Group Meeting . . . 11 12. Science . . . . 2 6. Music and conversation . . . 7 13. Morning talk, songs, morning pe- 7. Hvgiene, health and safety . . . 6 riod, oral composition and so- (These were short periods coming at cial attitudes, organization pe- the beginning of the morning.) riod, devotional time . 1 each The distribution of these names among the geographical divisions of the country shows that for the General Assembly, 90 per cent of the names, Circle, Morning Circle, and Opening Exercises, were reported in eastern and southern time schedules, and 80 per cent of the names, Conversation and Group Meeting, were reported in the middle and far western divisions. This suggests that few western kindergartens have periods resembling the traditional morning circle, but do have periods for discussion of work, and that the eastern states reverse this practice. The other names listed are scattered among the divisions with no evident popularity in any one. Activities included in these periods — The following activities were re¬ ported as occurring during the assembly and discussion periods: Times reported Conversation, including attention to vocabulary and language . 41 Singing . 37 Rhythm and music appreciation . 19 Stories and rhymes with dramatization . 18 Greeting and prayer . 15 Health inspection and hygiene . 13 Nature study and weather observations . 12 Discussion of plans for the day’s work . 9 Hymns . 7 Number and attendance-taking . 6 Flag salute . 6 Picture study . 4 Days of the wreek . 2 Thrift and ethics . 1 This list in no sense implies a complete analysis of the work. No doubt, in many cases, “singing” includes the hymn. Conversation may include any or all of the other topics listed. The list does give a survey of the kinds of activities carried on during the general group periods which begin the day. [ 33 1 E aj £ T3 a rf O jc i~ T3 bfl ^ TJ OJ £ o c 12 * £ -£ T3 C 3 bX) - c o s < c c ^ d co bfi ^ be js c bfl o "CJ c c ’-3 bfl CO . 3 i_ o c CO c o C o _c O c "3 C 3 bfl C bfl d 3 bij C cd o I dec; d°» . w 3 G •’ ££1/003 60 P//£t3E£t 0£ At/A/ Ld CO ’ °‘S3 O > *5 ;>o (D - £ H o CD ^ ' 22 c ’ .t: o r- £ R <3 ^3 R <3 I oo w ca < H [ 38 ] ^3 ^3 O r b<) R Cj ftj ft. ^3 bo s bo O R ^ o K O* -sT-* > ^ ■ <3 • R bo ■ S ! O O to to lO nO vO cn O *-H OJ Ol lO ^ ^ M (N (N rf O O On t/"> »o o c CN ^ P to o o o o o to to OO h -h O 00 co M (N £#/00J Sff /vi/AtSi f/r of /yr/e/c/rso 060 Analysis of time devoted to music — Of the time devoted to all subjects by the public, private and training schools, 6 per cent is devoted to the separate music period. In comparing music time with the time given to other subjects in each geographical division, music is given more time and more periods apart from the assembly period, in the West than in the East. See Table 9. The same fact is seen by comparing the average number of minutes for music for each school in each group and by comparing the total number of music periods in the different states. See Table 10. [ 40 1 Table 9. — Time and Periods for Music Related to All Other Time and Periods Reported [41 ] Language and Literature 1'hese subjects are means of expression for each other and both have the vital responsibility of broadening the child’s mental horizon and of giving him power to express his experiences. Language is a subject occurring continually throughout the kindergarten program. That it is given a name and time separate from the other activities of the day may be regarded as an evidence of the teacher’s intent to emphasize oral expression and to pre¬ sent types of literature. A class of students in Children’s Literature, asked to state the purposes for literature in the kindergarten, gave responses which fell under the following classifications. Literary values — These predominate and included the following: to develop or create an interest in stories, poems and rhymes; to present the best literature, to increase and enrich the child’s vocabulary and to develop his ability to use it ; to give an opportunity for creative work in literary expression ; to develop a love for the musical rhythm of words in poems and rhymes; to give a background of folk literature and to lead to a desire to read stories. Social values — These include the following: to enrich a child’s sense of humor, to present ideals of behavior, to broaden the child’s experience,- and to stimulate his imagination. In this connection, it is worth while to read “The Experiences and Train¬ ing which Prepares Pupils for Reading in the Kindergarten and Early Part of the First Grade,” as given on pages 26 to 30 of the 24th Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. These are restated briefly as follows : 1. The six prerequisites to reading include a wide background of experience. 2. A reasonable facility and use of ideas. 3. Sufficient command of simple English sentences to enable the pupil to speak with ease and freedom. 4. A relatively wide speaking vocabulary. 5. Accuracy in enunciation and pronounciation. 6. A general desire to read. Preparation for reading was indicated in the kindergarten time schedules by reference to work in diction, in recognizing street signs, labels on boxes of materials, etc., in the kindergarten. The time schedules provided read¬ ing time after school for children who were ready for it. Names given to this period — Eleven names given to the work of this period all suggest in some way the activities which are carried on. Nine teachers include the literature and language in the general assembly periods instead of giving it a separate time. There is no indication that one pro¬ cedure is wholly better than the other. The value is determined by the purpose for a given activity. This may at one time fit well with other ac¬ tivities vitalizing botli itself and the others by the association. In another case, the need may require a separate time for focusing attention upon the 1 42 I specific skill or habits best gained through that work. The names reported for this period are as follows: Times Reported Stories or story-telling . 56 Stories and dramatization . 11 Stories and games . 4 Language . 4 Literature . 4 Stories and conversation . 3 Literature and language . 2 Stories and pictures . 2 Literature and reading . 2 English . 2 There is little variation among the geographical groups as to the use of these names. Stories or story-telling is used more frequently in the eastern, southern and Great Lakes states than in the other two groups. In these latter groups, the dramatic element is emphasized in the names used. Activities Included in this Period Stories told to children. Stories retold by the children. Descriptions of experience given by the children. This is both in narrative and in conversational form. Talks on pictures. Poems and other verse memorized and recited. Finger plays. Stories read to children. Language and conversation. Dramatization. Nature study. Incidental reading is mentioned as being a part of the language period in one case, and in another case word study was used as an aid to vocabulary development. C///MT IV T/M£ /£ D/t/L V JC//AD//LT TVS/A/t/ LA£6£A(jA A A/D l/r£/?AT6//?£ OCC££ ftOfttgftft Oft ftftft/OOS 9/ ftl/MOftft Oft ftf/ftOftftO /6 ft O [ 43 ] Place in the day’s program — The period of time reported for literature and language falls as a rule near the end of the session, as is shown in Chart IV. Often the teacher included it in the dismissal period and often reported that stories, games and rhythmic activities alternated in their use of the period coming just before dismissal. Analysis of time allotment — The distribution of time allotted to separate periods for language and literature in relation to the other subjects of the program is similar throughout the country with slightly more time given to this work in the middle western states and less in the eastern states. However, the per cent of periods is similar for all divisions of the country. See Table 11. The same similarity exists when the average number of minutes per school in each geographical group is compared. The middle western states allow slightly more time and both the eastern and Great Lakes states allow many more periods for language and literature than do the other state groups. See Table 12. Work Periods for the General Arts There are two arrangements made on the time program for the “work periods.” One provides two periods of work and the other provides one. In some instances, a period is still given to each of the traditional play materials, e. g., the gifts and occupations. The use of these materials im¬ plies the use of a directed method. The following quotation illustrates the work with gifts: Miss X had her pupils sit in their chairs around the kindergarten tables while one passed the boxes containing their blocks. Each box contained eight blocks all the same size. Each pupil took her blocks out of the box. Then Miss X told them to separate them into two equal parts. They played with the blocks for half an hour, separating them into equal parts, four parts, etc. Making patterns with them, then for a little while just seeing what they could make. Most of the children showed initiative, going right ahead and not looking at what the others were doing. The blocks occupied them until lunch time. The following quotation illustrates the more traditional occupation work : “Now, let’s everybody take out our ‘keys’ and lock our lips. We can work so much better if we don’t talk.” The children make motions and turn an imaginary key in their lips, thus lock¬ ing them together, and then listen to the directions of the teacher for coloring the work. Some finish first and hold up their work for the inspection of the teacher. She criticizes it, telling those that have done their work well that it is good and why it is, and explaining to others where they have failed to make theirs as good. Not all programs which provide two work periods carry on traditional work. In the majority of cases, the first of the two periods corresponds in freedom of activity with the work illustrated for one work period; and in the majority of cases, the second of two work periods is used to develop some special skill in handling materials through directions from the teacher. The one work period is used often as the practice time for the lessons which Time and Periods for Literature and Language Related to All Other Time and Periods Reported t45 ] are developed in other periods of the day's activities. Its informality and social organization, by encouraging constant discussion and conversation, often replaces the customary daily morning exercise. Activities are not confined to materials. Apparatus, domestic duties, the care of pets and plants, are a part of the work. During or following the period, emphasis is given to the establishment of a consciousness of standards of technique in the children for handling materials and for conducting themselves in company with other children. An illustration follows: The children wasted no time in deciding what they wanted to do. One boy, who had attended a matinee concert given by Sousa and his band the previous day, proceeded to build a band-stand with the assistance of two other boys. They were ‘making Susan’s” band. Two of the girls worked on individual floor mats made from Japanese manilla padded with newspaper. Edges were bound with brown- paper tape. The girls overcast the edges with colored yarn. Another girl blanket-stitched the edge of a blanket for Bobbie Skeesix, a new doll. The teacher supplied an electric stove, a small pan and a cake of paraffin. The girls helped her carry the jelly, which they had made two or three days previous, from the cupboard to the table where the stove was. When the paraffin was melted, the girls took turns putting a couple of small spoonfuls over the dozen or jnore glasses of jelly. The Names Given to this Period Times Reported Work periods . 43 Free work period (the first of two periods) . 20 Hand work (the second of two periods) . 14 Self-directed activities . 13 Free play (the first of two periods) . 9 Directed work period (the second of two periods) . 9 Gifts . 9 Occupations . : . 9 Manual expression and manual arts . 4 Tables . 4 Experimental work . 2 Industrial arts . 1 It is interesting to note that the names which indicate self-initiated activ¬ ities predominate in the distribution of all names given to the work periods. The names indicating more directed and traditional activities would seem to be less evident in kindergarten practice. The distribution of these names among the geographical divisions shows that all divisions prefer to use Work Period, Self Directed Work, Ex¬ perimental Work, or Manual or Industrial Arts. The eastern states use Tables, Handwork and Directed Work nearly as frequently as it does the first group of names. It also uses Gifts and Occupations more than the other states, though all but the Great Plains division recorded the use of these names. Free Play and Free Work was reported a similar number of times in all divisions. 1 46 1 Activities included in this period — The activities listed by the different schools for their work periods are grouped according to the plan of “one work period” and “two work periods” and will be given in that order. Activities for the “ one work period” — As stated under the discussion of the assembly periods, half of the schools in this study start the day’s program with a work period. “Before school" activities merge into the activities of the work period when that is the first period on the pro¬ gram. Activities carried on before the regular school time are given in the following list: — greeting the teacher and children, changing shoes (to tennis shoes), dusting tables, watering plants, arranging flowers, feeding pets, playing with toys, blocks, and apparatus, planning out the day’s work and arranging tools and materials that will be needed. The periods’ activi¬ ties include : — Subject matter — Spoken language, music, number, fine, industrial, and dramatic arts, plays and games, natural and social sciences. Activities — Experimental work with materials; playing with dolls and supplying their needs — this includes, sewing, washing and ironing, equip- ing and keeping the doll’s house clean ; the care of the room, plants, flowers, and pets; construction of toys and game equipment; play and physical apparatus, such as swings, slide, see-saw, balance-hoard ; modeling with clay and plastricene, making pictures with crayons, with chalk on the blackboard, with Fresco paint at the easel. Two work periods'. First, Activities: Two types are reported among the different schools — Type 1 includes gift work suggestive of the children’s conversation, of stories or of seasonal experiences; reproduction of table work on the floor with large materials; and directed work. Type 2, informal work period with a free choice of materials. Second, Activities: Folding or pasting papers, leading to cutting out previously drawn figures and picture compositions ; picture writing lead¬ ing to drawing; experimental work with materials; finishing work begun in the first period ; celebration of festival and the taking of excursions. There is material for discussion in the pictures of these “one” and “two period" organizations. Questions may be asked as follows: 1. Do children of kindergarten age require supervised instruction with materials and is it better to provide a separate period for that purpose? 2. Is the short span of interest, which is characteristic of this age of child, better cared for by two periods of work than by one which is longer? 3. Does the one work period include all the opportunities for teacher-supervised and self-directed work which the two separate periods provide? Place for the work periods in the day’s program — In reading Chart V which shows the place in the daily schedule for the one work period as represented by 73 schools, it is seen that work extends from 8:15 until 1 1 :35 with a popular time for the work of this period coming between 1 47 ] 9:00 and 10:00. 1 he cases at the 8 o clock end of the base line indicate that a few schools begin the day’s work before 9 o'clock. In reading Chart VI, there is a tendency toward a bi-modal distribution of the time allotted to the two work periods, one coming soon after the opening exercises at 9:30 and the other coming at the end of the morning, near 1 1 o’clock. CHART V T/M£ //!/ DA/L Y SC/i£Dl/L£ W/?£A/ 14/0/f/f PPP/OD ‘‘ 0CPPPS MUMBEP OPPEP/ODS 7S A't/PfBEP OP M/Wl/TES 3S6S Analysis of time — A third of all the time in the kindergarten is devoted to periods of manipulative activity; 20 per cent of this third is given in the one work period and 13 per cent in the other two. In other words, more time is given to the array of various activities which the one period encour¬ ages than to the more restricted activities of the two separate periods. Among the geographical groups, excepting the eastern and western groups, and among the three kinds of schools, a similar proportion of two-thirds for the one period to one-third for the two periods, is maintained as to both minutes of time and number of periods. Preference is shown in each of 1 48 ] C///l/?T VI T/M£ /// DA /LY SC/ilDl/L£ M///£A/ "TWO M/O/fSf P£ /?/#£> 3 " OCCl/A /VOMSEH or HEfl/003 6£ (1/ rOH EACH) HC/rtsrr or /Uf/A'orro eooo the geographical groups for the “one-period” organization. This is much more marked in the Great Lakes and the Great Plains states than in any of the others. It will be recalled that it was in these two state groups that the preference between the two assembly periods fell to the discussion group. For a true comparison of the amount of time for one or for two work period programs, the time allotted to the two periods in one program must be added. In Table 13 which relates Work Period Time to that for other subjects, it can be seen that in the eastern and western states prefer¬ ence is about equally divided between having one or having two work periods. The middle and southern states spend far more time with the one period. This is true also of the distribution of the periods. Pursuing the same plan in reading Table 14 which gives the average number of minutes for each period per school in each of the geographical groups, it is again evident that a similar number of minutes is used for either program plan in the eastern and western states, but that in the other states the one work period receives a far greater amount of time. The median length of time for each period shown in Table 15 is practically the same through¬ out the country. Does this variation in practice need an analysis of the outcome? Is it all a matter of how the teacher guides the use of the time, or are there some intrinsic values for the activities of either one of the plans of procedure? Physical Activities It may be interesting to show the purposes of this part of the curriculum by comparing the objectives for it given by two groups of students,1 the one in "Kindergarten Education (Plays and Games for Young Children) and the other, in the Supervision of Physical Education in Public Schools. 1 Attending summer sessions, Teachers College, Columbia University, [49] 1924- Time and Periods for Three Work Periods Related to All Other Time and Periods Reported. In Terms of Per Cent CO UJ < aj a. 3 r— CO i t-h ON oi *- aj So O a^ ^ • 2 b -3 .§ 3 Q <— O 00 ro M M r- ; c/5 CO . "R \r, l o O O iO Tf LO -rf -rf a. a, o CO [ 52 ] Plays and Games T imes Rest and Relaxation Times Reported Reported Games . . 60 Recess . . 38 Rhythms . . 40 Basement period . . 15 Games and rhvthm.. . 28 Physical exercises.... Plavs and Games.... . 1 Rest . . 65 Relaxation and quiet period . 11 Lunch . . 65 “Clean-up” . . 28 Housekeeping . . 1 A ctivities listed for th ese periods — Plays and Games— -Organized group games. Circle games. Self-directed games. Sense games. Play with apparatus and balls. Folk games. Reins and bean bags. Running games. Running and skipping games. Outdoor games. Dancing games. Rhythmic Activities — Music appreciation and interpretation- — Various musical responses, e. g. — Marching, running, walking, galloping, dancing and dramatization. Band or orchestra work — Recess — Outdoor play and games — Excursions. Play on apparatus — Free and directed play — Washing hands. Establishing health habits — Rest and Relaxation — Children lie flat on the floor or on newspaper rugs. Children rest quietly on the tables. Children listen to quiet instrumental music. Children prepare the tables for lunch. Lunch — Children prepare the tables for lunch. Children serve milk and crackers with straws for drinking. Lunch consists of milk, milk and crackers, drinks of water. Conversation during lunch includes discussion of table manners and correct food. Children clear away the tables after lunch. Housekeeping — Preparing and clearing away the lunch. Getting out and replacing materials for the work period. Caring for unfinished work. Setting the room in order after play. Washing hands and washing dishes. Place in the day’s program — Chart VII includes all time devoted to games, rhythms, and recess periods. It clearly shows a general spread of physical activities throughout the kindergarten day. Its peaks indicate relaxation after the assemblies or work periods. Analysis of time — The total time for physical activities constitutes 36% of the total time of the kindergarten program. See Table 16. This same proportion holds true in the geographical groups where the range is from 33% to 37%. This is divided among the different kinds of activities as listed on the following page. [ 53 ] Games and rhythmic activities . +2% Recess and playground activities . 21% Lunch . 20% Rest . 11% il ousekeeping . 6% Total . ? . 100% CHART V// TIME //V DA/L Y 3C/1£Dl/l£ W/J£N PPYJ/CAi ACT/WT/ES ACCPfl A/OMOE-fl OE />£#/£> 03 3 /S A/(/A4S£ft 03 /W//VI/TS3 33SO The greater amount of the day’s physical education time is given to the games or to the rhythmic activities. Because of the nature of both of these activities, they are grouped together. The fairly similar per cent of periods in the day’s program which are given to each of the kinds of physical edu¬ cation activities shows an even distribution of the importance attached to them. Exceptions to this are the Rest periods and the small number of Housekeeping periods reported in the western states. The reports from these states may have included Housekeeping activities in their Work period. Dividing the physical education time among the geographical divisions, the average number of minutes per school given to games and rhythms is greater in the eastern and Great Lakes divisions than in the other divisions. [ 54 1 fcxQ •S s* aj Average Minutes CO CM O 04 04 : : aj «-> o tt: Total Minutes > o © © © to 00 lO OO ro O CO co «-j Average Minurts to O to O . : • as Total Minutes iO o to © o © 04 O © 670 & 5 5 g oj vO i— < © <; Vj R "§ $ * : <3 Total Minutes 375 340 170 185 170 © b-0 J3 ^ 00 co © © IO : £> © • ^ aj Q § © O O © lO lO r° .R © vO OO © © C4 (N C4 M M co ©i f! ^ -2f 25 © © 10 10 10 to £ *s ^ ’''s’1 LO Ol © \0 IO 00 ^ 0 0 0 ■© »© 01 <3 to •JS R A, 2 -s fc-o •*«* s Q e> N ^ rr; -h ^ M m rq cs h © co CN 04 c3 nJ *-> a 3 *o _Vj 'o a. O aj Q ^3 to Os cP s: c> ;g jk .H Q <3 aj O w J CQ < Housekeeping Med. Length to © © to to Per Cent © T^H CO to 00 Ovj > — 1 co ▼— 1 ■» — 1 2 No. Periods 00 1/7 O 'O N © co Rest . ^ ^3 b/j ^ * 22 = 2i Per Cent to ^ © to © M CN M H rH © t— 1 No. Periods 1 I 2 2 2 2*" 1 \o O Lunch Med. Length to © to © to ^ 01 T-I 04 TH • 0 Per Cent © © O © vO ro M rH rH H 1— 1 No. Periods 21 17 11 10 11 Recess Med. Length L_ to to to O LO th ^ -h ^ ; . 1 Per Cent 25 19 16 14 26 100 No. Periods © to co ■»— l © 00 o« Games and Rhythms Med. Length to to © © © M M M (N M • • * Per Cent • O CO N rH CO *-h ON 1—1 t— 1 © No. Periods © © 00 © to CS co M h 137 _ Geographical Divisions Eastern . Southern . Great Lakes . Great Plains . Western . Total . [55] Recess time, which includes time for toilet and playgrounds, is, on the con¬ trary, less in the eastern and Great Lakes states as well as in the southern division. l'he average number of minutes devoted to lunch in the Great Lake states and the time allowed for it in proportion to other activities of the day’s program indicates that lunch may be less frequently provided, or that time for this activity has been allotted to “housekeeping.” The latter idea is probable as the time for “housekeeping” and the number of periods ; for it is twice what it is in the other groups. This is an illustration of the integration of kindergarten activities. Other than this, the amount of-time allowed for rest and housekeeping is fairly evenly distributed throughout the country. See Tables 17 and 18. Com pari so ns of time divisions of public, private and training schools — An examination of the total analysis of time programs in terms of per cent shows that no marked difference occurs in the practice in time dis¬ tribution among the public, private and training schools. There is a stronger similarity between the public and training school time programs » than between either of these and private schools. See Table IT The dif¬ ferences found with the private school schedules are as follows: 1 . More time periods are allowed for the plan of having two work periods each day. Public and training schools allow more time for the one work period. 2. Private schools allow more time for recess. This may be due to the wording of the programs which may have led to classifying game time under recess. 3. Less time is given for morning exercises by the private schools. These differences are not large enough to call for a separate treatment of the three kinds of schools, and the analysis of the work as a whole by geo¬ graphical groups is defensible. Time divisions for afternoon sessions — The schedules of sixteen after¬ noon public schools have been analyzed. Five of these were in the western states, four each in the Great Lakes and Great Plains states, one in the southern and two in the eastern states. 1 he results of the total analysis of time and periods corresponds with that of the morning sessions. The median length of the afternoon sessions is two and a quarter hours and that of the morning sessions is two and a half hours. Because of this similarity little allowance need be made for a shorter time for afternoon programs when comparing them with morning programs. The differences in the programs are as follows: 1. Lunch is seldom provided in the afternoon. 2. Less time and periods are given to the two work period plan in the afternoon session. 3. M ore time and periods are given to music and literature in the after- I noon sessions. 4. More time and periods are given to opening assemblies in the after¬ noon. [ 56 1 Table 19. — Summary Analysis of Time and Periods for Public, Private and Training School Kindergartens 1 5; .5 IO to o o o o VO O' o o o o co O o LO LO ro VO 00 • Ol T-H T-H T-H Ol t-H t-H 01 oi Ol Ol LO LO '-f 1 1 1 S'! ^ LO LO »o O to to _ _ Os o _ o _ o _ o o LO IO O 1"- O' rO oi • T-H T-H T-H ro T-H at, -+ 1— 1 -f* rO VO 00 T-H 1 1 1 LO LO LO IO o IO O _ _ (Ol o o LO LO o LO IO o £ 00 t-h -t -+ T— T-H T-H T-H Ol rO Ol rO o Ol ro o’ O' 00 00 C*b O' 1 1 LO o IO o o iO 0 o _ 00 ro 1^- _ _ to _ f _ _ o o o vO 00 -t T-H T-H • T-H Ol Ol ro -t" rO o» Ol ^1 o- T-H t'H O' T-H O' 1 ( 1 LO 2 iO *-> 5 Si S3 -5 o 0 to 0 0 0 O 0 0 0 0 05 0 LO 0 o to On O' T— < rO Ol Ol Ol t rO i-^ Ol to oi 00 rO LO 1 1 - T-H t-H T-H T-H t-H o o IO r\, h, o o to (O o CO) Ol O' o o o to o LO LO o o to ro OJ ■ Ol T-H CN Ol Ol -+ rO o CM Ol o O' 1 — *-h oo «o 1 1 o 1 iO Ol Ol 1 f\j <-> o lO o fO CO) Ol O' o O' O' o O o LO o o o 00 -* Ol T-H ro ro rO -t VO vO Ol ro LO Ol -f oo to 1 1 1 ^ ft. T— < LO LO iO ’ 1 Ol -V "'S ^ cs to »o •O o _ GO vO 0 •o LO LO o LO o R O L* o iO -+ LO T-H -T1 -f vO LO VO -t ro 01 LO O' o i— 1 1 1 - Ol T— 1 T— < T-H o o Ol ? T— 1 1 i IO lO ro LO Ol LO LO LO _ _ IO o t"— LO • ■-O -+ T— ( -+ rO O sO 1 1 1 Q " IO o IO S . _ lO to _ _ _ -t Os I'H _ _ _ LO LO _ LO _ _ LO 5; -s' r'H '“H 0-1 ro O'" LO 1 ^H oo O' Ol Ol ro T-f 1 ro 1 7 - t— 1 t-H t-H IO IO o 1 1 be be bh oh bb be " u. 'C d > ’ Lh £ '£ iZ d > L d > ai i-, p p r-1 CL, Oh {-* a, H P f n H &H Ur Oh a- H 1 1 i_ (U (LI x-> O _o Sh < O O i Ol CO 04 o H .2 ’ n Z- c o o c o o c • i-, § 2 [ 59 ] Example 4. 8:40- 9:00 9:00- 9:10 9:10- 9:30 9:30- 9:50 9:50-10:00 10:00-10:25 10:25-10:55 10:55-11:25 11 :2 5 - 1 1 :40 11:40-11:55 Example 5. 9:00- 9:05 9:05- 9:30 9:30- 9:45 9:45-10:00 10:00-10:10 10 : 1 0 - 1 0 :30 10:30-10:40 10:40-11 :00 Free choice of activities and work with materials. All groups together for music appreciation, hvmn and prayer. Conversation groups, finger play and songs. Activity groups : Group 1 — Out of doors. “ 2 — In the playroom. “ 3 — Organized games indoors. All groups together for the rest period. Recess and luncheon. Work with materials. Activity groups : Group 1 — Organized games. 2 — Out of doors. 3 — In playroom. Story groups. Dismissal. Inspection of children. Free play with materials. Rhvthnric activities: activities to develop muscular control; folk dances, and band. Conversation to develop vocabulary and background of experiences: family pictures, rhymes, stories, dramatization, nature study. Outdoor recess. Table work: clay, paper construction, drawing, cutting, etc. Music: singing by the teacher, by the children for tone, and enuncia¬ tion drills, victrola for music appreciation. Games: dancing games, sense games, games to make children more alert and of quick movement, games with songs or words to in¬ directly increase the child’s vocabulary. Train in g Schools — Time programs for training schools are similar to those for the public schools into which most of the students go on gradua¬ tion. The one reproduced is written explicitly with an evident desire to instruct the pupil teacher. 8:30- 9:45 Work period. A. Activities which promote physical, social, mental, emotional, and moral development of child. a. Arrival, care of pets, flowers, plants. b. Play on apparatus and with toys. c. Individual and group projects selected by the children, guided by the teacher. d. Imaginative play with blocks, dolls, sand, etc. e. Story and picture book interests. 9:45-10:10 Conference and rhythmic activities. A. Conference with children in regard to work period, activities, standards set and interests widened. B. Rhythmic responses to music. a. Individual and group responses which meet the particular musical stage of development of the child. [ 60 ] 10:10-10:35 10:35-10:45 10:45-11 :15 11:1 5-11 :45 9:30 9:30-10:10 10:10-10:25 10:25-10:35 10:35-11.00 11:00-11:15 11:15-11:30 11:30-11:50 11:50-12:00 Luncheon period. ^ A. Washing hands, preparation of lunch. B. Providing the situation for training in personal and social table manners, interesting conversation, correct food to eat, etc. Rest period. Music and language. A. Informal social conversation about subject matter. Songs, rhymes, stories, and dramatizations growing out of above. A. Varied activities. Games. Outdoor play. Excursions — observations. Band, etc. B. Dismissal — Special training in independence as to care of self and wraps. Private Schools From the time the children enter until Free work period. Building with floor blocks, play at sand table or with educational toys, sliding board, wood work at work bench, housekeeping projects, play, paper cutting and construction, paint¬ ing, drawing, sewing and weaving with roving, bead stringing, peg boards, care of the room, plants and pets. Group meeting — discussion of work, devotional exercises, singing, musical appreciation, literature and oral expression subject matter about seasons. Rhythm work with band, musical interpretation, dramatization. Children excused from the room. Lunch period, children serving. Rest period. Games and rhythmic expression (often out on the playground). Free period or choice of the teacher (often dictated work with ma¬ terials). Circle formation of children to receive coats and hats. 8:50- 9:15 9:15- 9:45 9:45-10.20 10:20-10-30 10:30-10:45 10:45-11:00 11:00-11 :10 11:10-11:30 11:30-11:45 General Assembly. Kindergarten Circle and stories. Table work. Toilet. Lunch. Out-of-door games and play on apparatus. Rest and quiet period at the tables with quiet music. Finishing up table work. Circle games and good-bye. Summary — Among the 131 time schedules analyzed in this chapter, there is a comparable representation from the different geographical divisions of the country. Private and training schools, as well as public schools, are represented. The analysis covers the names given to the different periods, the activities which they contain, the place in the day’s program which each occupies, the amount of time, number of periods allowed for each and the length of each period. From the details of the analysis, the following facts are noted: 1. It is defensible to use the discussions in this chapter for morning and afternoon sessions, and for public, private and training school kindergartens. [ 61 1 ^ie similarity of their divisions of time is shown in the summary table. Differences in practice are more pronounced by comparing geographical divisions than by comparing kinds of schools. 2. The variety of the nomenclature used for the kindergarten activities is confusing because of the wide variety and because the nomenclature frequently expresses method or tradition more than the content of the periods. 3. In general, practice is equally divided between starting the day with an assembly period or with a work period. 4. There is a noticeable preference for providing one long rather than two short work-periods on the program. 5. These last two facts doubtless influence the variety of practices as to the activities in the work, discussion, or assembly periods, and the provision of a separate period for music or language. 6. 1'here is no set time in the kindergarten schedules for any one activity. There are, however, fairly regular tendencies to particular times during the day. 7. There are wide variations in practice within each of the different geographic divisions. Taken as a whole, the eastern and southern states tend to give more time to the morning’s exercises and less to a discussion of work and to conduct a program with two work-periods. The middle- western geographical divisions tend to devote more time to the discussion and to provide a program with the one work period. The eastern, south¬ ern and western geographical divisions tend to perpetuate the use of tradi¬ tional names and materials for kindergarten activities. Studies other than those now made of kindergarten nomenclature would help to clear this matter. 8. It is safe to say that the day in kindergartens devotes 36 per cent of its time to physical education, 33 per cent to the general arts, 16 per cent to general assemblies, 9 per cent to literature and language, and 6 per cent to music. Evaluations of possible outcomes resulting from this time distribution and from these different program arrangements, related to the physical development of children 4 to 6 years of age, and related to the primary school activities, would help to suggest the way in which the kindergarten work can best contribute to the children’s beginning school experiences. [ 62 1 CHAPTER V KINDERGARTEN EDUCATION, AS REPRESENTED BY STENOGRAPHIC REPORTS Distribution of stenographic reports throughout the country — The fol¬ lowing distributions of the stenographic reports according to the geograph¬ ical divisions of the country and according to the sizes of the cities show that they fairly represent the kindergartens throughout the country. In some instances, private and training schools were located in cities whose public schools also contributed reports, and, in other instances, cities con¬ tributed more than one report. The distribution, then, does not mean that 137 different cities are represented. Two cities contributed four reports each, two cities contributed three reports each, and fifteen cities contributed two reports each. Other than this, the reports came from separate places. TABLE 21 Distribution of Stenographic Reports by Size of Cities Population of Cities 100,000 or more . 30,000 to 100,000 . 10.000 to 30,000 . 5,000 to 10,000 . 2,500 to 5,000 . Below 2,500 . Public Private Training Schools Schools Schools .43 15 6 .26 2 5 . 17 0 7 3 0 4 1 1 4 0 0 2 Total 64 33 24 7 6 Total 90 18 28 136 TABLE 22 Geographical Distribution of Stenographic Reports Per cent of Public Private Training Kindergartens Geographical Divisions Schools Schools Schools Tota 1 1 Provided Eastern (Industrial) . 22 4 7 33 1. Southern . . . . . 13 3 6 22 3.2 Great Lakes (Manufacturing).. . . . . 22 5 5 32 1.2 Great Plains (Agricultural) ... .... 17 1 5 23 1.7 Western . . . . . 16 5 5 26 2.6 Total . .... 90 18 28 136 Comprehensiveness of the stenographic reports — The comprehensiveness of the contents of the stenographic reports cannot be measured by a page or line count. It is indicated by the fact that but four of the 136 reports were in narrative and descriptive form rather than in form of dialogue. It is also indicated by the fact that in the more informal school organizations, 1 See distribution on page 12. [ 63 ] the stenographer went from group to group of children, noting their occu¬ pations and recording their conversations and monologues and in the more formal school organizations, she was able to record practically all details in picturing the day’s work. Most of the reports begin with a description of the room. This, in some instances, is most elaborate, supplemented by descriptions, door plans, and photographs from the person under whose supervision the reports were taken. There usually follows a description of the children’s reception as they came into the room of their subsequent “before school” activities. Descriptions are often given of the grouping of the children and of their bodily positions and facial expressions. Gen¬ erally speaking, the stenographers were surprisingly keen in their apprecia¬ tion of children’s purposes and activities. The detail of many of the reports is illustrated by a record of Niel in the “cleaning up” period. Nie!, tugging away at a box of blocks: “Oh! I can’t carry these; Oh, so heavy — Ah— Got it too full — Oh, can’t put it away, Oh — top come off — my blocks failed out.” Later the stenographer noted: — "ft doesn’t seem as if it is as hard to do now for he gets up with his box and puts it away.”1 The detail in describing the room and activities, and the records of con¬ versation is proof that the directions prepared for the stenographer were clear. The comprehensiveness of the records is evidence of the care and forethought used by those who supervised the taking of them. Accuracy of interpretation of stenographic reports — Without the pres¬ ence of the tone of voice, the explanatory gesture, or the facial expressions, an individual’s words lose much of their meaning. A statement in a type¬ written report may seem unsympathetic and arbitrary when in reality it may have been sympathetic and stimulating. Any possible misinterpreta¬ tion in the analysis made of the reports would only be evident in the scoring of the method used. That scoring has been justified by the teachers’ replies to the Kindergarten Inquiry and by the judgments of nine experienced teachers. All other details were recorded numerically. The purpose of the study is to present a picture of general practice in kindergartens and evalua¬ tions of the practice will, it is hoped, be an outgrowth of this first report. .. Method used in recording — Using the Kindergarten Inquiry as a nucleus, large itemized sheets were prepared to record the activities and the methods of the work periods, of the general assemblies, the games and rhythms, the music and literature periods, lunch, rest and housekeeping periods. The number of descriptive classifications by which each report was checked increased as a need arose while reading the reports. The total number of descriptive classifications was 226. To be assured of the care¬ fulness and accuracy of the recording, two entire checkings were made, as well as repeated recheckings of the lessons. 1 All quotations are taken from stenographers’ reports. [ 64] KINDERGARTEN during the “One If ark Period' showing a variety of materials in use. The cut paper borders over the black¬ board, the drawings and fresco painting, the florist shop made of the large blocks, and the house screen suggest the work which the children have been doing. The room is an average-sized classroom with separate lavatory but with no fireplace or bay ivindow. Lists of descriptive and detailed information were made. Frequencies of occurrence were recorded and remarks which defined practice were quoted. Lists were kept of the following items : 1. Descriptions of the size, window exposure, equipment and decoration of kinder¬ garten rooms. 2. General group projects; and finished products from the work period. 3. The names of songs, stories, poems, rhymes, games and dramatic plays. 4. Signals and methods used by the teacher to gain the attention and control of the children. 5. The positions taken by the groups of children in the several periods. 6. References to number work and measurements and to reading activities. 7. References which show cooperation between the kindergarten and primary grades. Description of kindergarten roams — Pleasant, sunny, cheerful, airy, at¬ tractive and homelike are the adjectives most frequently used in describing the atmosphere of the kindergarten rooms in these reports. The exposure is popularly south and southeast, and no northern exposure was mentioned. [ 65 1 The atmosphere is influenced hy the sunny exposure, the harmoniously colored interior finish of walls or woodwork, the informal arrangement of furniture adapted in its construction to the sizes of kindergarten children, and the provision of equipment stimulating to social activities. Descrip¬ tions of attractive rooms included the following arrangements and equip¬ ment : 1. Bay windows, fireplaces, seats at the sides of the fireplaces, window seats, stage, steps to enable children to see out, kitchen, individual cupboards, display cupboards and shelves for the children’s work. 2. Slides, see-saws, swings, swinging ropes, trapezes, rocking horses, balance beams. 3. Housekeeping corners made with a screen in the shape of a house with a white fence or folding beaver board walls. Library corners, “two large screens of beaver board at right angles covered with blue wall paper. A window is cut in one side with white ruffled curtains. A table, two chairs, two bookcases painted gray complete this corner.” 4. Rugs which can be unrolled on the floor for the children’s floor play — curtains, white ruffled, cretonne, plain with Mother Goose borders, and green and white checkered material. Low' hung framed pictures, bulletin boards for unframed pictures and children’s work, children’s wicker chairs and bright colored pillows on a window seat. 5. Plants, branches of leaves, seed pods, flowers, window boxes, aquaria, canary birds, a rabbit, bird feeding stations and chickens in an outside pen. Equipment, other than tables, chairs, pianos and supply cupboards, most frequently included sand tables, doll houses, different kinds of apparatus for physical exercises, large floor blocks, work benches for use of tools and lumber, easels for fresco painting, victrola, large boxes for miscellaneous blocks, toys and bulletin boards. In a few descriptions of the rooms, circles marked on the floor were mentioned. In two of these schools, the circles were used to separate the children according to age, and the general impression is given that circles are used where a more formal method of work is used. The sizes of the rooms which were mentioned ranged in floor area from 704 square feet to 1,800 square feet. Judging from remarks in the reports, the teachprs think it is desirable to have enough clear floor space to allow for skipping and running games, and for small groups of tables. They also consider it im¬ portant to have space so that the children’s block building can be kept from day to day as it is needed. The room decorations varied in the reports from the simplest to the most elaborate. Two descriptions of what seem to be average kindergarten rooms are quoted as follows : This particular kindergarten is in a large sunny room with a very generous sized alcove. There are windows along two sides of the room at which hang white lawn curtains. In one corner of the room linen colored crash curtains bordered with bright cretonne conceal the contents of a cupboard for individual work. There is a small reading table with an artistic runner upon which lie a few books such as kindegarten children would enjoy, and a piano with a scarf of crash and cretonne. In the corner, which is separated from the rest of the room by a screen, is a play corner containing a bed, several dolls, ward- 1 66 ] robe, table, chairs, broom, sweeper and cupboard with dishes. In the next corner are piled the large floor blocks which were made in the school manual training shop. Occupying part of the wall space between this corner and the alcove are built-in cupboards. White crepe paper hung back of the glass doors is decorated with brightly colored autumn leaves. Separating the alcove from the large room is an easel and a screen of pictures. The sand table occupies the space in the alcove. A large wicker couch with bright artistic pillows occupies the fourth corner. A canary hangs near one window and several pots of attractive plants are found on the window ledges. The blackboard decoration consists of autumn- colored leaves and squirrels. As a whole, the room has an atmosphere of cheer¬ fulness and the furnishings make it very homelike. There were two rooms used by the kindergarten department. One was very large and roomy and the other was somewhat smaller and not so light. The larger room was used for general class activities. In this room there were a number of pictures around the room, some of animal life, others of children, flowers and things that interest children. In one window there were branches of colored leaves. On one side was a tackboard upon which were pinned freehand pictures, drawings, cuttings, and paper dolls cut out and dressed by the children. There were twelve small tables placed in groups of three or four. In one corner was a playhouse, which contained table, dishes, cupboard, bed, trunk, chairs, rug, tele¬ phone, dolls and other things that go to make up a playhouse. There was a piano, victrola, a work bench, three stumps which were used to hammer on as well as to sit on, a set of little drawers in cabinet form in which the children kept materials. Across one end of the room above the blackboard were pictures which the chil¬ dren had painted. In the other room were several small tables put together, sand table, tetter-totter, blocks, knock-down or construction house, a cupboard in which materials were kept. Methods used in scoring stenographic reports — In visiting a classroom, the first thing noticed is the work that the children are doing. Their degree of enthusiasm for the work under way and the amount of responsi¬ bility which they assume for thinking through the social and intellectual problems of the day show the method of class control in use, and indicate the kind of activities encouraged. The same thing is true of reading stenographic reports, although allowance in this case must be made for the lack of the personal element — the voice with its inflections and pauses, and the expressive glance. To give an idea of the practice in kindergartens, it is necessary to interpret the methods used. The two opening descrip¬ tions quoted, which follow, show such great variety in the amount of pupil activity that some scoring of method is necessary. Pupils have just come in, said “good morning” and taken their places at the tables. They are reposing in an easy position, completely relaxed, whole waiting for a signal for conversation to begin. To the stenographer reporting, the easy position of the children was doubtless also included informal visiting. The first to come is “Dickie.” He comes in eagerly, pulling off his cap as he approaches Miss X, who goes to meet him with outstretched hand and a pleasant “good morning” Dickie. Dickie shakes hands nicely, responds, “Good morning, Miss X,” then extracts a piece of an ear of corn from his pocket which he says he “got in a field to put in with the pop-corn for Hallowe’en.” Miss X explains 1 67 ] that field corn will not pop like pop-corn but adds “no doubt you will find some other way to use it.” He then turns, goes off busily to begin the task he chose for himself the day before. There seem to be degrees of control on the scale which starts with teacher-directed and ends with self-directed activity. These degrees merge naturally into each other and in skillful teaching the point where self- direction starts and group or teacher guidance ends is difficult to locate. There is, however, noticeable difference between teacher direction of the class of children, direction by the proposals, and leadership of the group, and individual or self-direction, which implies an appreciation of necessary social considerations as well as following indivdual interests. The ability to be properly self-controlled is an educational goal. This may be reached both by making one’s own decisions and adjustments and by being directed by other individuals and by groups of people. Experiences in being directed by other individuals and by groups should be helpful in so far as they are thought-provoking and do not require passive and blind acceptance of the group and individual directions which are given. “T he particular problem in the education of little children is to get hold of the child’s natural im¬ pulses and instincts and to so utilize them that the child is carried on to a higher plane of perception and judgment, and equipped with more efficient habits; so that he has an enlarged and deepened consciousness and increased control of powers of action.”' There are times in each lesson and in each day’s program when direction of the children is the one thing needed to be done by the teacher. The criteria of its educative quality is the stimulus to children’s own individual thinking which such direction gives. “There is no ground for holding that the teacher should not suggest anything to a child until he has consciously expressed a want in that direction. A sym¬ pathetic teacher is quite likely to know more clearly than the child himself what his instincts are and mean. But the suggestion must fit in with the dominate mode of growth in the child, it must serve simply as a stimulus to bring forth more adequately what the child already is blindly striving to do.”1 Five sections on a scale from teacher-directed to self-directed method were indicated for scoring the lessons in the stenographic reports. Each one of the day’s activities which was reported in detail was scored according to the descriptions of these sections of the scale. They are given as follows : 1. The teacher plans and directs the program and activities — This implies- that the teacher appears to have definite plans which may have been made when the day started or which may formulate during the period and that the plans are executed. These usually develop logically. The children tend to be directed in speed and in manner of assembling, in the content and the manner of talking and of playing, in choice or use of materials and in the technique for using them. 2. The teacher carries out her plans > with the cooperation of the children — The teacher appears to have definite plans and in them she incorporates the children’s choices and opinions. The main trend of the plans seldom changes, but the demon¬ stration of them is fairly flexible, using the children’s immediate interests as start- 1John Dewey, Paragraph on Method in Elementary School Record for June, 1900. Vol. I, No. 5. 1 68 [ ing points, or setting a situation to arouse interest in the activities planned. The teacher controls the situation but encourages the children to use their initiative in suggesting activities, in telling experiences, and in forming judgments. 3. The children suggest and carry out the plans under teacher guidance — The children suggest the work to be done. “Let’s do this” — expresses the child’s atti¬ tude and such responses express the teacher’s attitude as — “How' could you do it?” — calling attention to such group or immediate problems or ideas as need to be considered. There is a customary procedure which is fitted to present interest of the group. There is opportunity for as much individual and small group work as there is for large group work. The children help and criticize each other’s work and play. They go to the teacher for help. She advises the children as they need it and she terminates the periods. 4. The children make the plans and program under pupil leadership ‘with teacher guidance — From room responsibilities which have been accepted by the children, such as caring for pets, plants, materials, and general housekeeping, from community or festival happenings and common interests, activities arise which engage a group of children. Leaders, accepted informally or formally by the children, plan the procedures and direct their cooperators, sometimes didactically and sometimes curbed by group suggestions. The children turn to the teacher for admiration, help and information. 5. The children make the plans and program without teacher guidance — This is shown in a spontaneous grouping of children around a project or an activity' of mutual interest. This results in group play, discussion and criticism of work. This is unsupervised and undirected by the teacher. It is the natural method of play found on playgrounds and during self-initiated periods in schools. As suggested before, these methods merge into each other. A period of work may be partly method 2 and partly method 3, or it may be method 2 on the whole, with an instance of method 4. The majority of indications of one method or another has determined the scoring of the different periods. In all reports where the descriptions and dialogue were meager there was no score made for method. Every effort has been made to avoid throwing preference toward any one of the methods stated. This is particularly necessary since teaching situations vary greatly with the nationalities, social background, and mental abilities of the children, and since types of lessons suggest or require differ¬ ent methods of teaching. Within the activities of one program, three or four of these methods were used. In examining the results of the scoring it must be remembered that the majority of the reports were taken in the fall. This means that the social experiences of the children may be limited at this time and influ¬ ence the method used by the teacher. Within one program, as has been said before, three or even four methods may be used during the different periods. No analysis has been made of the methods used by the teachers to present and develop songs, stories, and the uses of materials within the several periods. The descriptions in a fairly small number of the reports would allow for such investigation. As this is a study of general practice in kindergartens the investigation of the smaller number of reports can well be made later. [69] Differences of opinion are usually found when several people score the methods used in teaching. This has been repeatedly shown in studies of teacher rating. On this account, it seemed best for the writer to check the scores given and the methods used in these stenographic reports. The follow¬ ing plan was developed to serve this purpose. Nine kindergartners of wide experience as teachers, supervisors, and training teachers each read ten stenographic reports and scored the 42 lessons contained in them. They used the preceding descriptions of method to determine their judgment. A lesson which seemed to fit two methods nearly equally was given a half¬ point rating between the two. The 378 accumulated lesson scores from the nine cooperating judges were compared with the scores given by the writer with the following results. There was an identical rating for 155 of the lessons, a half-step difference in rating 76 lessons and a one-step difference in rating 136 lessons, and there were nine one step and a half, and two differences of two steps. This showed that in over 96 per cent of the judgments made on the 42 lessons, the writer and the cooperating judges scored the method either identically or within one step of the same judgment. The greatest number of differences occurred between scoring methods one and two where the cooperating judges gave 83 “Method One” scores to 18 lessons which were scored as “Method Two” by the writer. This comparison shows that with nine expert teachers there was a 41 per cent identical scoring and that the majority of differences made in judg¬ ment varied no more than one step. Added evidence of the validity of these scores is found in the replies to the Kindergarten Inquiry. This evidence is described on page 119. The illustrations of methods which follow the analyses of the activities can be accepted with the foregoing comparison in mind. TABLE 23 A Distribution of Method Scores Among Kindergarten Activities Method . 2 3 4 5 A A A r Lesson Per Lesson Per r Lesson Per r Lesson Per Lesson Lesson Activities Scores Cent Scores Cent Scores Cent Scores Cent Scores Totals General Assembly.... ... 33 47 37 53 0 0 0 0 0 70 Discussion Period.... • • • 5 14 32 86 0 0 0 0 0 37 Music . ... 16 36 28 62 1 2 0 0 0 45 Language-Literature ... 25 40 37 60 0 0 0 0 0 62 40 25 58 31 5 43 7 0 0 0 69 One Work Period... . . . . 8 10 6 7 0 82 1st of 2 Work Periods., is 37 14 34 1 1 27 I 2 0 41 2nd of 2 “ . . 18 42 22 51 3 7 0 0 0 43 Total Lesson Scores 144 235 63 7 0 449 Per Cent of Scores for 0% 1 00% Each Method . ■ ■■ 32 % 52% 14% 2% This table shows that Method Two is most popularly used throughout the country during the first part of the school year.* 1 Comparing the methods used in each activity in terms of per cent, it is evident that the discussion period lends itself to a method of control in which the children’s interests figure more than they do in the general assembly period. It is also 1 90% of these reports were taken in October and November. 1 70 1 evident that music and literature use much the same methods and that the One Work Period and the 1st of Two Work Periods lend themselves to pupil-directed work more than does the 2nd of Two Work Periods. Method Five is not used and Method Four is used only during the work periods. TABLE 24 Geographical Distribution of Method Scores Method . 1 2 3 4 5 _ A _ _ A _ _ A _ _ A _ f "\ f N f A r A Geographical Lesson Per Lesson Per Lesson Per Lesson Per Lesson Lesson Divisions Scores Cent Scores Cent Scores Cent Scores Cent Scores Totals Eastern . 47 41 56 50 9 8 1 1 o 113 Southern . 22 31.4 39 56 8 11.4 1 1.4 o 70 Great Lakes . 35 33 51 48 19 18 1 1 0 106 Great Plains . 8 11 46 66 13 19 3 4 o 70 Western . 32 36 43 48 14 15 1 1 o 90 Total . 144 235 63 7 449 The use made of the first four methods in the different geographical divisions of the country is shown in Table 24 which reads as follows: Of 113 lessons scored in the eastern division of the country, 50 per cent were scored as Method Two, 41 per cent as Method One, 8 per cent as Method Three, and 1 per cent as Method Four. The rest of the scores are to be read in the same way. Comparing the per cent of use made of each method in the stenographic reports contributed by the different geographical divisions, it is evident that in the first part of the school year, the eastern states use more of Method One and the Great Plains states the least of Method One; that Method Two is the method used most commonly in all sections of the country and that the western sections use Methods Three and Four more than the eastern sections do. As stated in other sections of this report, there are wide variations in the use of Methods within each of the geographical divisions. These summaries suggest the need for a study of the comparative values of the methods used in kindergartens both for the different activities of the curriculum and for the beginning and the end of the school year. Summary Analyses of the Kindergarten Periods Assembly Periods — The division of practice among kindergartens be¬ tween starting their day with morning exercises or with the work period may influence the kinds of activities included in the assembly periods. Those periods which began the day’s work or, which, coming later in the morning, were not devoted to a discussion of the work period activities, are analyzed as the “General Assembly Period.” Periods predominately de¬ voted to a discussion of the work activities are analyzed as “Discussion Period.” GENERAL ASSEMBLY PERIOD In order of popularity, expressed in per cent, the 378 records of activities in these assembly periods are listed as follows : 1 71 1 Activities Per cent of use Singing . 15 General conversation . 13 Greeting, Hymn and Prayer . 11 Nature Study . 8 Health Inspection and Hygiene . 7 Stories and Rhymes . 6 Counting . 5 Dramatization . 5 Picture Study . 5 Telling the day of the week and marking the calendar . 4 Flag Salute and Singing America . 4 Making Plans for the Day . 4 Greetings . 3 Music Appreciation and Interpretation . 3 Tone Plays . 3 Discussion of Work . 2 Roll Call . 2 Total . 100 \\ hen these activities are distributed among the geographical divisions, certain variations in practice are evident. In eastern, southern, and west¬ ern divisions, where 60 to 62 per cent of the kindergartens start the day with a General Assembly Period and where 71 per cent of all the General Assembly Periods recorded on the time schedules were located, ten of the eleven per cent of use made of “greeting, hymn and prayer” is found. It might indicate that this group of activities is rather generally considered to be a part of the General Assembly Period. In the Great Plains, Great Lakes and western divisions, where 74 per cent of the separate music periods recorded on the time schedules are located, but six of the fifteen per cent of the use made of singing in the General Assembly Periods is found. This would seem to carry out the impression that these geographical divisions care for music instruction in periods separated from other activities. Five of the eight per cent of use made of nature study in the assembly period is found in the eastern and southern divisions. Phis cannot be interpreted to mean that nature study is not a part of the work in the other divisions, but that it does not come so generally at this time of day. There were, in fact, four excursions to see autumn foliage, squirrels, vegetables, etc., taken in the other divisions. Half of the use of dramatization took place in the eastern division. Since a fourth of all the separate periods for literature found on the time schedules was located in this eastern division, there is no indication that the dramatization in the assembly periods replaces the litera¬ ture periods. Other than these variations, the activities listed for the assembly periods are fairly evenly distributed among the other geographical divisions. Position taken by the groups of children — Of the schools definitely reporting how the children were grouped during the General Assembly Period, 55 per cent described them as sitting in a circle, 38 per cent as sit- [ 72 ] ting on the floor or in chairs informally grouped around the teacher, and 7 per cent as sitting in half circles before the teacher. This record would seem to indicate that the customary reference to “the circle” as a character¬ istic kindergarten formation is but about half true in practice so far as assembly periods are concerned. Methods used — As shown in Table 23, the 70 General Assembly method scores were about equally divided between Methods One and Two. The part of the day’s program where conversation needs a leader seems to lend itself more to a teacher-directed method than do less formal activities. This might be particularly true in the first part of the school year when the children are making their first school adjustments. It should be remem¬ bered that 90 per cent of the reports were made in October and November. General Assembly Period — Part of an Assembly Period Scored as Method One. Teacher. Now, yesterday we were talking about a very good friend that we all had. How many remember who that friend is? Children. The farmer. Teacher. What did we say about the farmer? Children. We sang about him. Teacher. Yes, that was it, and now what was that song, do you remember it? (All sing the song.) And now what does the farmer bring to market? Children. Apples, pears, oranges. Teacher. Look at the Horn of Plenty on the board here, what else do you see there? Children. Bananas. Teacher then gets pictures and shows them to the class one by one. She shows a picture with a team of oxen in it. Teacher. What do you think these are? Children. Cows, buffalo. Teacher. No, that's not right. I’ll tell you, they are oxen. Can you say that? Oxen? Children repeat the word after the teacher several times. (Show¬ ing another picture of a farmer near a barn) — What is this at the side of the picture ? Children. B arn. Teacher. What lives in a barn, do you suppose? Children. Sheep, goats and cows. Teacher. That’s right, now didn’t we have a song about a cow? They all sing “The Cow Says ‘Moo’, Here’s Milk For You.” Teacher then asks one little boy to sing it alone. Then all sing it together again. Teacher shows another picture and children discuss the articles in it, as the teacher points to the different objects. Teacher. And what is this? (pointing to corn). All sing a song about corn. Teacher. Now, here is another picture with a farmer in it. What do you think he is doing in this picture? Children. Plowing. Teacher. No, now first the farmer plows the ground, then he harrows it; this article in the picture is a harrow. (Children repeat the word.) The teacher then shows the picture to each child, as it is a new word and a new picture to them. Child. My daddy had one of those, but he died. Teacher. You must have lived on a farm, did you Bruce? Child. Yes. [ 73 1 Teacher. And then you moved to the city, did you? I am sure Bruce will be able to tell us quite a lot about the farm. Teacher then shows another picture of hay and a hay wagon. She explains that the hay grows, has to be cut, is tossed on the wagons and then is carried to the barn. Then all sing a song about “hay for market.” Another picture has a group of apples in it and the children remark that the farmer can grow apples, too. They sing the “apple song.” Teacher then has another picture with grapes in it. The children say they are raisins. They are corrected and told that they need some grapes made for the Horn of Plenty. Teacher. How many would like to help me make some grapes to put in our Horn of Plenty? Another picture shows a table all set and four people sitting around it. As the teacher points to the different people in the picture, the children name them — “mother, father, baby and me.” The children are then shown another picture with a turkey and pumpkins in it. They name the articles when pointed to by the teacher. Teacher. Let’s play that we are going to make a pumpkin pie, shall we? What do we take first? A bowl, that’s right. What else do we need? Flour, lard, water, yes, we need all those. Now, we’ll mix them all together. Now, we are ready to roll it out nice and thin. Now7, we are ready to put in the filling. (They pretend to pour the filling in.) Now, we put it in the oven, my oven door opens down like this. (Children all imitate the teacher.) Now, I think our pie will be ready, don’t you? Oh, isn’t it lovely, just nice and brown on top. Shall I cut your pies for you? (Does this.) Now7, you each have a piece of pie; shall we eat it now? What do you eat pie with? Several children say “fork,” but one little girl insists that you must use a spoon. Teacher says that a fork would be better and that they would use a fork today. (They all pretend to eat their pie.) Teacher. Would you all like to go to market to buy things? Let’s play that we are going to market and as you come back, I’ll ask you what you bought. (All march around room and then sit down again in front of teacher.) (Descriptions of things bought at the market are given and the morning exer¬ cises are finished.) Part of an Assembly Period Scored as Method One. (After the opening exercises, conversation continues as follows:) Child (raises his hand). Teacher. Henry, do you want to tell us what kind of a day this is? Child. Yes, this is a shady day. (The day is cloudy.) Teacher. What do you mean by that? Child. Today is a shady day. Teacher. 1 think you can say it better. Child. Today is a cool day. Teacher. No, say it once again. Child. Today is a shady day. Teacher. What is shade, what is shade? (apparently perplexed). Child. The sun. Teacher (to the children). What does he mean to say? Children. This is a sunny day. Teacher. No, look out and see if you see the sun. Children (look out of the windows). There is no sun out there. Teacher. Let Leland tell it. Child. This is a cool day. Teacher. But I would like for Henry to tell what kind of a day he thinks it is. Child. This is a warm day. [ 74] Teacher. Look out there and see what you see up in the sky. Child. The sun is up in the sky. Child raises his hand. Teacher. You tell Henry what he sees up in the sky. Child. He sees stars. Child. The stars are in the night time, and the moon is in the night time. Children. Yes, the stars are in the night. Child. This is a cloudy day. Teacher. Henry, is that what you were trying to say? Child. No, ma’am, it is not. Teacher. Well, let us sing “This Is a Cloudy Day.” Child volunteered to sing “A Cloudy Day.” Teacher (after the child's song). Let us give Otto a clap. I think this is the first time Otto has sung for us. (Children applaud heartily.) (The conversation continues.) Part of an Assembly Period Scored as Method Two. They rise and sing a Prayer, “Father, we thank Thee.” Children ex¬ press a desire to sing old “Good Morning” song, “Good morning to you.” Interesting conversation followed on “falling of the leaves” in connec¬ tion with study of harvest. Different responses from the children : Child. Looks like Jack Frost has been here. Bill. Dad is going to let us rake leaves today. George. Grass and leaves, too, have grown brown. I saw them yesterday. Irving. The wind is whirling them all about. Teacher. Do you know what “Harvest Time” is? The farmer gathers the things he planted in the spring, and this is “Harvest Time.” We call it the fall of the year. It is the time of the year that nature is planning for the winter. Do you know anything that gets ripe in the fall? Child (sees picture of the wheat field on wall). The grain gets ripe in the fall. Irving. I have a pumpkin that my mother bought for me. Teacher. How' many of you have ever seen a pumpkin? Many said that they had. Teacher. What do we use the pumpkin for? Child. To make pumpkin pies. Another. To make lanterns for Hallow'e’en. Teacher. Yes, and we are going to make some pumpkin lanterns. Clarissa. I’ve already made some out of paper. (Had sister in the kindergarten last year.) Numbers of children began talking spontaneously about Hallow'e’en. THE DISCUSSION PERIOD Activities Per cent of use Discussion of the day’s work . 50 Plans for the next day’s work . 20 General Conversation . 10 Singing . 6 Stories and Rhymes . 4 Nature Study . 3 Picture Study . 3 Dramatization . 1 Number . 1 Record Keeping . 1 Roll Call . 1 Total . 100 [ 75 ] Since about half of the discussion periods recorded on the time schedules were located in the Great Lakes and Great Plains divisions, the greater part of the first two activities in this list were found there. Many of the other states used this time more as a general assembly than for work dis¬ cussion. This distribution is made from 93 records. Position taken by the groups of children — Of the schools definitely reporting how the children grouped themselves for the Discussion Period, 60 per cent described them as sitting informally around the teacher, usually on the floor, 20 per cent described them as sitting in a circle and 20 per cent as sitting in a half circle around the teacher. This is another indication of the change in practice from a circle formation to a grouping which brings the children and teacher more closely together. Methods used — Of the 37 Discussion Periods recorded in sufficient detail to be scored, 14 per cent scored as Method One and 86 per cent as Method Two. There seems to be more opportunity for pupil purposing and pupil control during this activity where the display of the children’s work and the making of future plans of work are the predominating activities than in the General Assembly Period. D iscussion Period — Discussion Period Scored as Method One. Teacher. Come on children, bring your work to Mrs. X. Teacher (taking clay board from little boy). Tell us what you made. Child answers inaudibly at first, but was asked to speak louder. Child. I made some cakes and a roll. Teacher. Where are the cakes? (Bov indicates small flat discs.) Teacher is directing attention to the other objects on the clay board. Another hoy. Those are balls. Teacher (to boy who handed in the work). What are these? Child. They are balls. Teacher. What kind of balls. Child. They are black balls. Teacher. So you made cakes and balls, is that it? Child. Yes ma'am. Teacher. Well, I think you tried. Let me see who else made something. Teacher. Who has made something else in clay? (A boy brings his board). What did you make Henry? Boy. Cakes. Teacher (indicating objects about three inches long, curved up at one end). What are these? Boy. Ducks. Teacher. How many ducks have you there? Boy. A lot of ducks. Child. Mrs. X, may I go and get a drink of water? Teacher. No, you must wait. I think you are strong enough to wait. Teacher. What did you make, Mary? Mary. Candles. Teacher. Where are the candles? Mary (indicating pegs in her peg board). Right there. All these are candles sticking in a board. [ 76 ] Teacher. What is this you made, Hilda? Hilda (hands in board with yellow pegs). I have made trees. Teacher. I wonder what kind of trees these are, for they are yellow. In what season of the year do the leaves turn yellow? Who will tell me in what season of the year the leaves turn yellow? Tell me, Angelo. Angelo. Fall. Teacher. Whole story. Angelo. The leaves turn yellow in the fall. Teacher. . Now will you bring your work here, Hattie? What did you do this morning, Hattie? Hattie (handing in her string of beads). Made a string of beads. Teacher. Can you read the string for Mrs. X? Hattie. One ball, one cube; one ball, one cube (and so on). Teacher. Look at this string, children. Is this string right? One little girl. No, Mrs. X. Other children. Yes, Mrs. X. Teacher. Yes, this is right. Do you think Hattie worked hard on this string? Teacher (takes drawing from little boy). Look at this! (holding up before class). He made two papers for Mrs. X. What is this you made, John? Child. Trees and grass. Teacher. Whole story. Child. I made trees and grass. Teacher. Do you think John worked hard on that? Teacher (going over to house built by boys). Come, let us stand over here. (All children gather around the teacher.) Teacher. I like the way Catherine came over. She is so strong; she has her hands right down at her sides. (All children stand properly). . . . All right Henry, tell us about your house. Henry. We made a roof and some windows. Teacher. What did you make first, Henry? What is all that together? We made what? Henry. We made a house. Teacher. And what has your house? Now, tell us what your house has? Henry. It has windows. (Describes doors and windows. A similar description of her house is given by a girl who has worked with others with the large floor blocks). Teacher. Oh! you haven't finished your roof? When are you going to finish that? Child. Finish today. Teacher. If you have time. What do you think about that house Henry? Henry. That house is a very nice house. Teacher. You think that house is a very nice house? Henry. Yes, Mrs. X. Teacher (to girl). Henry thinks that is a very nice house, and that you have worked very hard. (To children.) Let us give her a clap, and let us give Henry a clap, too. (All children clap hands.) What would you like to do now? Children. Eat our lunch and drink our milk. Part of a Discussion Period Scored as Method Two. Teacher (holding up little pillow). Do you remember the little bed and mat¬ tress that Margaret finished and took home yesterday? (Children. “Yes.”) This is the little pillow. Now you will need some cover. Does your baby have any little covers? [ 77 ] Child. Just a bedspread. Teacher. Are you going to make some blankets? What would be good ma¬ terial to make the blankets out of? Children. Heavy goods. . . . Heavier than the pillow. Teacher. What material would you make it out of? What material do you have to make blankets? What are your nightgowns and pajamas made out of? Children. Flannel. . . . Muslin. . . . White goods. . . . Wool. We make some like this. (Point to wool goods in trousers.) Teacher. What is that goods? Children. Wool. Teacher. What kind of goods do we make our nightgowns of? Child. Outing flannel. Teacher. Outing flannel. That is a soft material to make blankets of. Why did you make this little pillow? Child. For my doll to lie down on. Teacher. Will it be the right size for your doll? Child. No, I will put two pillows together for my doll. Teacher. June, who helped you to make these little doll dresses this morning? June. Katherine. Teacher. Did she ask you to help her this morning? Where did you get the little doll? Who cut out this little doll for June? Ruth. I did. Teacher. I know some little girl who helped June by cutting out this doll. Look, isn’t it a good shape? Children. Oh! yes. . . . Ain’t that beautiful? . . . Oh! . . . Teacher. Katherine, wouldn’t you like to learn to cut one yourself so that Ruth would not have to show you? Some little children are not seated. I asked you all to be seated. (Odessa holding up her peg board.) Odessa wants you to notice what she did with the pegs this morning. Margaret. What is it? Child. It looks like a flag. Teacher. If Odessa made this for a flag, what have you to say about it? Children. It’s too thin for a flag. . . . No, not wide enough. Teacher. I like your criticisms. Child. There isn't a stem. Teacher. Do we speak of a stem to the flag? Children. No. ... A stick. . . . Hasn’t enough stripes. . . . Teacher. Wilma thinks this flag hasn’t enough stripes. How many stripes did we say the flag had the other day? Children. Six. . . . Seven. . . . Eight. Teacher. Let’s see, there are Children. Seven. Teacher. Red stripes and . . . Children. Six. . . . Teacher. White stripes. She doesn’t have enough red stripes and she doesn’t have enough white stripes for a flag. That makes thirteen stripes. How many stars in the flag? June. Twenty-eight . . . (others) Forty-eight. . . Thirty-eight. . . . Beatrice. Forty-eight. Teacher. Let’s clap for Beatrice because she said forty-eight and that was correct. June, I want you to bring me the pig you made this morning. Did you put it away? Part of a Discussion Period Scored as Method Two. Teacher. Now, let’s see the things we have this morning. Charlotte? Child. Here is a picture of a baby girl I made today. Children. Oh! I like that. I think it looks like a Jack-O’-Lantern. Teacher. I think it’s very nice; see her curly hair and her big eyes. Is she dancing or running in the grass? Charlotte says she would like to leave her picture here for us. Oh, how lovely! Won’t you put her up on the board? Dean? Child. Here’s a book I made. Children. It’s upside down. Teacher. What kind of a book is it? Child. An animal book. (Shows picture, and finally comes to page showing names of all animals in book. Elephant, horse, camel, etc.) Teacher. Why, your book has an index, just like grown-up people’s books. I think it’s good of you to want to leave it here. Thank you very much. Barbara? Child. Here is a picture I made — all in one day. Children. It’s pretty good. It’s funny. It’s good. I don’t think it’s funny. Teacher. Do you know what I like best about it? Children. The flowers. Teacher. Yes, what kind do you think they are? MUSIC In reading the following list of music activities with their percentages of use, it is of value to know that though 70 per cent of the 148 activities recorded were from three geographic divisions — divisions which commonly provide a separate music period — the percentage of use for each activity in each of the divisions is fairly similar. Activities Per cent of use Singing songs the children know and learning new songs . 32 Rhythmic interpretations of music . 20 Non-tonal band work . 12 Tone plays . 9 Duets, quartettes and antiphonal singing . 9 Dramatization . 8 Guessing the names of songs by hearing the first few notes of the music. . 5 Listening to instrumental music and to the victrola . 5 Total . 100 Songs recorded in the stenographic reports — The following classifica¬ tion of the 165 songs named in the stenographic reports is made according to the thought content of the songs. The list may be regarded as rep¬ resentative of the kind of songs used at the time that the reports were taken. Greeting songs, hymns and tone plays have been eliminated. The others in rank of popularity are as follows: Kind of Songs Per cent of use Birds and animals — i. e. The Blue Bird: I Went into the Country . 23 Nursery rhymes — i. e. Mother Goose . 23 Seasonal — i. e. Come Little Leaves: Jack Frost: Windy, Windy Weather: October Had a Party . 20 [ 79 ] 8 Festival — i. e. Jack-O'-Lantern: Orange Pumpkin: Christmas Time is Coming . Narrative songs — i. e. The Family: My Dolly Spin My Top . 8 Motion songs — i. e. A Little Boy Went Walking: Pat-a-Cake . 6 Trades — i. e. Blacksmith: Carpenter: Farmer . 4 Lullabys . 4 Humorous songs, — i. e. One Day When Mr. Squirrel Went up His Tree to Bed . . . 2 Patriotic songs . 2 Total . .’. 100 Position taken by the groups of children — The children are described as grouped about the piano or victrola in the music period. Half of these periods are described with an informal social grouping and the other half describe the children as sitting in rows or half circles about the piano accord¬ ing to their singing ability. In three of the groups the children were grouped according to their ability to carry a complete melody, their inability to sing a complete song or to distinguish between tones. Able singers were placed farther from the piano or teacher and poor singers were seated near the teacher. The informal grouping of the chairs about the piano provided space around the rest of the room for rhythmic interpretation of music. Methods used — As shown in the summary table, the music period was scored chiefly as Methods One or Two. The fact was frequently men¬ tioned during the work periods that the children sang to themselves or in groups at the tables. Illustrations of music periods follow: Part of a M usic Period Scored as Method One. Teacher. What are we going to do now? Child. Sing. Teacher. What would you like to sing, Mary? Child. Little Boy Blue. . . . (All stand in the circle and sing Little Boy Blue. All the children are singing except the new little girl.) Teacher. What would you like to sing, Charlie? Child. Jack and Jill. (All stand and sing Jack and Jill.) Teacher. What would you like to sing, Bobbie? Child. Little Jack Horner. (All sing Little Jack Horner.) Teacher. We won't ask Elizabeth to do anything today, because she is new. She will watch so she will know how to do it. Olean, what would you like to sing? Child. Humpty-Dumpty. (All sing Humpty-Dumpty and fall on the floor when Humpty-Dumpty falls.) Teacher. What would you like to sing, Emerson? Child. Mary, Mary Quite Contrary. (They continue this until all of the well- known nursery rhymes were sung.) Teacher. What would you like to sing now? Child. Mothers, Knives and Forks. A M usic Period Scored as Method One. Teacher. Come right over her by the piano. Miss X plays ding dong (E octave on piano). (She plays and the children sing it after her. They sing it with her — pointing hands up high for high notes and low for low notes, imitating ringing of [ 80 1 bell.) Jane, you’re not quite high enough. Now, way up — up in the top of your head. Child. Miss X, may I try? (Child tries, then Jane and then John.) Teacher. Now we're going to take the ball down the steps. On each step, we’ll sing loo. (Plays scale singing Loo and children listen. Plays scale and children sing.) Now, we’ll carry the ball back up. (Children sing up and down scale to loo.) (Children first listen and then next time they all sing together.) Jane and Dorothy also try it. We will sing Diddle, Diddle Dumpling — My Son John. (Miss X plays and children listen; then they all sing together.) Henry, you have been naughty all morning. I am afraid you will have to sit on the bench. (To child who has been talking to another child instead of singing) — Miss Y, student pianist, is going to play for us. We are going to sing The Snow Man. (Miss Y plays song through, then plays chord to begin.) Ready, sing. (Children sing.) Miss Y is going to playr a song for us and we are going to see if we can tell what it is. Everybody sit down on the floor. Just listen now. If you know it, raise your hand. (They listen and several raise their hands.) What is the name of it? Child. A Birdie with the Yellow Bill. (Miss Y plays as before. Miss X says — Reading, sing! They all sing.) Teacher. Let’s have Miss Y play another song and see if we know that. (Chil¬ dren listen. Dorothy raises hand.f Dorothy wants to sing it. (Dorothy sings song — One Misty Moisty Morning.) You didn’t get the last note quite high enough. (Dorothy tries again, then all sing the song together.) That’s right now. (The children who have been with Mrs. B return to the room and Miss X takes group B across the hall.) When we are ready, we will see what you have to show us. (Children sit on their rugs on the floor in front of teacher — feet are folded and hands in lap.) All right Tommy, we will look at your book, tell us about it. (Tommy goes and stands by Miss X’s chair and shows his book.) Part of a Music Period Scored as Method Two. Teacher. All you children have seen a cow except Mary. You have an auto¬ mobile Mary, haven’t you? Ask Mother to take you to the country to show you a live cow. Mary. We are going to sell it next week. Teacher. Have any of you ever seen a bell around a cow’s neck? Children. Yes, I have. Teacher. Why do they put bells on cow’s necks? Children. So it will give milk. . . . So it won’t run away. ... So the farmer can find it. Teacher. That is right. Yes, sometimes cows wander from their homes and their farmers can find them when they hear the bell. I have a song that tells about a cow with a bell on its neck. (Sings the song.) Child. I have heard that before. My sister knows it. Teacher. Would you like to learn it? Chorus. Yes. (Teacher teaches song with pictures.) Teacher. What does strolling mean? Children. Going down a path. . . . Going slow. Teacher. Cows can’t go fast. They have short legs and they have to carry big bags of milk. (Shows on picture where cows carry milk.) Can you tell me what a lane is ? Children. A path, a place to walk. Teacher. Yes, the cow in this song is walking slowly down a path. Now we shall sing a song we already know. (Song — Good Old Bossy Cow.) (A child chooses Hickory Dickory Dock and when it is sung one child strikes the clock by touching a triangle. Children then sing Pussy Cat. Antiphonal singing. Boys ask questions and girls answer. Next song is Ride a Cock Horse.) [ 81 ] Teacher. We did not sing together that time. Now listen while I play. We must hear the horse going down the street. (Teacher now has tone drill, calling each child’s name using two tones and the child answers “I’m here,” using the same two tones.) 1 he children are then divided into two groups according to age and thev sing and dramatize songs already learned, and sing antiphonally.) Part of a Music Period Scored as Method Two John. Let’s sing about the little birdie. (The class sings about the Little Birdie and the teacher plays the piano. Then Mary sings alone the song she chooses.) do) . Teacher (sings). Boys and Girls (do do Children. Yes, we are here, (do sol me do.) (The class and the teacher then go through the motions of “My ball is bouncing up, down.” This is repeated several times.) Children. He's chewing gum. . . . Charles is chewing gum. . . . (Charles runs and throws the gum into the basket. The teacher gives a chord and starts Peek-a-boo. Children take up the song and dramatize it. Children. You didn’t do it to me. . . . Do it to me, teacher. . . . You didn’t say it to me. (Teacher sings — John, Hark, I’m Calling You.) do la do sol sol sol sol sol (John runs and hides and sings a verse of song in return). ... I can hide, too. (The class claps for each child who responds correctly. Dollv sings the song backwards, so the children do not clap for her. The teacher plays a chord and the children sing Baa Baa Black Sheep.) Teacher. Now, let’s whittle it. (Children whistle it.) Teacher. Now, let’s clap it. (Children clap it.) (Teacher plavs a chord and the children sing Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling, making the motions thev have learned. The teacher plays another chord and the children sing and dramatize Humptv Dumpty. The children seem to enjoy their music period immensely. They are full of suggestions for songs.) Children. He was pinching me and him. . . . Look what he done. Teacher. What was the new song that we learned yesterday? About the brownie. (T eacher sings this song expecting the children to join in, but the chil¬ dren have forgotten the new song. Teacher teaches the song by rote. They learn to sing this song quite well.) (John suggests that instead of singing “And Then I Know 'Tis Day” to say “And Then I Run Away.” So the children sing the song over again inserting John's line. Teacher plays a skipping song and the children skip around the room in a circle.) Child. Watch me. (Teacher plays High Stepping Horses — the children walk around with high steps. T he teacher plays “The Brownie” and the children walk around, shading their eyes and pretending they are looking for something. Then they play the guessing game “Small and Tall." LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Activities Per cent of use Telling stories to children . 24 Learning and reciting rhymes and short poems . 19 1 82 ! Per cent of use Children retell stories . 11 Discussion . 11 Dramatization . 8 Picture study . 8 Reading to the children . 5 Reading lessons for the children . 5 Children dictate stories or letters for the teacher to write . 3 Children tell original stories . 3 Vocabulary and language exercises . 3 Total . 100 The 178 records of these activities listed were used by all the geographic di¬ visions. Stories Recorded in the Stenographic Reports — The names of stories, rhymes, and poems recorded by the stenographer have been classified. File list indicates the popularity of the kinds of stories used at this time of the year. Kind of stories Per cent of use Rhymes and poems — i. e., Mother Goose, Hygiene Rhymes, Finger Plays, Nature Poems . 44 Folk tales — i. e., The Wee Wee Woman, The Three Billy Goats, Ginger¬ bread Boy . 22 Nature and animal stories — i. e., The Big Red Apple, The Lame Squirrel 17 Festivals — i. e., Hallowe’en, The First Thanksgiving, The Story of the Pine Tree . 8 Stories of real life — i. e., The Gas Station, The Lighthouse Keeper . 5 Fables — i. e., The Wind and the Sun . 2 Humorous — i. e., Little Black Sambo . 2 Total . 100 Position taken by the groups of children — In two-thirds of the reports there was an informal plan of grouping. The children sat upon the floor, often upon, a large rug, gathered around the teacher’s chair. In the other one-third of the reports, the children sat in a circle. Methods used — As shown in Table 23, 40 per cent of the language and literature periods were scored as Method One, and 60 per cent as Method Two, indicating the leadership of the teacher. It should be noted that during the self initiated periods, there was a fairly constant flow of con¬ versation which included many stories of experience told by the children as they worked together. A Story Period Scored as Method Two. (Teacher calls for all the children who are small and they come forward and take seats close around her chair, which has been placed in the center of the floor; then the other children gather around.) Teacher. Now, can you give me a Mother Goose Rhyme with a cow in it? Child. Little Boy Blue (child recites rhyme). Teacher. Now, can you think of another? [ 83 1 X Child. Cow Jumps Over the Moon. Teacher. How does that start? Child. Hey diddle diddle, etc. Child. I know a new one. Teacher. What is it? Child. There Was a Crooked Man. Teacher. We want one with a cow in it. Child. I can make one up. Teacher. All right. Child. There was a man who has a sheep and a cow and he went to milk the cow. He couldn’t find it and he heard something that went “tinkle, tinkle,” and he found the cow and milked it. Child. I can tell one. Mother Goose said, Where have you been? I have been out to see lots of cows. It was about supper time and he wanted to milk the cows, and he went to the pasture a-nd everywhere. But he couldn’t see the cows. They were on top of a hill. By and by he heard a bell and he went to the top of the hill and found the cows. Teacher. I know a rhyme that was written by a man who wrote many lovely poems for little children. His name was Robert Louis Stevenson. (The friendly cow, all red and white, etc.) What colors are the cows on the piano? Children. Black and white. Teacher. But there are some cows that are red and white. They are not a bright red, but a brownish red. Something like the collar on Louis’ suit. Do you know what apple tart is? How many of you have eaten apple dumplings with cream on them? (Nearly all had.) Child — rubbing his stomach — that makes me hungry. Teacher. That makes me hungry, too, Louis. (Then teaches the poem.) Now, we are ready for a story. Helen, what story shall we have this morning? (The Little House is chosen and told by a child. The Bun is chosen and the book brought for the teacher to read to the children. Parts in it are commented upon.) A Lesson in English to Foreign Children Scored as Method One. Teacher. What is this? Answer: elephant . . . scissors . . . ball . . . chair . . . table. Pedro? Chair; George? Block; Mercedes? Chair; Maria? Block; Herbert? House. Teacher. George, get the elephant and bring it to me. Thank you! Carmen, get the scissors. Thank you! Pedro, get the ball. Thank you! Concepcion, get the chair. Thank you! Mercedes, get the house. Thank you! (Until each one has brought the picture of something to the teacher.) Teacher. John, shut the door. Good! Thank you! Herbert, touch the window. Thank you! That is good. Olive, get Frances. Thank you! (Frances is a doll.) Ramon, get a ball. Good, Ramon! Thank you! Mary, put the ball back on the cupboard. Maria, put Frances back on the cupboard. (Maria did not under¬ stand.) John, put Frances back on the cupboard. Thank you! Teacher. Aurora, get Frances. (The doll.) Aurora brings the doll. What are these? Eyes? Children. Yes. Teacher. What is this? Nose? (Children. Nose.) What is this? Mouth? ( Children . Mouth.) One child says it in Spanish. Teacher. Say it in English. What are these? Arms? ( Children . Arms.) What is this? (Concepcion answers. Bobby hair.) What are these? (Josef a. Feets.) Good, Josefa, feet. What is this? (Anita. Wool). No, not wool, hair. What is this? Nose? (Points to her own face and asks each question [ 84] again.) Now we know them. See if you know them on Lila. (Gets the other doll.) (Teacher repeats all questions on Lila.) Josefa, wipe up the floor. That is so bad. You must never, never spit on the floor. That is bad. (Hands her a paper towel.) Now, put the towel in the waste basket. Teacher. What is it Mary Ann? You spit outdoors? It is best not to spit at all. Never spit on the floor. You would not spit on the floor at home, would you? Now are you ready to listen, what is this? Children. Dress. Maria has a dress (touches it). Aurora has a dress. Con¬ cepcion has a dress, Ramona has a dress, we all have dresses. Now, all stand up! (Counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, going through motions, then says “Head, shoulders, feet, up, down” going through the motions. Children do it with her.) Good, now go over and sit in your chairs. Language Lesson Scored as Method Two. (All children take their chairs and go across the court to the auditorium. The teacher explains that they have been interested in the geography of the country as contacted by them, and their play has centered around trains, boats, street¬ cars, etc., as they have themselves experienced them. The pictures represent a trip across the San Francisco bay such as they themselves take. They are crayon, and are projected on the screen by the teacher as the children tell the story. Teacher. Edward, you begin the story. (Child is overcome with stage fright and wants to hear some other child begin first.) Puts in a picture (evidently a balopticon is used) of a house saying: This is a little boy’s house. This is about a little boy who is going to San Francisco. Child. Once upon a time there was a boy who went to San Francisco. So he went through the door and got on a train, and then I went to the pier and then I got on a boat and we got on the train. Teacher. I know this is long train. And this shows where he puts his trunk. This little boy got on the boat and went to San Francisco, while he was going, what did he see? (Teacher prompts.) Child. I saw a sail boat and I saw a tug boat pulling a big boat. Teacher. I don’t hear any of the sounds. Child. I saw another tug boat pulling another big boat. Then I saw a sailor. Teacher. The sailor was doing what, do you suppose? Child. I saw a sailor let down the anchor. And I saw a seagull standing on a post, and I saw the ferry building, I saw the buildings of San Francisco. I saw the street car going down hill. Teacher. Where was he when he saw that? Dorothy, you tell a second story. Child. Once there were four little girls, and one little boy and they went to go to San Francisco, and they went to the corner, and the Grove car and they got the Key Route train and got on it, and I got in San Francisco and got off the train and I got on the boat and I came to the ferry and I came to the Ferry slip and the ferry let me off, for I had to go to Golden Gate Park. The Bell Buoy went Ding, Ding on the rocks. And I got off the boat and got into San Francisco and went on the train, I mean the street car and it rode up the hill and then I got off at Golden Gate Park. Teacher. You may tell this now, Anne. Anne will make up a story to tell in the room. Children return to classroom as the auditorium is engaged. Child tells story: Once there was a little boy who wanted to go to San Fran¬ cisco. So he took his hat, went out the door, he got down to the step and waited for a train to come, the train came and then the little boy got off and sailed to the ferry building. Long, long time on the ferry boat, and they sailed into the dock, and then down went the gang plank. Then the little bov went off the gang plank and went off and then he started out to wait for a street car, and he waited [85] and waited and waited and the street car came. He went over to Golden Gate Fa rk. Teacher. Shall Constance tell . . beginning in the morning, now? Child. Once upon a time there was a little boy and he wanted to go to the city. The first thing he did he took the street car, the street car took him to the train, he got on the train, the train took him to the boat, and a bell buoy rang. The boat was coming in, then the boat started off and took the little boy to San Fran¬ cisco. The little boy thought he would get an ice-cream cone, and so he did. And he went to Golden Gate Park, and stayed a little while . . . and he'd be going back again. So he took the street car and he got on the street car and then the boat and took the street car and went home. Dramatization Scored as Method Tivo. Teacher. What story would you like to play? How many would like to play “Three Billy Goats Gruff”? We have only played it once this year. (The children want to play this story.) Teacher. Ruth will be Baby Goat Gruff. Jack will be Middle Sized Goat Gruff, and Martin will be the Big Fat Goat Gruff. John will be the troll. (The children use the swinging board for the bridge. The three goats stand on one side of the bridge. The troll stoops under the bridge.) Ruth. I guess I’m going over across the bridge to eat the grass. Children. Trip, trap. John. Who’s going over my bridge? Ruth. I’m going over to eat the grass. John. I’m going to eat you. Ruth. Oh, no! don’t eat me. Middle Sized Goat Gruff is coming. (In this way, the four chosen children dramatize the speaking and acting parts. Miss X tells the parts between, as for instance, “When the grass on the other side of the bridge was all gone, the three Goats Gruff decided to come back.” (Ruth prompts the other players when they forget their parts.) Teacher. The Middle Sized Goat went over so fast that the troll did not know he had gone. When the goats went over the bridge again, where was the troll ? Helen. A big black stone. Teacher. Did you like the show? Was there anything you didn’t like about it? Ruth went back when she wasn't supposed to. John forgot to talk. John played the troll very well. When John fell into the stone, he went how? Children. Flat. Vocabulary Lesson Scored as Method Tivo. (The finger rhyme of Piggy Wig and Piggy Wee.) Child. Where did they fall? Teacher. Where do you think they fell? Child. In the trough. Child. What is a trough? What was in the trough? Child. Slop. Teacher. What is slop? Child. It’s food. It’s what they eat. Teacher. Yes, that is their food. Would you like to hear me say it again? Children. Yes, yes, yes. Teacher. Now, we are all ready. (After waiting for children to stop talking — tells the story again.) Child. What is a trough? Teacher. Who can tell us what a trough is? Child. I know. It is a box squared down like this (illustrates with his hands). Child. It is what the pigs and cows eat out of. [ 86 J Child. Chickens and horses, too. Child. What does pell-mell mean? Teacher. Who can tell Henry what pell-mell means? Child. It is to run. Teacher. If you run, do you run straight? Child. You run with your head down and you want to fall down (shows how head would look) . Teacher. What is a greedy pig? Child. It’s one that eats all the time. He crowds the other pigs away. WORK PERIODS FOR THE GENERAL ARTS Activities — At the time when the stenographic reports were taken, many of the kindergartens were carrying on projects centering about interests in farms, stores, village life, the circus and the lumber camp. During the self-directed periods, these projects were the centers from which the gen¬ eral arts developed — that is, the fine, industrial, domestic and dramatic arts. The Hallowe’en and Christmas festivals also provided stimuli for decorating party plates and napkins, hats and costumes for Hallowe’en, gifts for Christmas, chains, lanterns and other decorations for the room. The variety of materials used in expressing the children’s interests and the number of uses made of them is greater in the one work period than in the program using the two work periods. Over twice as many choices of different materials were made in the one period than were made in the two periods together. This fact proves nothing for the values in the uses of the materials. This needs to be determined. It does show that in spite of the fact that one of the two work periods is frequently used as a self-initiated period, there is greater opportunity for selection of materials in the one work period program plan. This matter of selection needs evaluating to build a valid defense for free selection and use of materials. In order of popularity, the use of materials for the three work periods is listed as follows: Per cent One work period Choices of use Drawing with crayons . 59 13 Paper cutting and pasting . 40 9 Paper construction . 35 7 Clay modeling . 34 7 Large floor blocks . 30 6 Wood construction . 26 5.5 Miscellaneous blocks . *26 5.5 Housekeeping plays . 23 5 Picture books . 20 4 Sewing (4 on cards) . 19 4 Bead stringing . 15 3 Drawing on the blackboard . 14 3 Sand modeling . 14 3 Water color paints . 13 3 Pegs and peg boards . 13 3 Cardboard construction . 13 3 Apparatus — swings, see-saw, etc . 12 3 1 87 J Per cent Choices of use Play with completed projects . 11 2 House painting on wood and tin . 11 2 Fresco paint . 9 2 Dolls . 7 2 Care of pets and plants . 7 2 Froebelian building blocks . 5 1 Weaving (4 with slats and mats) . 5 1 Balls . 3 .6 Reading . 2 .4 Puzzle solving . 2 .4 Cooking . 1 .3 Paper folding . 1 .3 Total . 470 100.0 Per cent First of two work periods Choices of use Paper cutting . 14 10 Drawing with crayons . 10 7 Miscellaneous blocks . 10 7 Paper construction . 10 7 Bead stringing . 9 7 Froebelian blocks . 9 7 Housekeeping plays . 9 7 Pegs and peg boards . 9 7 Clay modeling . 7 5 Sewing . 7 5 Large floor blocks . 6 5 Sand modeling . 6 5 Play with finished projects . 5 4 Balls . 4 3 Froebelian sticks . 4 3 Picture books . 4 3 Water color paints . 3 2 Paper folding . 2 1 Wood construction . 2 1 Blackboard drawing . 1 .7 Cardboard construction . 1 .7 Fresco paints . 1 .7 House paints . 1 .7 Puzzle solving . 1 .7 Weaving . 1 .7 Total . 136 100.0 Per cent Second of two work periods Choices of use Drawing with crayons . IS 22 Paper cutting . 13 19 Paper construction . 8 12 [ 88 ] Per cent Choices of use Clay modeling . 4 6 Blackboard drawing . 3 4 Froebelian blocks . 3 4 Housekeeping plays . 3 4 Large floor blocks . 3 4 Miscellaneous blocks . 3 4 Play with finished projects . 3 4 Paper folding . 2 3 Parquetry pasting . 2 3 Balls . 1 1 Beads . 1 1 Fresco paints . 1 1 Sand modeling . 1 I Water colors . 1 1 Weaving . 1 1 Total . 70 98 Combining the uses of the play materials, the first in popularity are paper cutting and construction, drawing and block building. They con¬ stitute 46 per cent of all the materials used. The next popular group forming 40 per cent of the materials used are clay, paints and housekeep¬ ing apparatus. The group next in popularity are wood construction, serv¬ ing, wooden bead stringing, pegs and peg boards and picture books. It would be helpful to have a study of the values which the use of these materials contribute to the children’s education and the technique of pre¬ senting the materials which will make possible the greatest gains. Two studies which help in developing the drawing work with children in kindergarten are the drawing scales constructed by Dr. Agnes McCarthy 1 and by Dr. Linus Kline and Miss Gertrude L. Carey.1 Methods used — Sixty-two per cent of the methods by which the one work period was scored fell under Methods Three and Four. It indi¬ cates that this period predominately stimulates the children’s initiative in selecting their own activities. The true value of the use of time when individual children select their own materials and activities is yet to be evaluated. Standards set up to score such use of time would prove helpful in deciding the proportion to be so used. Seventy-one per cent of the first of two work periods and 93 per cent of the second of two work periods scored as Methods One and Two. This indicates that during these periods the teachers directed the work and in many instances developed techniques of handling materials. It would be of interest to know the proportion of teacher-directed and of child-initiated work which produces the more skillful control of materials and the more aesthetic appreciations and social controls. Work periods which illustrate method follow: Work Period Scored as Method One. 1 See Bibliography. [ 89 ] Teacher. 1 am going to let you finish something to put in your basket that we are making. Yesterday we made what? Yes, a pear, and today we will make a nice red apple. Child. When are we going to finish the gingerbread boy? Teacher. As soon as we get the brown color for it. This morning we are going to do our work at the tables first and then we will play. Helen. When may I play with the doll carriage? Teacher. Soon. Charles. I said ‘‘Good morning" to Jimmie today and he didn’t say hello. Teacher. That wasn't a very nice thing to do. We should always answer people when they speak to us. (The children now go to the small tables and prepare to cut out a pattern which the teacher has provided.) Teacher. When you go around the table, don’t stop in the first place because you block the way for the rest. Jimmie, I told you to go to the last table. I can tell bv watching who has good ears. If you do the thing I have told you to do once, and then do not do it right the second time, I know that you have not good ears. Now let me see everyone in position. Anne, you may give out the scissors. Don’t give Gerald any because the last time he had them he cut his hair. Jean, would you like to pass out the apples. Jean. Yes, Miss X. Teacher. Now, if you will all watch me cut mine, you will see that I keep my scissors on the black line all the time. You can play that the scissors are an engine and try to keep them on the track all the time. “Gift” Period Scored as Method One. Teacher. I'd like John and Henry to help me. (She gave them small boxes of cubes to be placed in front of each child.) Teacher. Who can tell me how many whole cubes you have? How many half cubes? How many quarter cubes? (Pupils answer together each time, some are right and some are wrong.) Teacher. Now take two half cubes, one in each hand and put them together to make a whole cube. Now put them together to make one big half cube. (Teacher is standing before the class demonstrating.) Part them again, now together, making a whole cube. Now half a cube and half a cube make — ? (children answer — a whole cube.) Then a half an apple and a half an apple make — ? (children answer, a whole apple.) (Some further drill is given for two or three minutes.) Teacher. Now we’ll play these cubes are ships and we’ll sing the song, “Seven Ships A-Sailing.’’ (Some ships leave according to the song and children with¬ draw cubes accordingly. Cubes are gathered up.) Seven or eight minutes were given for free play. Pupils talked among them selves at the tables. The Beginning of a Work Period Scored as Method Three. At a tap of the bell the children gathered about the teacher and discussed plans for work. The children who wanted to use paint or clay were reminded to put on oilcloth aprons they had previously made. Child. I saw Santa Claus in a window. Let’s make Christmas things. (This was the first hint of Christmas plans.) Teacher. It is early to begin but perhaps we could. What would you suggest that we do? Children. Make a tree. . . . Make presents. I 90 I Teacher. Yes, we could make presents for father and mother and perhaps for baby. Children. We could make a candlestick. ... I can make a bowl. Teacher. Perhaps mother would like something to put her pins in. (The teacher then led the children to tell about things they were working upon yester¬ day and other things they might do. These possibilities were: airplanes to be painted, wooden tables to be finished, aviators’ hats. The children had previously built an aviation field and hangars of large blocks to shelter the airplanes they made of wood.) The teacher then reminded the children of the large drawing papers 18” x 24" which were tacked to blackboards low enough for the children to draw upon with enlarged crayons. She also suggested the book of poems and pictures which a child had brought from the library table. At the close of the discussion all of the children went to work at once. Part of a Work Period scored on the whole as Method Three. This part illustrates Method Five. (Two boys painting a house made from a wooden box- — the house was made by one of the boys.) Child. See the house has a chimney! And we are going to put red paint on the chimney. I put the whole paper on the wall yesterday. Look! I feel like painting this yellow. Look at the numbers. (Printing on the box shows through.) Say, you can paint on the roof. (Only one brush.) Look, didn't I do the back quick, though! You have done your side, you said I could do the other side. Quit putting so much paint on put it on straight. (The teacher comes and the boys tell her of trying to cover the numbers with paint and they decide the house will need two coats of paint.) Child. It is hard to see way under the roof. Say, I got to do my side more — - look way under — I didn’t do it right. Gee! Let me use the brush again. Child. We are painter men — aren't we? Child. Yes. Child. He likes to paint all right. Child. Who ? Child. This guy. We’ll have to be careful about the wall paper when we paint the floors inside. See, I use a dry brush. Now, we got to paint the bottom. But not today. Look the way the numbers show through. Child. Gee! Isn’t it pretty! Child. You bet, now we are all done outside. Now the floors! Child. You do the upstairs and I will do the downstairs. Child. There is how much I paint, now you paint. Then I will paint a little downstairs, too. (Did only half of upstairs floor.) Then you can paint a little downstairs, etc. Parts from a Work Period Scored as Method Four. Child. (Working in clay, examining doll at table where child is making its hat.) What is this? Another child. Those are buttons. Don't touch those. They are very loose. Child. My doll is better because my doll is wooden. (Making hole in small clay ball.) See my cute little bowl? Don’t you take it. I will give you one because you can't make it. Come do. At one table, a boy and a girl are painting, a boy is modeling in clay. One, using bright red described what he was making for the benefit of others — a fire engine. 1 91 1 Child. Here’s a big bell (making a sound for illustration). This is awful hard. Girl (making a clay figure of a man). He won’t stand up. There’s something the matter with him. Bay (laughing). I never heard of a man green. She is making a man green. (A colored child comes and stands by the table.) Faces ought to be brown. Bay (pointing to him). You both have the same kind of overalls, only yours are darker. That's the same color, too. Child (painting engine). Look what I've got. Some mud guards. (Showing them to the teacher.) Teacher. Why don’t you paint a big one? Child. It’s too much. I’m afraid it will come off this paper. Teacher. Why not get a big piece? Finish this and then get another. Child with a picture book, followed by two others). Tell me about this. (Teacher tells the story to the three children describing the picture pointed out by the children.) PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES A. Plays and Games The plays and games recorded in the stenographic reports have been divided according to their main theme and their evident purpose. These divisions are activity games — including social games, games leading to skill and competition, and rhythmic interpretation, dramatic games and hiding and finding games. Within these main divisions, the games have been grouped as formally and informally organized and as traditional or modern in origin. Those games have been considered as formally or¬ ganized when they follow rules or a prescribed formation. They are already “built'' when presented to the children. Games have been con¬ sidered as informally organized when they seem to have no set form. They may be original with the children, they are changing in form and are in the process of being “built.’’ Those games have been considered as traditional which have been customarily recognized and used for a long period of time. Modern games are considered as those recently developed and not yet established by customary use. A ctivity games — Social games under the activity grouping include games where pleasure in playing with and in choosing one’s fellows is the pre¬ dominating theme. Such games fall under this heading as “I went to visit a friend one day,” “Little Travelers” and “The Farmer in the Dell.” Traditional social games are illustrated by “Pop Goes the Weasle” and “Looby Loo,” while modern social games are illustrated by “How Do You Do, My Partner” and “As I was Walking Down the Street.” Games leading to skill and competition under the activity grouping in¬ clude informally organized ball games, races and certain exercises sometimes called natural gymnastics, sucb as imaginary walking on stilts, reaching for apples, and digging potatoes. They also include formally organized games, such as “The Snail,” “Musical Chairs,” and “The Thread Follows the [ 92 1 Needle.” Traditional games of skill and competition are illustrated by “Drop the Handkerchief,” while modern games of this kind are illustrated by “Froggie in the Middle” and “The Squirrel Tag.” Rhythmic interpretations under the activity grouping of games include informal interpretation of the ideas or mood expressed by music such as birds flying, children skating and leaves or clothes blown by the wind. They also include such formally organized rhythmic plays as “Ring Around a Rosie” and “Sally Go Round the Stars.” Traditional games of rhythmic interpretations are illustrated by “The Chimes of Dunkirk,” while modern games of this kind are illustrated by “Heel, Toe and One, Two, Three,” and “Five Little Chickadees.” Dramatic Games — Games under the dramatic grouping primarily repro¬ duce experience and express meanings through words and actions. This classification includes such games of formal organization as “This is the Way my Dolly Walks” and “Soldier Boy.” It also includes dramatiza¬ tions of nursery rhymes, and experiences which are informal, original, and spontaneous in character. Traditional dramatic games are illustrated by “The Pigeon House,” “Soldier Boy,” and “Draw a Bucket of Water," while the modern games of this kind are similar to “1 Went into the Country” and “We Go Across the Street.” Hiding and finding games — These are preeminently games using the physical senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, and touching. Informally organized hiding and finding games included spontaneous and original games of hiding children, balls and objects which one or more children previously blindfolded hunted for or identified by voices or physical char¬ acteristics. Formally organized games of this type include the “Bell Ringer,” “I’m Very, Very Tall,” and “When We’re Playing Together.” Traditional hiding and finding games are illustrated by the “Bell Ringer” and “Let us Pace Around with Singing,” while modern games of this kind were the “Watch Dog” and “Magic Music.” In classifying these games, there has been some inevitable overlapping. This is particularly true of the social activity and the dramatic games. In such instances, the characteristics most predominating have determined their placing. Using these classifications for the 94 games clearly named in the stenographic reports, the following I. Activity Games . distribution is given Social games . 347c Formally organized.. 907c; informally organized . . 107c Traditional . 507o; modern . . . 50% Games leading to skill and competition.... 32%, Formally organized.. 607c; informally organized . . 407c Traditional . i37>; modern . . . 877c Rhythmic Interpretation $ . . 34%, Formally organized.. 367c; informally organized . . 64% Traditional . i77c; modern . . . 83% 193 1 23% II. Dramatic Games . Formally organized.. 50%; informally organized.. 50% Traditional . 28%; modern . 62% III. Hiding and Finding Games . 9% Formally organized.. 88%; informally organized.. 12% Traditional . 20%; modern . 80% 1 h i s grouping does not picture the frequency with which these various games were use. It indicates the kinds of games used at the time of the school year represented by the stenographic reports. These indications offer material for study in the matter of evaluating and recommending types of games to he used and proportions that might valuably be maintained in the use of the different kinds of games. Methods used — Fifty-eight per cent of the 69 game periods scored fell under method two, thirty-four per cent under method one, and eight per cent under method three. These scores are for the game period and do not consider spontaneous games organized and directed by the children in their self-directed work period. Illustrations of game periods from the steno¬ graphic reports follow. Part of a Game Period Scored as Method One. Teacher. All right, Helen, suppose you get in the middle this time. Child. I want to. Teacher. Well, you know I don’t ask people who say, “I want to do it.” (Again they sing, "I'm Sometimes Very Tall,” etc.) Teacher. Now, Marion, you may go in the center. (The game is played several times with much enjoyment.) Teacher. Now what would you like to play? Child. Ball. Teacher. Well, we have been sitting quite a bit, let’s play something else. Ruth wants to play “To Market, To Market.” Now, will we go walking or skipping ? Ruth. Walking. Teacher. All right, Ruth wants to go to market walking. Let’s see if we can all keep together. (They all play and sing "To Market.”) Teacher. John, how would you like to go to market? John. Walking. Teacher. We just went walking, can’t you think of another way, like stamp¬ ing or jumping? Child. Jumping. Teacher. I asked John. Can’t you think of a wav? (John shakes his head.) Teacher. Louise, won’t you tell us a way? Louise. Skipping. Teacher. All right, let’s all go skipping this time. (They skip this time.) A Game Period scored as Method T 'wo. “I know a new game. I know a new game,” one little boy whispered to the teacher, the game he chose being "How Do You Do, My Partner.” He chose his partner by bowing, and then they danced around the circle, others clapping their hands. In turn each child chose a partner until everyone had a partner singing "How do you do, my partner, how do you do today? Will you dance in the circle? I will show you the wav.” r 94 ] “I know a game, I know a new game,” one child whispered to the teacher. “Little Dog.” The children said, “Choose me.” They sang the song, “Oh where, oh where is my little dog gone, oh where, oh where can he be, with his ears cut short and his tail cut long, oh where, oh where can he be.” The leader chose the one to be the little dog. The one chosen hid behind a teacher. The leader chased the one chosen as a dog around the circle, running and laughing, perfectly happy. A chorus of voices called out, “Can I be the dog?” “I know a new game,” a child whispered to the teacher, “Merry-go-round.” “We'll all be the horses and Marion can be the ticket man.” Marion being the leader took the tickets, while the children marched around in a circle as if they were on horses. “A new game. I know a new game,” Martha whispered to the teacher. “Roly- poly caterpillar.” The children in the chorus sang, “Roly-poly caterpillar into a corner crept, wound around himself a blanket, then for a long time slept." Chil¬ dren were chosen by a leader and they crawled away on all fours to a corner and rolled themselves up for sleep. The teacher said, “The rain came down and still they slept in their cocoons. The leaves came down and the snow came and went. Then spring and the sunbeams came. Wake up, caterpillars.” Children awakened. (Drying their wings.) They ran back to their circle, palms upward and their hands uplifted, flying like butterflies. The other children sang, “Roly- poly caterpillar awakening by and by, found himself with wings of beauty, changed to a butterfly.” Part of a Playground Period, not Scored for Method. Teacher. It is a sunny day so we may go outdoors to play. Children go out of doors to the school yard, a pleasant grassy lawn with many shade trees. Various pieces of apparatus are about the lawn and each child chooses what he likes. Some slide down boards, some slide backwards. Child. I can go down a funny way. There is ball bouncing and throwing; the children replace balls in a basket when through and others take them. They throw bean bags into a basket. There is a miniature basket ball apparatus with a pointer to lift down the balls when they stick. Raking leaves is popular with the children. Other activities are en¬ joyed with w'ooden horses, hoops, carts, etc. B. Lunch Period Details recorded from the stenographic reports describe lunch periods which varied from lunches brought from home by all or by a few of the children, to lunches provided in the school for undernourished children, for all children who brought money to pay for it, or for all children regard¬ less of special need or of money brought from home. The popular use of bottles of milk seemed to necessitate the help of the teacher in serving and eliminated the possible training for the children in pouring the milk from a pitcher and in passing it in cups to the children. In some schools, the kindergarten children went to a lunch-room where all the grade children received their milk. In other schools, the children arranged their lunch tables with napkins, counting out the numbers needed, and when all the children were seated, served straws for drinking from the bottles and served crackers. At such lunch periods, a “grace” was usually repeated, conversation was carried on by the children and the teacher, and table manners were discussed as needs for them arose. The children cleared the tables after lunch, sometimes each one taking his empty bottle to the crates 1 95 J and throwing the straw into the wastebasket and sometimes committees of children performed this service. In a few instances, the children washed the bottles and in most of the cases where cups were used, they were washed by the children. The habit of washing the hands before eating may be common, but it was mentioned in only a few of the stenographic reports. Illustrations from the reports of lunch periods follow: 1. The children seated themselves at the table. Paper napkins were passed by one of the children while another child passed attractive enameled brown, blue and white cups decorated with stenciled animals on the outside and filled with milk. While the children were waiting for an extra cup to be brought, they said “Thank you.” Teacher. When we sav the “Thank you,” we shut our eyes and think of all the good things God gives us. The children closed their eyes and repeated: For work and for play, we thank our Father. For food every day, we thank our Father. (This was originally worked out with the children and put together as an original rhyme.) Teacher. Each one take care of his own napkin and cup. Put the napkins in the basket and the cups on the tray. 2. A luncheon period of crackers and milk has been a part of the procedure only a few days. As there have been many habits to build up in connection with this period — the passing of napkins and crackers, the care of milk and straws — it was felt best to wait a few more days before establishing the habit of washing the hands before lunch. Owing to inadequate toilet facilities, this will prove to be a difficult undertaking, needing careful supervision. The importance of washing hands is fully realized and will soon be made a part of the preparation for luncheon. Two boys slide a case of milk over to the teacher from the door. One boy and one girl pass crackers to the children who are grouped at one side of the room, while the teacher sees to opening the milk and passing it to the children. Teachers sit with the groups at each end of the room. They all bow their heads and repeat: God is great and God is good, Let us thank Him for our food. Amen. (The conversation carried on by the children follows in this report. 3. (During conversation at lunch, the canary was brought to the table.) The talk drifted into what birds eat — the construction of his bill. Child. Oh! look, Dickie is eating the apple — look it! Teacher. And did you notice what little bites he takes? Child. He took just a little bite, I sawn him. Teacher. Yes, Charles saw the little bird take such a tiny bite — isn’t he dainty? I saw that, too, Charles. Child. Oh! look, he's standing on his pole! Maybe he’ll sing. Child. I heard the Dickie sing this morning — he says “Good morning” to us when we came in. Child. I brought some apple for Dickie this morning, Miss T. Child. What is this thing for — this right here? Teacher. That is to sharpen his bill on. Child. Hill? What is a bill? (The bill is pointed out and the conversation continues) [ 96 ] C. Rest Period In the reports describing the rest period in detail, practice seemed to be divided between having the children lie Bat on the floor or sit at tables with their heads resting on their arms on the tables or on the backs of the chairs. In schools where the children lay on the floor, rugs, cushions, newspapers, newspaper pads bound together and mats were used as a protection from the floor. In a few schools, the children lay on chairs pushed together, on window seats, or on the boxes built for blocks. This was evidently done to avoid floor drafts. In half of the schools, quiet music was played on the piano or on the victrola during the rest period. It would be of help to all kindergartners to know the physical advantage of one position of rest over another and their relation to other elements such as floor drafts and prac¬ tical need for cleanliness. Illustrations of this period follow: 1. As many as could be accommodated lay flat on the rug. The others took a piece of newspaper and lay on that for protection from the floor. The shades were drawn to darken the room. Teacher. Lie flat on your backs and be quiet. If you are very quiet, I will sing to you about sleep. Rest your hands and eyes. Drop your hands at your sides. The teacher than sang “Sleep, Baby Sleep,” and hummed it the second time through. 2. Teacher. Now, I want to see how quietly you can rest. The children immediately proceeded to rest; some took newspapers and spread them on the floor. These served as a protection to their clothes; others reclined on the box cupboards about the room, and others sat quietly in their chairs. About ten minutes elapsed, then a little boy imitating a fairy, tip-toed in and light y tapped each resting child who, arising, walked quietlv into the next room where a lunch of crackers and milk was served to each child. Signals used to gain attention and control — Notes sounded upon the piano were the commonest signal used to gain the attention of the children or to indicate that it was time to prepare for another activity. Ch'mes, a triangle, as well as the teacher’s voice were also used. The initiative for drawing attention to products of work and to the social behavior of the chil¬ dren usually rested with the teacher. In many instances in the work period, the children themselves called attention to the work and judged it for its strength, appropriateness and beauty. Certain cases of conflict in behavior were settled by the children by means of retaliation, by withdrawal and by brief quarrels. Other cases of conflict in behavior were settled by the teacher through having the child sit next to her, by removing him from the group of children until he could return and act acceptably, and by asking him to apologize. The manner in which most cases were handled seem to reflect the general method of procedure followed throughout the activity periods. References to number work and reading — A constant use of number was made in practically all of the different periods of the day’s work among the several schools reported. The number activities included counting, ad¬ dition, subtraction, division, measurement, reading and writing simple num- I 97 1 hers and comparison of weights. These processes were used in regard to the following activities: — Time; birthdays, holidays, dates, and time divi¬ sions of the day’s program: Addresses and telephone numbers; lunch, the quartering of apples, counting napkins and straws needed for lunch and the number of dishes needed for a party: Industrial work, measuring boards with fingers and sticks, cutting paper and cardboard the proper sizes to fit needs, cutting doll clothes in proportion to the size of the doll, stringing beads by number patterns and counting squares on folded papers: Choosing work; voting which story to have; counting the votes and decid¬ ing upon the majority: Games; marching by “twos” and in “double quick time,” choosing certain numbers of children for plays, writing scores on the blackboard, counting numbers of times balls were bounced: and in assem¬ bly periods counting such things as the stars and stripes in the flag, the ob jects in pictures, the number of clean finger nails and the number of boys and girls present. Many other illustrations could be added. Two brief illustrations are quoted as follows: Teacher. I hope when Beatrice goes home she will have eight little baskets for her birthday dinner. We will help her to keep them nice when she takes them home. Child. I know, let Harry make two, Beatrice make two, and . . . etc., until vve have eight. As the children line up to leave the room Ruby says there are more girls than boys. Teacher. How do you know, Ruby? Child. Because line’s longer. Teacher. Annette, let’s count and see. (Annette counts the girls and all the children count the boys.) Teacher. How many girls were there? Children. Thirteen. Teacher. How many boys? Children. Eleven. Teacher. Do you think there are more boys than girls? Children. More girls. The beginnings of reading were evident in writing on the board the names of fruit and vegetables that the children had brought in one of the kindergartens, in requests for signs such as “Docks” and the names of rail¬ road stations for Detroit and Buffalo, plans for a party written on the blackboard, the names of children chosen to be leaders written on the board and the presence of a sign and price marker in the kindergarten equipment. In a few schools, children apparently of age to enter first grade were given reading instruction which ranged in method from action words to phonetic work in sounding words. An illustration of the child’s use of a sign, a mark of reading readiness, follows: Teacher. How will people who come along the road know that this is a repair shop ? Child. They’d see the tools. Another child. Have a toy engine outside. Another child. A sign. 1 98 ] 1 Teacher. What kind of a sign would you put up? Child. A sign saying repair shop. Teacher. Could anyone make that sign? (No volunteers.) If I put letters on the board, who will do it? (Several hands are raised, teacher goes to the board, a group from the rug follows her, boys get paper ready to copy letters as the teacher prints.) Teacher. What do you think that says? (As she finishes the word “'Repair.”) Children. Repair. (Teacher finishes the words “‘Repair Shop.”) Teacher. Jack, suppose you and Frank and Howard try; then we might choose the best. (One tries, the others watch, prompting the one making the sign by' point¬ ing out the letters on the blackboard. When he has finished the word “repair” one of the group watching, sees that he has it too far down on the paper and too large, and says: Child. Now start up here (pointing to the top of the sheet) because you made it too big. (The sign when finished reads “Shop Repair.”) Cooperation with the primary grades — In three of the schools reported, the first grade joined the kindergarten children for their Hallowe’en party. In one school, a “Primary” child came in to tell the kindergarten children a story; an “upper grade” girl brought lumber to help the kindergarten children build a chicken coop and later visited to see the results. A group of third grade children in one school came into the kindergarten to dram¬ atize a story. Other instances of cooperation with the grades were indicated by letters and invitations for parties dictated by the kindergarten children to their teachers and carried by the children to the grade rooms. Summary — The contents of 136 stenographic reports representing all geographical divisions of the country have been analyzed in this part of the study of kindergarten education in the United States. This analysis in¬ cludes descriptions of the kindergarten rooms and gives accounts of the activities, the positions taken by the groups of children, and the methods of control used during the several periods of the kindergarten programs. De¬ tails are also given of the signals used by the teacher to gain the children’s attention. Indications of the beginnings of number work and reading found within the programs, and of cooperation between the kindergartens and pri¬ mary grades have been recorded. Illustrations are quoted from the steno¬ graphic reports to show both the kindergarten periods in action, and to illus¬ trate the statements of method by which 449 lessons were scored. From the analysis of the data the following facts are evident : — 1 . Kindergarten rooms as a rule have southern and eastern exposures. Their furniture is arranged informally and in a homelike manner. The rooms are decorated with pictures, with plants and nature materials, and frequently have curtains at the windows. Large play materials, play ap¬ paratus, and toys are kept within reach of the children. Many kinder¬ garten rooms have the added attraction of fireplaces, floor aquaria, bay windows, and terraces or playgrounds reached from the room by means of French doors. An accumulation of the data now available on specifications [99] and plans for lower primary class rooms would be of value to school administrators. 2. The songs most frequently used when these reports were taken in the tall, were nursery rhymes and songs about birds, winds, and frost. The literature reported most frequently were Mother Goose rhymes, finger plays, and short health and nature poems; and second in frequency, folk tales, and realistic stories of animals and home life were reported. The games most frequently reported were social games such as “Looby Loo” or Visiting games, games leading to skill and competition such as informal races, or formally organized like the “Snail,” and Rhythmic interpretation both spontaneous and in such organized form as “Heel, Toe and a One, Two, Three.” As proposed before in this study, an evaluation of both the popular and the unpopular activities found in these reports would be of help to teachers in delining their programs and procedures. 3. Five statements of method on a scale from teacher to child control are given in this chapter. The 4-0 lessons scored for the method used ac¬ cording to these statements indicate that in the fall kindergartners use a method which incorporates the children’s interests in the teacher’s plans and that the teacher directs the children’s work. This method varies with the several kindergarten activities. The accuracy of the scoring made by the writer was checked by a comparison of scores given to ten lessons by nine experienced teachers with those given by the writer, and by comparing the records of methods used most commonly at the beginning of the term by teachers replying to the Kindergarten Inquiry with the total scores given by the writer. Studies of methods of control used during the several school activities could help to strengthen the unification of primary grades and kindergartens. 4. The traditional idea of the circle as the customary grouping of children in kindergartens, is not true of present practice. The greatest number of instances when a circle formation was used occurred during the general assembly period, and then only 55 per cent of those reporting the children’s positions mentioned the circle. 5. The activities listed for the several periods of the program show the popularity of their use among the schools reported. These lists should not be accepted as standards to determine which activities to use and which to discard. Standards based upon educative results from the use of activities are needed before changes in procedure can be made satisfactorily. 6. The beginnings of number work and reading are frequently found in the reports. In some instances the teachers gave reading lessons to the chil¬ dren mature enough to be interested, and in a few of these lessons the work seemed to the writer to be unrelated to the children’s interests and of ques¬ tionable value. A clear understanding of the part the kindergarten can play in providing a readiness for reading rather than a skill in reading would be another means of coordinating the primary and kindergarten activities. The illustrations quoted from the reports together with the general analyses furnish pictures of the several kindergarten periods and of the varied methods of procedure employed. [ 100 1 CHAPTER VI KINDERGARTEN EDUCATION AS REPRESENTED BY THE KINDERGARTEN INQUIRY Construction and purpose of kindergarten inquiry— To make this study as representative as possible of kindergarten work throughout the country, the stenographic reports were supplemented by replies from 535 kinder¬ garten teachers for two sections of the Kindergarten Inquiry, and by data from the school administrators of 162 cities given on a third section of the Inquiry. This Inquiry requested statements concerning the names used for the kindergarten periods, the activities included in each one, the time provided for each one, statements of the teachers’ aims and records of the methods for each of the activities. The replies to the Kindergarten Inquiry are distributed throughout the country, and by city sizes as follows: TABLE 25 — Replies to Kindergarten Inquiry Distributed by Size of Cities and by Geographical Divisions Number of Population of Cities Replies 100,000 or more . 252 30,000 to 100,000 . 112 10,000 to 30,000 . 63 5,000 to 10,000 . 53 2,500 to 5,000 . 55 Geographical Number of Divisions Replies Eastern . 186 Southern . 62 Great Lakes . 138 Great Plains . 87 Western . 62 Total 53 5 Total 535 The construction of the Inquiry was guided by the variety of responses of 507 professional workers to the question, “what constitutes the activities or subject matter, aims and methods of kindergarten education ?” Ques¬ tions regarding kindergarten entrance and promotion age, enrollments and attendance which arose in the course of discussions of educational adminis¬ tration problems have guided the construction of the administration section of the Inquiry. The summary of the replies to the Inquiry include all of the kindergarten activities and will be made in the following order: Names commonly used for kindergarten periods, activities included in the kindergarten periods, the time allotted to the several periods, the aims for each period as stated by the teachers, and the methods used by the teachers at the beginning and the end of the semesters. A list of the records and reports kept by kinder- gartners conclude the analysis of teacher replies. An analysis of Section 1, of the Inquiry, “Administration of Kindergartens,” completes the chapter. A summary is given for each section of the analysis. [ 101 1 Summary Analyses of Kindergarten Inquiry Names given for kindergarten activities — A list of names was given for eacli period with a space for the teacher to make additions. The teacher was asked to check the name she generally used. Twelve different names were reported by 243 teachers for the general assembly periods. The three most popular names are those used most frequently on the time schedules of the stenographic reports as shown on page 33. These popular names are Morning Circle (over half of these reports coming from the eastern division of the country), Conversation Period (a third of these records com¬ ing from the Great Lakes division of the country), and Opening Exercises. The other names are similar to those used on the time schedules. Eight different names are reported by 202 teachers for the Discussion Period. The three most popularly used are Discussion Period, Group M eeting, and Conversation Period. They constitute 86 per cent of the names given and indicate that they are names which may be considered in common use. Of the nine different names given to the Music Period by 226 teachers three suggest singing, and six suggest rhythmic interpretation of music. This may be an indication of the nature of the work during music periods. The most popular names suggesting singing are Music, Song-Period, and Songs and Rhythms. Nineteen per cent of the teachers report music as being a part of their general assembly period. Rhythms, Songs and Rhythms, and Music Appreciation are the most popular names suggesting rhythmic interpretation. These names are similar to those listed from the time schedules on page 40. Ten names are given to the language and literature period by 254 teach¬ ers. The three outstanding names reported are Story Hour, Stories and Dramatization and Story Period. In fourteen per cent of the cases, Stories are included in the general assembly period. These names are similar in character, i. e., suggesting story-telling rather than language exercises, to the most popular names listed from the time schedules on page 43. The names for the three work periods are similar and are reproduced in the following distribution : There seems to be a decided preference for the work period name, but a combination of the fairly similar self-di¬ rected and self-initiated names suggests that there- is a divided practice in the use of terminology. This list reproduced is similar to that taken from the time schedules given on page 46. Names Given Times Recorded Work Period . 141 Free play . 87 Flandwork . 63 Self-directed activities . 52 Self-initiated activities . 37 Table work . 37 Occupation period . 22 Fine and industrial arts . 19 Gift work . 16 Industrial arts . 13 [ 102 ] There is a larger list of names for physical activities from the Kinder¬ garten Inquiry than was given on the time schedules as shown on page 53. Games and rhythms seem to be outstanding in popularity. Names Given Games and rhythms Free play . Games . Plays and games . Dramatic arts Physical education Physical activities . Rhythms . Varied activities . . Times Recorded 150 77 61 56 34 10 7 5 3 Summary of names — The wide variation in the use of names for kin¬ dergarten periods shown by the time schedules of the stenographic reports is substantiated by the replies to the Kindergarten Inquiry. Many teach¬ ers recorded several names when responding to the direction “Check the name you use most commonly.” Further study of the appropriateness of the names given to the activities, and of their relationship to the accepted names given to the elementary school subjects, might simplify the variety now used and present a clearer idea of the work involved to the average person. Activities included in the kindergarten periods — A list of activities was given on the Kindergarten Inquiry for each period. This list was compiled from data given in the stenographic reports and from the responses of pro¬ fessional workers to the question asking for a list of kindergarten activities. Spaces were left on the Inquiry in which teachers could make additions to the list provided. The popularity of the activities as shown in the follow¬ ing distributions do not follow the physical position of the activities on the list. For example, in music, the fundamental activities of running, etc., was number 16 on the Inquiry and is number 5 in the list of popularity. The most popular activities are similar to the most popular ones resulting from the stenographic report analysis. This gives added assurance that the steno¬ graphic reports are representative of kindergarten practice throughout the country. The list of activities suggest studies to determine those most effective in the education of kindergarten children. Assembly Period Activities Times Recorded Conversation . 198 Health inspection . 18+ Nature study . 178 Singing . 178 Language . 122 Picture study . 119 Discussion of behavior habits . 110 Music appreciation . 109 [ 103 I Activit.es (Cont'd) Times Recorded Discussion of the day’s work . 98 Stories . 74 Number work . 67 History . 51 Discussion of language abilities . 45 Geography . 42 Plans for the next day's work . 31 Mother play talks . 29 Records of work checked . 13 Number of teachers reporting, 243. Discussion Period Activities Times Recorded Discussion of the day’s work . 146 Plans for the next day’s work . 130 Discussion of behavior habits . Ill Picture study . 8g Conversation . 85 Nature study . 77 Stories . 75 Language work . 74 Records of work checked . 72 Discussion of language abilities . 57 Music appreciation . 35 Number work . 35 Singing . 31 Health inspection . 20 Mother play talks . 20 History . jg Geography . 47 Number of teachers reporting, 202. Many of the teachers who checked these activities after recording the Discussion Period name seemed to use this period for general assembly. This accounts for the variety of activities listed above. Music Activities Times Recorded Singing . 251 Listening to instrumental music . 219 Rhythmic interpretation . 214 Tone drill . 200 Fundamental activities of running, walking, jumping, skipping, hopping . 184 Listening to vocal music . 173 Non-tonal band work . 144 Dramatization . 132 Giving concerts . 120 Games . m Making up new songs . 107 Children playing the piano or other instruments . 106 Stories . 29 Number of teachers reporting, 234. [ 104 ] This list of activities, as well as the list taken from the stenographic reports shown on page 79, indicates a common practice of combining physical activity with singing during the music period. Such a list might help to determine specific objectives for the period and suggests studies to determine the activities which have the most educative value. Language and Literature Activities Times Recorded Telling stories to children . 269 Children retell stories . 254 Children learn and recite short poems . 234 Dramatization . 229 Children tell original stories, songs, and rhymes . 228 Learn and recite rhymes and finger plays . 218 Discussion . 131 Teacher writes letters, rhymes and stories from chil¬ dren’s dictation . 71 Language exercises . 64 Use of the library . 63 Exercises in diction and enunciation . 62 Looking at pictures . 10 Stories illustrated by stereopticon . 7 Number of teachers reporting, 249. The most popular activities on this list are similar to those listed from the time schedules and from the content of the stenographic reports. In the stenographic reports there were many periods listed in which the teacher read to the children. This was not on the list in the Inquiry and no teach¬ er added it. It would be well to know the proportion which exists among the kinds of stories told to children, and which occurs between the amount of story-telling done by the teacher and by the children. It would also be worth while to know the bases which determine the teachers’ selection of the stories used with children. Work Periods Activities Times Recorded One Work Period Toys . 682 Drawing . 467 Blocks . 417 Construction . 417 Paints . 287 Stringing . 284 Cutting and pasting . 260 Balls . 251 Modeling . 225 Care of pets and plants . 211 Sewing . — - 185 Folding . 184 Pegs and peg boards . 131 Weaving . 128 Froebelian surface gifts . 118 Puzzles . 115 Montessori material . 9 Number of teachers reporting, 178. [ 105 ] First of Two Work Periods Toys . 228 Drawing . 129 Blocks . 122 Cutting and pasting . 108 Balls . 104 Modeling . 103 Construction . 92 Stringing . 78 Care of pets and plants . 66 Paints . 65 Paper folding . 51 Puzzles . 50 Pegs and peg boards . 45 Sewing . 44 Froebelian surface gifts . 34 Weaving . 24 Montessori material . 3 Number of teachers reporting, 56. Second of Two Work Periods Construction . 116 Toys . 104 Drawing . 103 Cutting and pasting . 90 Modeling . 87 Blocks . 82 Froebelian surface gifts . 58 Paints . 57 Stringing . 50 Paper folding . 48 Sewing . 36 Balls . 33 Weaving . 28 Puzzles . 24 Pegs and peg boards . 22 Care of pets and plants . 21 Montessori material . 2 Number of teachers reporting, 56. The noticeable difference that exists between these lists and those taken from the stenographic reports, is the introduction of “toys.” The number showing the times toys were recorded in the Inquiry, is a composite of the checks given to dolls, doll furniture, doll carriage, wagon, Kiddie Car, housekeeping equipment and any other toys added by the teachers replying. Toys were used in the schools reported in the stenographic reports, but were not reported in enough detail to be made into a list. The three most popular materials in both stenographic reports and Kin¬ dergarten Inquiry are drawing, block building and construction. The lists given in the Inquiry contained sub-heads for each material so that the teacher could indicate the kind and size of material which she uses. Large sizes of materials were most frequently checked. Under “blocks,” there were but few checks given for the small sized “gift” blocks, and the great majority were for large size gifts, miscellaneous blocks 1 106 1 and the large floor blocks. Of the 51 checks given to paper folding in the first of two work periods, 45 were given for large papers to be used as foundations for construction work. Of the 65 checks given to paints in this same period, 24 were for water colors, 21 for the fresco paints which are used at an easel, and 20 were for house paints. Of the 44 checks given to sewing, 9 were for sewing cards, and 35 were for cloth sewing. Of the 24 checks given to weaving 12 were for paper mats and strips, and 12 were for roving and rag weaving. Of the 251 checks given to “balls” in the one work period, 35 were for the Froebelian first gift, 37 for small rubber balls, 104 for large rubber balls, 15 for basket balls, and 60 for bean bags. Pencil drawing was seldom checked and the use of crayons and the blackboards with chalks was nearly the same. Of the Froebelian surface gifts, tablets and sticks were more popular than rings and seeds. Under “construction,” paper is the most popular material and cardboard and wood are nearly equally used according to the records made on the Kindergarten Inquiry. From the materials as listed there is little opportunity to say that any one of the three periods tends to use materials which are more prescriptive than suggestive of original work. The main points are the popularity of- large materials over small materials, and the variety provided for the children. Physical Activities — The physical activities of this period are analyzed according to games, physical exercises, lunch, rest and activities connected with cleaning the room after work periods and luncheon. Activities Times Recorded Games Ball tossing, catching and bouncing . 227 Dancing and singing such as “Looby Loo” . 210 Hiding and finding games . 207 Formally organized like “Drop the Handkerchief” . 188 Spontaneous rhythmic interpretations of mood . 183 Activity games leading to skill and competition . 172 Informally organized dramatic interpretations of experience, real and fanciful . 171 Story plays from ready-made plots . 123 Athletic contests . 78 Representative games . 3 Number of teachers reporting, 231. Grouping the records of games according to the classification given on pages 93 and 94, the per cent of use for each of these groups — Activity Games, Dramatic Games, and Hiding and Finding Games — follows the per cent for each group as taken from the stenographic reports. In both sets of grouping, the Activity Games form 68 per cent of the total ; Dramatic Games form 19 per cent of the Kindergarten Inquiry replies and 23 per cent of the stenographic report scores; Hiding and Finding Games form 13 per cent of the Kindergarten Inquiry replies and 9 per cent of the steno¬ graphic report scores. This similarity again helps to verify the work found in the stenographic reports as representative of the work throughout the country. [ 107 1 Physical Exercises Activities Times Regular exercises for jumping, walking, running, skipping, leaping. . . . Natural gymnastics . Breathing exercises . Posture exercises . Formal gymnastics . . Recorded 146 96 68 67 19 Apparatus Used — in Order of Popularity Activities Times Recorded Activities Times Recorded Slide . . 81 Rocking horse . . . . 3 Swing . . 72 Ropes . . 2 Rocking board . . 37 Rings . . 2 Walking beam . . . . . 35 Parallel bars . . . . . 2 Trapeze . . 26 Bicycle . . 1 See-Saw . 17 Kiddie Kar . . . . . 1 Merry-go-round . . . 4 . Scooter . . 1 Ladder . . 4 Under physical exercises few teachers report any formal gymnastics, and the large amount of apparatus used for physical exercises is important. A list of apparatus with the educati ve values and physical advantages of each kind, would assist superintendents in making the ir equipment lists. Lunch Activities Times Recorded Conversation during luncheon . 132 Teacher corrects and requires table manners . 124 Children clear the table . 120 Children say “grace” . 98 Children serve the lunch . 90 Children wash hands before lunch . 86 An adult serves the lunch . 66 Children wash the dishes . 30 Adult clears the table after lunch . 14 Children do not talk during lunch . 5 Number of teachers reporting, 161. Fifty-nine per cent of all the teachers replying to the Inquiry recorded lunch periods. Crackers and milk, and lunches brought from home of bread, cake, or fruit are the lunches generally served in the kindergartens. In 75 per cent of the cases where wilk is provided at the school, the children bring money from home to pay for it. In the other cases, the milk is pur¬ chased with funds provided by the parent-teachers’ association, by the school district, welfare leagues, and other organizations. This fund provided milk for all children in some schools and in other schools, only for the under-nourished. Many teachers reported that for birthdays and holi¬ days a party is provided, sometimes by the teacher and sometimes by the children. The activities listed in order of popularity describe the period and help to verify the representativeness of the descriptions found in the stenographic reports. [ 108 ] Rest Activities (Position) Times Recorded Lying flat on the floor, on rugs, or pillows . 100 Heads on arms resting on desk . 56 Sitting comfortably in chairs . 46 Sitting or lying on tables, chairs, or block boxes . 26 Heads on arms on the backs of chairs . 13 Sitting erect with folded hands . 2 .(Music) Quiet music is played during the period . 142 Music is played occasionally . 67 There is no music . 34 (Conversation ) No talking is allowed . 199 Informal quiet talking allowed . 22 Number of teachers reporting, 239. According to these records, the children recline during the rest period in the majority of schools. Notes added to the Inquiry say that the children lie on rugs, on pillows, on the grass, and they do this “If it is not too cold.” Other positions taken by the children during the rest period are described in the foregoing list. Quiet music is usually played during the period though in a third of the schools there is none. Clearing the Room Activities Times Recorded Putting away materials in the cupboards . 178 Throwing away scraps and clearing the floor . 153 Arranging toys, half-finished work and leaving the room well arranged. 109 Washing paste sticks, clay boards, paint pans and brushes, and black¬ boards . 25 Number of teachers reporting, 216. From notes added to the Inquiry the housekeeping period is said to come after the work periods and after luncheon. The responsibility for clean¬ ing the room is placed with the children though the teachers assist and supervise the work. The criteria for the period seems to be “to leave the room as it was before the work began.” Excursions — All but 12 replies to the Inquiry recorded excursions which were taken by a group of children with their teacher last year. The places to which the children could be taken and which were listed on the Inquiry are reproduced in order of their popularity. Places Visited Times Recorded To see other classrooms . 219 Park . 194 To see pets at the children’s homes 179 Garden . 176 Grocer . 148 Toy shop . 114 Green house . 91 Carpenter . 87 1 109 ] Places Visited (Cont'd) Times Recorded Florist . . 78 Baker . Blacksmith . . 62 Department store . . 58 Farm . 52 Library . 48 Zoo . . 33 Butcher . . 25 Museum . . 17 Aside from this list, there were 70 different places to which the teachers had taken their children. A study of the values gained by the children from such experiences would greatly assist the building of curricula. In addition to the above list, excursions to the following places were taken by some groups: — An aquariam, an aviary, a blacksmith shop, a bank, a ball park, a bridge, train yards and boats, a beach, a bed and mattress factory, a caterer’s shop, a church, City Hall, a clock store, a dairy, election booths, fire houses (recorded 44 times), a fair, a flour mill, a freight department, a fruit store, a gymnasium, a hardware store, historical places, a heating plant, an ice house, a jewelry store, a lumber camp, a lumber yard, a lunchroom and cafeteria, a manual training room, a house, a market, a mill, mortar works, a millinery store, National soldiers’ home, an orchard, a paint store, a public playground, a post office, a shoemaker’s shop, a radio supply store, a spring, the teacher’s home, a swamp, a tinshop, a tourist camp, a vineyard, the Y. M. C. A., and the woods which was recorded by 26 teachers. Others were taken to see aeroplanes, other schools, boats on the river, a circus parade, the drilling of a well, an Easter egg hunt, an excavating machine, a hill, creek and valley, incubator chicks, a lake, line¬ men, a house moved, neighborhood trees, gardens and houses, a plumber’s shop, a post office box, railroad tracks and train yard, ice on a river and winter birds, sick children, a sugar bush, a street construction. Market¬ ing expeditions to buy seed, Christmas trees, and pumpkins were also listed. An illustration from a report of an excursion with kindergarten children follows : One of the wonderful surprises was a visit to the apiary on the farm. Mr. Pavne completely dismantled a beehive, as he was eager to teach the children the love and care of bees. He covered his head and face with bees. Little Stanley, so frightened when he first saw the bees, now begged to have just a few put on him. He placed a few on his own shoulder. The first lesson learned was not striking at the bees, as it caused them to return the strike with a sting. Second, they saw how busy the bees were getting pollen from the flowers in the garden. How the bright colors attracted the bees. How many trips they made. They saw the bees fly in a regular route to drink from a dripping faucet. A lesson in safety was surely enacted as they stood at a safe distance to watch the bees at the watering trough. Mrs. Payne presented the “kiddies” with a jar of strained honey. Summary of activities — A constant similarity is found between the activities recorded in the stenographic reports and the Kindergarten In- 1 110] quiry. Health inspection, nature study and picture study are reported more frequently on the Inquiry for assembly periods than they were on the stenographic reports. Toys are the most popular material for the work periods as recorded in the Inquiry. A list of toys was not made from the stenographic reports, but the other materials used during the work periods are similar to those previously listed. The use of large sizes of materials for work was reported in all kinds of play materials listed. The distribution of the kinds of games and plays used by the teachers is similar to that made from the stenographic report. A large amount of physical apparatus is reported for the kindergartens, and a small number of teachers reported formal physical exercises as a part of their programs. Over one- half of the teachers replying to the Inquiry reported lunch periods, and nearly all of the schools seemed to provide rest periods for the children. Studies to evaluate popular practice in using these materials and activi¬ ties for the several kindergarten periods could provide criteria by which teachers could judge their plans and programs. Time devoted to each activity — The length of time devoted to each activity by the greatest number of replies were compared with the median length of the periods found in the time schedules of the stenographic re¬ ports. In eight cases the lengths of periods found in both sources of data were identical — discussion period 15 minutes, music 15 minutes, literature 15 minutes, one work period 45 minutes. First of two work periods 30 minutes, lunch 15 minutes, rest 10 minutes, and housekeeping 10 minutes each. In the other three cases there was a difference of 5 or 10 minutes — Assembly period 15 minutes in the Inquiry was 25 minutes in the reports; Second of two work periods 20 minutes in the Inquiry was 25 minutes in the reports ; Games 30 minutes in the Inquiry was 20 minutes in the reports. There is a greater range between the shortest and the longest periods re¬ ported in the Inquiry than were found in the time schedules. From the data at hand it is not possible to explain the differences in the ranges. The similarity between the lengths of the periods found in the two sources of data is another check on the representativeness of the stenographic reports which are used to illustrate practice in the kindergartens of the country. Records and reports — To obtain some idea of the way in which kinder- gartners make their plans for work, observe and keep records of their chil¬ dren’s development, inform the parents of the children’s progress and make the connection between the kindergarten and primary work function in strengthening a correlated curriculum, a list of questions were asked upon the Inquiry for which answers of “yes” and “no” were required. The questions, with the replies, are given as follows : Answered The Questions "Yes” “No” Do you make a daily lesson plan? . . 134 91 Do you make a weekly lesson plan? . 155 73 Do you make a plan of work for a number of weeks at a time? . 108 125 Do you keep records of each child’s work and achievement? . 147 85 1 111 1 Answered The Questions “Yes” “No” Are these daily records? . 56 117 Are these weekly records? . 51 95 Do you use these records as bases for making your program? . 119 61 Have you used them in curriculum-making? . 96 79 Do you give a summary of them to the primary teacher? . 78 133 Do you give a summary of the curriculum covered to the primary teacher? . 70 140 To you send to each parent a report of his child’s work and achieve¬ ment? . * . 50 160 How often is this sent during a year? (This ranged from once a year to once a month) . 67 ... Does the principal require the same reports from you as he does from the primary teachers? . 178 70 Do you and vour children exchange visits with children in other grade rooms? . 190 51 Do you instruct your older children in reading? . 67 178 Are these children sent into the first grade for a daily period of in¬ struction? . 6 196 Have you taught a primary grade? . 108 131 What grades? (1st grade, 99; 2nd grade, 40; 3rd grade, 32; 4th grade, 9; other grades, 16.) Number of teachers reporting, 270. Of the 272 teachers responding to this section of the Kindergarten In¬ quiry, 270 gave answers to part or to all of the questions concerning records and reports. In reading the replies it is helpful to say, “Of 270 teachers, 134 make a daily lesson plan, 91 do not do this and 45 have not replied to the question.” More kindergartners expressed opinions about lesson plans than they did about keeping and using records of children’s work and achievement. Daily and weekly lesson plans are more commonly made than are plans for a number of weeks at a time. Records of individual children’s work are kept by 60 per cent of those teachers reply ing. As a rule, these records are not kept daily nor weekly. From notes added to the Inquiry these records are kept occasionally but not regularly7. They are used as bases for program making, and some teachers have used them in building curri¬ cula. Few kindergartners give the primary teachers any record of the indi¬ vidual child's achievement or of the work done by the group of children during their kindergarten experience. Few kindergartners give the parents formal reports of the children’s work. Many notes added to the Inquiry stated that frequent conferences with parents took the place of report cards. Of the 67 teachers who send formal reports to the parents, 10 send the re¬ port once a year, 10 send it each month, and nine send it four times a year. The others vary from twice a year to six times a year. There is no set practice anfong kindergartners in regard to lesson plans and records. In 71 per cent of the schools reported, the principal requires the same reports from the kindergartners as he does from the primary teachers. All but a fifth of the teachers responding to the Inquiry plan for their chil¬ dren to exchange visits with the pupils in other grade rooms. Only a fourth 1 112 1 of the teachers reporting give instruction in reading to their more mature children, and practically none of the kindergarten children are reported as going to the first grade teacher for reading instruction. In notes added to the Inquiry many teachers said that they gave no formal instruction in read¬ ing, but that they provided a sign and price marker with which the children could make necessary signs and labels. They also encouraged the children to read labels, bulletin board notices and their own names. Forty-five per cent of the teachers reporting have had grade teaching experience with a major part of this experience in the first grade. Judging from these responses, kindergartners seem to make their plans of work for short periods of time, they tend to keep occasional records of the children’s work and to use these for program making but not as in¬ formation for the first grade teacher. Formal reports are not usually sent to the parents from the kindergarten. Children seldom receive formal reading instruction in the kindergarten. Over half of the kindergarten teachers reporting have had teaching experience in the elementary grades. The aims of kindergarten activities as stated by teachers in the Kin¬ dergarten Inquiry — A difficulty experienced by most teachers is that of stating their specific aims and purposes in simple direct terms. It has proved most difficult to group under either general or specific headings the aims as stated for the several kindergarten activities in response to the ques¬ tions in the Kindergarten Inquiry. There is an evident need for criteria to judge what an “aim” is in itself and what relation one aim bears to others in general educational objectives. After scanning the aims as stated in the Kindergarten Inquiry the fol¬ lowing scheme for classification was determined : I. General Aims: This includes aims which are ultimate rather than immediate in purpose, and are vague and inclusive in their meanings. II. Immediate Aims: This includes aims which directly pertain to the subject under which they were listed, and which may be, accomplished dur¬ ing the kindergarten experiences. These aims are further grouped as fol¬ lows : 1. Social Behavior and Flabit Formation. 2. Development of Skill and Technique. a. Primarily Motor and Physical. b. Primarily Intellectual and Thoughtful. 3. Factual Information. 4. Aesthetic Appreciation. This classification was attempted with over four thousand of the aims stated in the Kindergarten Inquiry and the results were abandoned. A large number of the statements could not be called “aims” and a still larger number fell under several heads of the classification plan making a summary almost impossible. To deduce something useful for kindergartners from the aims as stated, ten Inquiries were chosen at random for each of the kindergarten activities [ 113 ] studied. The first aim listed under each activity has been reproduced. Each set of ten aims was then analyzed according to the original classifica¬ tion scheme to find what seemed to be the dominant aims for each of the kindergarten activities as shown in this random selection. The analyses follow : General Assembly Period 1. Increase the child’s vocabulary. (Immediate aim — Skill in oral expression.) 2. To teach children to sing, to love music and enjoy it. (Immediate aim — Skill, appreciation.) 3. Spirit of cooperation. (Immediate aim — Social.) 4. Freedom in English expression. (Immediate aim — Skill in oral expression.) 5. The development of courtesy in a social situation. (Immediate aim — Social.) 6. To establish an attitude of courteous morning greeting. (Immediate aim — Social.) 7. Opportunity for getting acquainted. (Immediate aim — Social.) 8. To foster a happy group spirit. (Immediate aim — Social.) 9. To develop ability in oral expression. (Immediate aim — Skill in oral expression.) 10. Music appreciation. (Either immediate or general aim.) Summary Immediate aims — Social, 5; skill, 4; appreciation, 1; general or immediate, I. Discussion Period 1. To raise standards through constructive criticism. (Immediate aim — Technique, possibly appreciation.) 2. Teach children new words and their uses. (Immediate aim — Skill, information.) 3. Learning to listen. (Immediate aim — Social.) 4. To check up progress in children’s activities. (Immediate aim — Technique.) 5. Development of ability to work together. (Immediate aim — Social.) 6. To cultivate an attitude of courtesy toward one another in talking. (Immediate aim — Social.) 7. Singing creates good atmosphere. (Not a statement of aim.) 8. To raise the standard of work. ( Immediate aim — Technique.) 9. Develop interest in others — unselfishness. (Immediate aim — Social.) 10. Keeping to the point of the subject-matter. (Immediate aim — Skill.) Summary Immediate aims — Skill and technique, 5; social, 4; appreciation, 1; information, 1. One, not a statement of aim. f 114 ] Music 1. To develop motor-control. (Either immediate or general.) 2. To love music and enjoy singing. (Immediate aim — Appreciation.) 3. To awaken a desire to sing. (Either immediate or general.) 4. Enjoyment of singing and listening. (Immediate aim — Appreciation.) 5. Ability to enter into group singing and awaken a desire to sing. (Immediate aim — Social, skill.) 6. Better bodily control. (Immediate aim — Technique.) 7. For pleasure. (Immediate with no particular goal.) 8. Good tonal quality. (Immediate aim — Technique.) 9. For expression of joy. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 10. Music appreciation. (Either immediate or general aim.) Summary Immediate aims — Skill and technique, 3; appreciation, 2; social, 1; three, either immediate or general ; two, immediate aims with no particular goal. Language and Literature 1. To stimulate the child's imagination. (General aim.) 2. Teach children to use correct language by hearing it. (Immediate aim — Skill.) 3. Develop dramatic sense. (General aim.) 4. To increase enjoyment of stories. (Immediate aim — Appreciation.) 5. To give child pure joy. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 6. To give pleasure. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 7. For pleasure derived from hearing stories told. (Immediate aim — Appreciation.) 8. To give children the beautiful in literature. (Immediate aim — Appreciation.) 9. To enlarge the children’s literarv scope. (Either general or immediate aim.) 10. Self confidence. (General aim.) Summary Immediate aims — Appreciation, 3; skill, 1; general aim, 3; either general or im¬ mediate aim, 1; immediate aim with no particular goal, 2. / fork Period 1. Develop initiative. (General aim.) [ 115 ] 2. To develop and coordinate the muscles of the body. (General aim.) 3. Cooperation in play. (Immediate aim — Social.) 4. The development of keen minds by balancing with physical activities. (General aim.) 5. Widen and enrich experience. (General aim.) 6. Give child materials so that he may acquire a rich background. (General aim.) 7. To form the ability to execute self-made plans. (General aim.) 8. To provide for child's natural desire to construct and handle materials. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 9. Self-expression. (General aim.) 10. Purposeful activity. (General aim.) Summary Immediate aim — Social, 1; general aim, 8; immediate aim with no particular goal, 1. Physical Activities 1. To develop bodily control, freedom and poise. (Immediate aim — Skill and technique.) 2. Bodily development. (General aim.) 3. Pleasure. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 4. Physical development. (General aim.) 5. To develop keenness of observation. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 6. To express joyousness, freedom and spontaneity. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 7. To develop coordination. (General aim.) 8. Physical exercise. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 9. To be graceful. (Immediate aim — Technique.) 10. Pleasure in the activity and in group association. (Immediate aim — Social.) Summary Immediate aims— Skill and technique, 2; social, 1; general aim, 3; immediate aim with no particular goal, 4. Excursions 1. Social experience. (General aim.) 2. Help them to observe. (General aim.) 3. Learning how to visit and not disturb other people’s things. (Immediate aim — Social.) [ 116 ] 4. Nature study. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 5. Respect for the tradesmen. (Immediate aim — Social.) 6. Observation. (General aim.) 7. To broaden child’s experience. (General aim.) 8. Ability to observe. (General aim.) 9. Pleasure. (Immediate aim with no particular goal.) 10. To give first hand contact with nature. (Immediate aim tvith no particular goal.) Summary Immediate aim — Social, 2; general aim, 5; immediate aim with no particular goal, 3. Because of the indefiniteness with which many of the aims are stated, there can be no deduction of any dominant aim for any one of the kinder¬ garten activities. Whether or not one accepts the form of classification or the grouping of aims according to it, the analysis shows a need for ex¬ plicit statements of the specific aims for the kindergarten activities. Analysis of methods used for each activity — The Inquiry listed the five methods of teaching as stated on pages 68 and 69 for each of the out¬ standing periods of the kindergarten program. These methods are but designated points on a scale of method ranging from “teacher directed” to “child” or “self-directed.” Because of expected changes in the children’s abilities and behavior during the semester, methods of teaching might be ex¬ pected to change ivith the degree of self-reliance anticipated from the chil¬ dren. As a result, places were provided for the teacher to indicate which of the five methods were used at the beginning and at the end of the semester. The directions read — “Indicate .... the methods you use for - (name of activity) - at the beginning and at the end of the school term. Use the number 1 for the method you use most commonly, 2 for that used next commonly. Use 3 for that used least commonly. There was confusion in following the directions. Some teachers used a check, some used several checks, others distributed the three numbers between the two columns provided for the beginning and the end of the semester and others used the number 1 for several methods. It rvas then decided to present a summary of only the methods scored by the teachers as their first choice for each end of the term. Where there was one check placed in each column headed “Beginning of Term” — “End of Term,” they were taken to indicate 1st choice method and were recorded, and where there was one number 1 in each column, they were recorded. Other scores were discarded. The following distribution of these method scores shows that out of 989 scores at the beginning of the term. Method One, a teacher-directed method [ 117 1 scored 438 times, is most commonly used. Method Two, a method which includes the children’s interest in the teacher’s plans scored 386 times, is used nearly as commonly. Method Three, a method dependent upon the children’s abilities to initiate their own work scored 142 times, is used a third as much as Method One, and Methods Four and Five scored 17 and 6 times respectively, are seldom used. At the end of the semester, Method Three, the method dependent upon the children’s abilities to initiate their own work scored 501 times, is most commonly used and Method Two, which includes the children’s interests in the teacher’s plans scored 310 times, is used next commonly; Method Four, depending still more than Method Three upon the children’s initia¬ tives and independent control, is scored 1 16 times. The two extremes of the scale, teacher-directed and child-directed, are seldom used. An examination of the individual scores reveals the fact that 208 re¬ sponses made no change in method between the beginning and the end of the term. 'These scores were distributed among all the activities and among all the five methods, though 75 per cent were for Method Two and Method Three. Since these scores are but a fifth of the total scores, they do not affect the deductions drawn from the rest of the data. TABLE 26 — Methods for Kindergarten Activities as Reported in Kindergarten Inquiry A ctivities M ethods Beginning 1 u 3 4 5 T ntals General Assembly . of Term 84 67 14 0 0 165 End of Term 5 60 88 12 0 165 Discussion Period . Beg. “ Te rm 49 59 27 2 0 137 End “ Term 4 40 79 13 1 137 Music . . Beg. “ Term 91 70 14 1 0 176 End “ Term 10 69 87 9 1 176 Language and Literature.. Beg. “ Term 100 67 6 1 0 174 End “ Term 15 71 71 17 0 174 One Work Period . Beg. “ Term 29 38 29 3 1 100 End “ Term 0 17 59 21 3; 100 First of Two Work Periods. Beg. “ Term 7 11 16 4 2 40 End “ Term 0 4 15 12 9 40 Second of Two Work Periods Beg. “ Term 20 10 8 2 0 40 End “ Term 3 13 16 8 0 40 Games . ■ Beg. “ Term 58 64 28 4 3 157 End “ Term 4 36 86 24 7 157 Totals . Beg. “ Term 438 386 142 17 6 989 End “ Term 41 310 501 116 21 989 This summary of the method scores for the beginning and end of the terms shows that kindergarten teachers tend at the beginning of the term to direct the work with the children and at the end of the term they ex¬ pect to be able to guide the work as initiated by the children. It shows that there is a distinct tendency among kindergarten teachers to develop the children’s abilities to initiate their activities and their powers of self-control during the kindergarten term. [ 118 1 A check is provided for the scores given to the lessons recorded in the stenographic reports by comparing the per cent of scores for the five methods found in the stenographic reports and those found in the Kindergarten Inquiry for the beginning of the term. Of the lessons scored in the steno¬ graphic report, 90 per cent were teported between October 15 and November 29. Considering these dates as comparable with the “begin¬ ning of the term,” as stated in the Kindergarten Inquiry, the per cent of scores given to each method in the stenographic reports and in the Kinder¬ garten Inquiry are distributed as follows: Methods Stenographic Report Method Scores Kindergarten Inquiry Method Scores 1 32% 44.2% 2 52 39. 3 14 14.3 4 2 2 _ 5 0 0.6 Total . 100% 100.1% A combination of the scores given for Methods One and Two, the methods emphasizing teacher-directed work, amounts to 83.2 per cent of the total for the Kindergarten Inquiry replies, and 84 per cent in the steno¬ graphic report scores. The Method Two scores for the stenographic re¬ ports are greater in number than those for Method One while the case is reversed with the scores from the Kindergarten Inquiry. This may be exp’ained to be the result of the scorer’s effort to overcome the lack of the personal element in a reported lesson. It may be caused by considering the dates — October 15 to November 29 — as the beginning of the term rather than the middle of the term. In either case, the similarity in scor¬ ing helps to validate the scores given to the stenographic report lessons. An analysis of the total method scores for the several program activities shows that at the beginning of the term Method One is the most popular method for assembly periods, music, literature, and the second of two work periods; that Method Two is more popularly used for the one work period and games ; and Method Three for the first of two work periods. At the end of the term, Method Three is the most popular for all the activities, though with literature Method Two is as commonly used as Method Three. Comparing the total scores for each method in the several activi¬ ties, the discussion period, the first of two work periods and the one work period and games seem most frequently to use methods dependent on the initiatives of the children and the other activities seem most frequently to use a teacher-directed method which includes the children’s interests. Summary of methods — The foregoing analysis of methods scored on the Kindergarten Inquiry shows that during the term, kindergartners change from using a teacher-directed method to a method dependent upon the chil¬ dren’s abilities to initiate their own activities; that games and the work periods use methods which on the whole require initiative and self-control 1 119 ] on the part of the children; that 989 teachers’ judgments of the methods they use as expressed in the Inquiry are comparable with the 449 judgments of method made of lessons found in the stenographic reports. Studies to determine the possible educational outcomes from these methods in the several kindergarten activities would help to guide the teacher’s plans and programs, as well as to define her objectives. The administration of kindergartens — The effectiveness of the service rendered by a school system is determined, to a large extent, by the care with which all parts of its divisions are administered. School work, as well as business enterprise, runs more effectively when the administrative organi¬ zation includes in its plan of administration all grades and divisions of its organization. It is to be expected that the plans of administration for the more recently incorporated parts of the school system are not wholly deter¬ mined. This has been true of the administration of kindergartens, largely due to its one daily session, to its program of activities generally differ¬ ing from and not understood by the rest of the school unit, and to the lack of laws controlling its existence, its entrance age and the preparatory train¬ ing of its teachers. Legislation providing for kindergartens is increasing in amount and in the essential provisions for their support and teacher supply. Kindergartens are increasing in number and in the size of their enrollment. The school unit needs to coordinate its activities, to establish its entrance age and the length of kindergarten training to be provided and to develop its elementary school curriculum from the beginning of the children’s school experience. A part of the Kindergarten Inquiry asked for details of the administra¬ tion of kindergartens.1 It is hoped that the summary of these details will accomplish three purposes, first — to show a relationship which exists be¬ tween kindergarten and elementary school attendance; second — to show the wide variations in present practice regarding entrance ages and the amount of kindergarten training provided, regarding kindergarten enrollments and size of classes, regarding supervision provided in kindergartens and the use of the teacher’s time ; third — to indicate the present need for programs of school administration which include the kindergarten. Kindergarten attendance — A steady increase in kindergarten attendance is shown in the figures given by 95 cities for the past three years. Between 1922-23 and 1923-24 the per cent of increase in kindergarten attendance in these cities was 4.32 per cent and between 1923-24 and 1924-25 the in¬ crease was 5.35 per cent. The following figures express these facts: 1922-23 1923-24 1924-25 Kindergarten average daily attendance in 95 cities.... 61,204 63,845 67,259 Per cent of increase . 4.32% 5.35% 1 These data were tabulated according to geographical divisions and according to size of cities. Except whe e mentioned, there were no outstanding differences in practice among these divisions. The replies received from teacher-training institutions are here included whenever possible. 1 120 1 In the 61 cities which gave the average daily attendance for the past three years for both their kindergartens and their first six grades, the per cent which the kindergarten attendance is of the attendance in the first six grades remains nearly constant. This shows that the growth in kindergarten at¬ tendance takes place at the same rate as does the growth of the elementary school. Though remaining constant through the three years, the percentage of kindergarten children is five or six points greater in cities of 2,500-5,000 population than in cities of over 100,000 population. For example, six cities of the first class, having over 100,000 population, reported a kinder¬ garten attendance that is 9.26 per cent of the attendance for grades 1 through 6, and six cities of the fifth class, having 2,500-5,000 population, reported a kindergarten attendance that is 16.64 per cent of the attendance for the first six grades. Combining all cities, the following figures show the relationship of kindergarten average daily attendance to that in grades 1 through 6 in the 61 cities giving data for both parts of their schools. 1922-23 1923-24 1924-25 Kindergarten average daily attendance . 31,134 32,832 35,164 Grades 1-6 average daily attendance . 327,442 340,685 353,246 Per cent kindergarten attendance is of that for grades 1-6 9.5% 9.6% 9.95% The kindergarten attendance month by month in 80 cities is influenced by the winter weather as shown by a drop in attendance during January and by mid-year promotions in February. As shown in Chart VIII, the original enrollment of September is not recovered during the spring term. The diagram gives an idea of the distribution of pupil load in kindergartens throughout the school year. Admittance and promotion — In 49 of the 155 cities reporting, the age of entrance to kindergartens is 4 years, in 44 cities the entrance age is 5 years, and in 26 cities it is 4 years 6 months. In 25 cities, the age of en¬ trance ranges from 5 and 6 years. One of these cities gives a date by which a child entering kindergarten must become 5 years of age. Other state¬ ments of age in years and months, i. e., 4 years 10 months, suggest that some ruling exists in which children may enter kindergarten provided that they reach a certain age at a certain time in the school year. One city admits children on a 5 year mental age basis and three cities admit children less than 4 years of age. These figures show the wide variation in administra¬ tive rules regarding entrance to kindergartens. They indicate that a greater number of cities provide two years of kindergarten instruction than is shown by the percentage of children, enrolled in their third and fourth half years of kindergarten attendance, as is noted later. If this is a fact, the need for a differentiated one- and two-year kindergarten curriculum is emphasized. Children are promoted from kindergarten to the first grade when they are six years old in 79 of the 145 cities reporting. Eight cities promote to the first grade when children are five years old, 10 cities promote when the children are 5 years 6 months old, and 8 cities promote when the children 1 121 1 CHART VIII VAB/AT/O/v'S //l/ AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE BY MO/YT//S DL/B//V6 TBB /f/SYD£B£A8T£A/ JC//OOL Y£AB //V 80 £/£/££ AY£BA6£ OA/LY ATT£/YDA/YC£ [ 122 ] are 5 years 9 months old. Other cities reported inclusive ages for promo¬ tion to the first grade such as 5^ to years. These chronological age requirements for promotion are modified in all but 47 cases by measures of the children’s mental and physical maturity. Nine of these 47 cases express their desire and intention of adding a mental rating to the chronological age to determine promotion readiness. The measures of the children’s mental and physical maturity included mental ages derived from standardized group and individual tests combined with one or more of the following means of rating the children’s abilities: The teachers’ and supervisors’ judgment based upon term reports, daily records and progress charts of the children’s ability to handle materials, capacities to initiate and their desirable social habits ; health charts and other records of the children's physical health ; the completion of a year’s attendance in kindergarten ; the background of literature acquired ; and the teachers’ sub¬ jective judgment of the children’s abilities to think independently regard¬ ing their social and manipulative activities. An accumulation of the records used to determine promotion from kindergarten to first grade and of the result in first grade progress would help teachers to analyze these values by several measures of promotion readiness. To find the number of children remaining in kindergarten one or two years, the questionnaire asked for the per cent of pupils enrolled in their first, second, third, and fourth half year of attendance. The middle per cent of those given by the cities for each half year has been taken as an indication of general practice. In 81 cities, 30 per cent of the children were in their first half year of kindergarten attendance, in 97 cities, 66 per cent were in their second half year. Only 44 cities replied concerning the third half year and 42 concerning the fourth half year and the middle point of practice showed that less than 10 per cent of the pupils in these cities were enrolled for this second year of kindergarten experience. These figures would indicate that in the cities replying to the inquiry the children remain one year in the kindergarten much more commonly than they do two years. This fact is not borne out by the large number of cities admitting children at 4 years of age and promoting at 6 years of age. Further con¬ sideration of this fact would be essential in planning the kindergarten curriculum. Divisions of morning and afternoon sessions — From the 143 cities re¬ porting the number of morning and afternoon sessions which they conduct, there is a total of 3,052 morning kindergartens and 2,696 afternoon sessions. This would seem to show a fairly small preference for the morning ses¬ sion. For those 41 cities which reported an average daily attendance for both the morning and afternoon sessions in 1923-24, 42 per cent of the total attendance came in the afternoon session. The average daily attend¬ ance in the 41 cities for the morning session is 339 and for the afternoon session 255. A slightly smaller attendance for the afternoon session is indicated by these figures. 1 123 ] The most common basis for assigning pupils to the morning or after¬ noon sessions is reported by 99 cities as that of chronological age. This covers 41 per cent of the reasons given and is combined with the children’s ability in 18 per cent of the other bases, convenience for school or parent, the time of entrance, language and physical condition of the children. M ental ability, supposedly determined by mental tests, is the third out¬ standing basis for assigning pupils to the two sessions. It is used by 10 per cent of the cities reported. Other bases mentioned include the location of the children’s homes, special home or school problems, a scheme for alternating groups of children between the two sessions by semesters and the decision of teachers and principals. Kindergarten enrollments — To start a new kindergarten, 40 out of 112 cities reporting, require an initial enrollment of 25 children. Nine¬ teen cities will start a kindergarten with an enrollment of 20, and 18 cities will start with from 10 to 15 children. The extremes are requirements of 50, of 40, and of 35 children in individual cases. To establish two one-half day sessions for two different groups of chil¬ dren, 28 out of the 85 cities reporting require 30 to 40 children and 26 cities require 40 to 50 children. The extremes in the number required are 20 to 30 children as the lowest number and 90 to 100 as the highest num¬ ber required. This higher number suggests the probability of employing two teachers to care for the pupils. To establish two full-time kindergarten rooms in one building, a group of 50 to 60 children is required by 7 out of 24 cities reporting, or a group of 90 to 100 children is required by 6 out of 24 cities reporting. The other city requirements range from a group of 25 children to a group of 170 chil¬ dren before establishing a second full-time kindergarten room. The maximum enrollment of pupils for one teacher reported by 120 cities ranged from 20 pupils in three cities to 80 pupils in one city. The extremely high enrollment is probably cared for in two half-day sessions. A maximum of 30 pupils has been reported most frequently with 25 and 50 reported as the maximum next frequently. From the following distribution, it can be seen how varied the practice is in determining the pupil load for one teacher. Maximum Number Number of Pupils to of Cities Per cent One Teacher Reporting of Use 20 . . 3 . . 2.5 25 . . 23 . . 19. 30 . . 29 . . 24. 35 . . 7 . . 6. 40 . . 18 . . 15. 50 . . 23 . . 19. 60 . . 13 . . 11. 70 . . 3 . . 2.5 80 . . 1 . . 1. Total . . 120 . f 124 1 . 100. The range in enrollment required for appointing two teachers is from 25 to 100 in the 75 cities reporting. The following distribution shows the variation in practice in this enrollment. Number Number of Pupils for of Cities Per cent Two Teachers Reporting of Use Over 25 . . 5 . . 7. 30-40 . . 21 . . 28. 41-50 . . 18 . . 24. 51-60 . . 19 . . 25. 61-70 . . 6 . . 8. 71-80 . . 3 . . 4. 81-90 . . 2 . . 3. 100 . . 1 . . 1. Total . . 75 . . 100. The following bases for determining the number of children to a teacher were recorded by 24 cities — the type of children, the number of children in the district, the size of the classroom, and the amount of work needed to be done in visiting in the children’s homes. These bases can be considered as suggestions for determining standards of enrollment. Because of the varia¬ tion in practice, it would be helpful to administrators to have standards by which a city could determine how many pupils, in consideration of certain physical and social conditions, can be enrolled with one or with two teach¬ ers to provide the most satisfactory education for the children. Length of the teacher’s day — The school day is usually shorter for the kindergarten and first grade pupils than it is for the intermediate pupils. The question has been asked — “does this make a shorter working day for this teacher?” In this connection, there has been considerable discussion about the comparative strain upon a teacher’s strength when working with the younger children or when working with the intermediate grade children. The number of hours a day when kindergarten and primary teachers are on duty was reported by 140 cities. In the greatest number of cities re¬ porting, there is a five-hour day for both kindergarten and primary teach¬ ers. Within the four, and four and one-half day, there are more kinder¬ garten than primary days reported and more primary than kindergarten school days are reported with a five and one-half, and six-hour day. The extremes in the length of the school day were three hours for the shortest and seven hours for the longest. There were as many kindergartners as pri¬ mary teachers working in the seven-hour day. These figures indicate that, generally speaking, kindergartners give as many hours of service a day as do primary teachers. In 54 cities where the kindergarten enrollment provides but one session of kindergarten, five cities pay the teacher for the half day s work done and 49 cities listed activities carried on by the teacher during the remaining half day. Of these 49 cities, 39 give the teacher coaching duties in the pri- [ 125 1 mary grades. In the other 10 cities the teacher’s time is used in many ways. She assists in carrying on testing programs, in weighing the children and in eyesight testing, she visits in the children’s homes, assists with cleri¬ cal work in the principal’s office or has time for preparation of her work or for professional reading and conferences. In schools where assisting work in the grade activities is well organized, the kindergartner will doubtless be strengthened by her several contacts with the other divisions of the school. The main issue is whether or not the assisting work is so ordered and organized that the kindergarten children finally profit by their teacher’s experience instead of using the kindergartner as an accommodator in suc¬ ceeding emergencies within the grades or in the principal’s office. Supervision provided for kindergartens and primary grades — Lists of supervisors were given by 1.39 cities for primary grades and by only 54 cities for kindergartens from a total of 159 Kindergarten Inquiry responses. M usic, Art, and Physical Training, are the three subjects most popularly supervised in both kindergartens and primary grades. The need for co¬ ordination of all elementary school activities which has been mentioned before is evident here. Skills, habits, and attitudes desirable in the elemen¬ tary grades should be the stronger if started in the first grade of the school and developed under supervision which can survey the progress from grade to grade in the difficulty of an activity or a subject. The following distri¬ bution of supervision shows much less provided for the kindergarten than for the primary schools and, in the case of penmanship, there seems to be an inappropriate use of supervision. Subjects Supervised Kindergarten Primary Supervision Supervision Music . 43 Art, drawing, handwork, etc . 21 Physical training . 21 Penmanship . 6 General Supervision — Fundamentals, Geog¬ raphy, history, arithmetic, etc . 4 Nature study and gardens . 3 Health and Hygiene . 8 Nurses . 3 Domestic science . 0 Bureau of research and tests . 0 Exceptional children . 1 Speech correction . 1 138 115 100 63 12 11 10 5 3 2 1 1 Total cities reporting . 54 139 Cities not reporting . 105 129 The correlation of work from grade to grade would seem to be stronger where the teachers and the children are somewhat acquainted with the activities thaj^are carried on in other grades. The answers of 240 teachers to questions on the Kindergarten Inquiry show that four-fifths of the teachers and kindergarten children exchange visits with children in other grades. This was found in the stenographic reports to be particularly true [ 126 1 for parties, for plays and games and for story-telling periods. Nearly a half of the teachers reporting have had primary school experience. Half of this experience has been in the first grade, a few of the teachers have taught in the third and fourth grades, many have substituted in practically all grades, including the high school, and the rest of the primary experience is divided between second and third grades. Three-quarters of the teachers reporting do not teach reading in the kindergarten. With very few ex¬ ceptions, such reading instruction as is given, is carried on by the kinder- gartner and is not done by sending the children into the first-grade room. Summary — Reviewing the administrative data received from cities re¬ porting to the Kindergarten Inquiry, the following facts are noted : 1. The average daily attendance in kindergarten has had a fairly regular increase during the past three years and has kept pace with the attendance reported for the first six grades. It fluctuates month by month, evidently influenced by weather and by mid-year promotions. 2. There is a wide variety of practice as to entrance and promotion ages and in the length of the kindergarten training provided. The most popular entrance ages are four and five years, and six is the most popular promotion age. Mental age is sometimes used to determine entrance to kindergarten and is frequently used in combination with chronological age in determining promotion from the kindergarten. The four-year entrance age and the six-year promotion age indicate that a two-year kindergarten training is quite generally provided. This indication is not substantiated by the figures giving the number of children now in their second year of kindergarten. 3. There are nearly as many afternoon sessions of kindergarten as there are morning sessions. The attendance in the afternoon session is slightly smaller than that in the morning session. 4. Practice varies so widely in the matter of enrollment required for starting new kindergartens and for establishing two kindergartens that criteria of some kind are needed to guide teachers and superintendents. 5. In general, there is very little difference between the length of daily service required of kindergarten and primary teachers. Where there is but one session of kindergarten a day, the other half day of the teacher’s time is usually devoted to assisting in the grades. There is more super¬ vision provided for the primary teachers than is provided for the kinder¬ garten teachers. Kindergarten and primary teachers exchange classroom visits with their groups of children. Nearly half of the kindergartners reporting to the Inquiry have had primary teaching experience. 6. These facts show a need for plans of administration which will closely coordinate the kindergarten and elementary school programs and which will define desirable systems for administering details of kinder¬ garten organization necessitated by its young child and its half-day session. 1 127] CHAPTER Ill GENERAL SUMMARY OF KINDERGARTEN EDUCATION AS REPRESENTED BY STENOGRAPHIC REPORTS AND THE KINDERGARTEN INQUIRY For the group of people who know little or nothing of what they may expect to see when they visit a kindergarten, the following descriptions, gathered from the preceding data, may make their visit more intelligible. For the group of people who are acquainted with the history and develop¬ ment of the kindergarten programs and activities, the following descrip¬ tions of the variations in practice may stimulate studies in their evaluation. 1 he figures showing the increase in the amount of kindergarten educa¬ tion provided during the past fifty years indicate that kindergartens are becoming an established part of the educational system in the United States. If this is true, as it appears to be, no one can well afford to be uninformed about the program of activities which kindergartens provide for children four to six years of age. The statistics from the United States Bureau of Education state that the number of kindergartens reported has grown from 42 in 1873 to 8,889 in 1920. From 162 cities throughout the country the data show that the per cent of increase in kindergarten at¬ tendance for the past three years has been at the same rate as the increase for the first six grades in those cities. State legislation which provides for kindergarten education is increasing in amount. It is improving in its provisions for designating authorities to establish kindergartens and also for determining both the sources of support and the requirements for teacher certification. Evidence that the kindergarten is being considered a part of the elementary school system is found in certain statements of general educational objectives; in provisions for teacher-training which in¬ cludes both grade and kindergarten work ; in combining these two under one supervisor in many city systems ; in the inclusion of the kindergarten in many of the “Rules and Regulations” of Boards of Education, in the courses of study prepared for elementary schools and also in general school surveys. Those people who are informed regarding kindergarten procedures may find from the foregoing statements some suggestions for studying the extent to which their own school situations are meeting the general trend of kindergarten development. Superintendents of schools may be stimulated to contribute systems of cost analysis and pupil accounting by appreciating the variety and non-comparability of kindergarten costs ; of bases for estab¬ lishing kindergartens; of bases for determining entrance and promotion, also for sizes of enrollments for one and for two teachers, and for one and two sessions in a building, or for organizing two kindergartens in the same building. These superintendents may also be interested to compare their 1 128 ] fluctuations in attendance through the months of the year with those of 80 cities and may accordingly guide their teacher-distribution between kindergartens and first grades. From the composite time schedules of 131 kindergartens, a division of time within kindergarten sessions has been developed in this study. Slightly over two-thirds of the day’s time is divided between work in the tine, in¬ dustrial, dramatic, and domestic arts, and physical activities, such as games, rhythms, recess, lunch, rest, and housekeeping activities. One-half of the other third of the kindergarten time is devoted to general assemblies or to meetings for the discussion of work, and the other half is devoted to litera¬ ture and music. The small amount of time for literature and music work is accounted for by the fact that many teachers include these activities in their general assembly periods. Because of this division of time the un¬ initiated will know about how many minutes the different activities may be expected to cover. The initiated may be interested to compare their own use of time with this distribution and may investigate the values of the proportions distributed among the several activities. An examination of the time schedules provided by kindergartners throughout the country would doubtless result for both the initiated and the uninitiated in a confusion of ideas as to what activities the periods of the day include. The nomenclature used for the kindergarten activities is varied in all parts of the country. The terminology seldom bears any relationship to the accepted subject-matter names in the elementary school, and it does not often suggest that the periods so named cover the begin¬ nings of the elementary school activities. Frequently the names do not indicate the content of the activities scheduled. Further study on the part of those initiated in kindergarten procedure to evolve a comprehensible nomenclature usable in both kindergartens and first grades would be appre¬ ciated by all school workers. A similar need for clear definition is found in the teachers’ statements of specific and immediate aims for the kindergarten activities. The general educational objectives are identical with those for the elementary and high schools. Clear statements of specific aims are essential to further the interests of the intelligent uninitiated person in kindergartens and to make the teacher conscious of the definite purposes of all of her work. 1 his lack of definite statements of aim is not unique with the kindergarten division of the school system. A contribution of simple, straight-forward state¬ ments of aims would doubtless be of value to other divisions of the school system as well as to the kindergartners. Judging from the method scores given to 449 lessons found in the steno¬ graphic reports and from 989 statements of the methods used at the begin¬ ning of the term found in the Kindergarten Inquiry, a visitor, during the first part of the kindergarten semester, will find the teacher directing the children’s choices and uses of materials, their conversations, their singing and story telling, and their plays and games. I oward the end of the term, according to 989 statements from the Inquiry, the observer will find [ 129 ] the children then suggesting the activities, assuming responsibility for the materials and arrangement of the room, and for taking part in discussions and criticisms of their own work and behavior as well as that of the other children. He will find that, instead of dictating, the teacher is guiding these abilities of the children to initiate and to direct their own work. This general procedure will vary with the kinds of activities occurring through¬ out the day. This is true because the informally organized work periods, discussion period, and physical activities use a method which provides oppor¬ tunities for self-directed work. The more formally organized assembly periods, music, literature, and table work periods use a method involving more direction from the teacher than initiative from the children. The educative value for the methods ranging in their amount of teacher or child control in the several kindergarten activities are not determined. The influence upon the teachers’ choice of method of the nationalities and social background of the children, the sizes of enrollments per teacher, kinds of materials and types of games, songs, and stories selected for use, has not been decided. A further study of method as used in kindergartens and primary grades with criteria and standards of values might help to improve the outcomes of instruction, guide desirable changes in programs and plans of work, and make clear the teachers’ conceptions of their work as one part in the general unit of education. In most of the kindergartens of the country the visitor will find the children busily occupied in the room before the time for beginning the school session. In about half of the kindergartens this self-initiated activity con¬ tinues during 45 minutes of the school session as the work period of the day’s program. In these schools the work period is generally followed by a discussion of the work accomplished and of the social behavior of the children. In the other half of the kindergartens throughout the country the visitor will find the children called together at the regular time of starting the session for a general assembly. This assembly includes devo¬ tional exercises, with a short prayer and hymn; a greeting to the children in the form of a good-morning song; conversation; singing, and story¬ telling. This period is usually followed by a period of rhythmic interpre¬ tation of music and by two work periods separated by a period of plays and games. The methods used during this program are, in general, more teacher-directed, both at the beginning and at the end of the term, than are the methods used in the first program mentioned. In the program provid¬ ing two work periods, many of the schools use the first for a self-directed period and the second for teacher-directed work to develop some technique in handling materials. A continued use of either program may be less valuable educationally than a combination of the two. Many teachers consider their programs as flexible instruments for guiding the day s pro¬ gram rather than as prescribed instruments to be arbitrarily followed. A study of the value of having periods for music and literature separate from or combined with the general assembly may help to define specific 1 130 ] objectives, and to assist teachers in seeing the relation of their work to that of the elementary school. To those who have thought of “the circle” as synonymous with the kin¬ dergarten, it will be of interest to know that the descriptions of the chil¬ dren’s positions given in the stenographic reports showed a circle formation for only about half of the schools during the assembly periods, and in the other half of the schools there were informal groupings on rugs or in chairs about the teacher. This informal grouping of the children seems to be customary during the discussion of work, the literature and music periods. There is a plan in many of the kindergartens whereby the chil¬ dren are seated for the music work according to their abilities to sing. Other than this the purpose of this grouping seems to be purely social. The records and reports carried by the kindergartner give to the un¬ initiated an idea of the definiteness with which the teachers are observing the growth of the individual children and the development of the curricu¬ lum activities. The initiated would greatly contribute to the correlation of the kindergarten and elementary school activities, as well as to the definite¬ ness of the teachers’ plans, by analyzing why the records and reports are kept, what they include, and how they function in promoting better educa¬ tion for the children while in kindergarten and after they go into the pri¬ mary grades. This study has attempted to describe kindergarten education as it is in the United States today. Stenographic reports of kindergarten sessions taken throughout the country and the replies of 535 teachers and 162 school administrators to a Kindergarten Inquiry have been the chief sources of information for this study. The opinions of about 500 professional workers regarding the kindergarten subject-matter, methods, and aims have also contributed information. No evaluation of the phases of kindergarten activities analyzed has been attempted in this study, but data is offered here for that purpose. No practices recorded as occurring in a majority of the schools reported or in a majority of the replies to the Inquiry should be considered as norms or standards of practice. On the other hand, the divergencies in practice suggest many investigations and studies. Two complete stenographic reports are here reproduced. They illustrate two types of programs of work, and, in general, illustrate work conducted by a teacher-directed method and work carried on by a method more de¬ pendent upon the children’s abilities to initiate their work and control their behavior. The time schedules illustrate the variety of nomenclature used. Their procedures indicate how desirable it would be to have specific aims for the several activities of the program. These reports, with the foregoing analyses, will prepare the uninitiated person to visit and enjoy two kindergartens conducted by different pro¬ grams and methods. To the initiated they may give suggestions for analysis and evaluation of programs, methods, and general procedures in kinder¬ gartens. 1 131 ] The First Stenographic Report 8:45- 9:00- — Children assemble; occupy themselves freely with swings, floor blocks, picture books, or anything in room that interests them. 9:00- 9:20 — Opening exercises; including quiet music, prayer, hymn, good morn¬ ing songs, timely songs, conversation (topic of immediate interest to children; things brought by children; recall of experience or pictures; introduction of new subject). 9:20-10:00 — Gift period; floor blocks, Froebelian building gifts, tablets and sticks (much reproduction on floor with large material). Much free work and choice of material. 10:00-10:40 — Luncheon, games or excursion for special purpose or exercise out of doors. 10:40-11:10 — Hand work; including use of sand boxes, clay modeling, stringing, picture writing leading to drawing, free cutting leading to cutting of previously drawn figures and picture composition, folding and pasting leading to paper construction, painting. 11:10-11:25 — Story or general exercise. 11:25 — Prepare for dismissal. 1 1 :30 — Dismissal. The time schedule is flexible. The subject matter is adapted to special days and seasons and the entire pro¬ gram may give way to some special project. Report of Kindergarten Session, Morning of October 22, 1924 The children gather in the kindergarten room at 8:45 o’clock and play freely until 9:00 o'clock, at which time the opening exercises begin. 9:00-9:30 — As this is Doll Day, the dolls and teddies, which were brought by the children, are placed on the table and in chairs in center of circle so as to face the children, who take their places on circle. The kindergarten instructor and assistants are seated on the circle also. An assisting teacher plays quiet music, after which the children repeat their morning prayer. Hymn — “Thank Him, thank Him, all the little children, God is Love, God is Love; thank Him, thank Him, all the little children, God is Love, God is Love. "Praise Him, praise Him, all the little children, God is Love, God is Love; praise Him, praise Him, all the little children, God is Love, God is Love." Children then stand up and sing “Good Morning" song — “Good morn¬ ing to you, good morning to you, good morning, dear children, good morning to you." Teacher. Shall we sing to the dollies? Children. All eyes on the dolls: Yes! They sing the “Good Morning" song to the dollies. Teacher. Would you like to sing to the teddy bears? They sing to the teddy bears. Teacher. Aren’t they lovely? Let’s walk right around the ring and look in their faces. One Child. I like this one! Another. They'll bite if you go near them (referring to teddy bears). After walking around the dolls and teddies, children return to their chairs. (The day before, the children had been taken to another room where were dis¬ played many pictures showing the family relation — pictures of mothers, fathers, grandparents, babies, families, etc.) Teacher. While I was away yesterday you went somewhere. Where did you go? [ 132 ] Children. In the other room ! In Miss Gray’s room ! Teacher. What did you see? Children. Pictures. Teacher. Pictures of what? As all children are talking at once, teacher says, “Richard, you tell us what you saw.” Richard. The grandfather was making the little girl a big hand and w'hen you put it outdoor and the wind blew hard it turned the hands right around. Teacher. Yes, that was a weather vane. Frances, stand up and tell us what you saw. What did you see down in Miss Gray’s room? Frances. A baby ! Teacher. Oh, my! Did you see pictures of babies? What were the babies doing ? One child. One took off her shoe. Another. I saw a big boy, playing all alone, making a boat go. Teacher. Were there any other pictures down there that you liked very much? Child. Yes, we liked them all ! Another (excitedly). I know what I liked! Two little bunny rabbits! Teacher. Caroline, what did you like? Caroline. A little baby putting her foot out in the holes in the cradle. Teacher. I think that those were beautiful pictures. There is a picture right in here that is exactly like one that Miss Gray had. Children point out picture immediately, which shows that they noticed all that they saw yesterday. Child notices picture on w'all — mother feeding the little birds — and says: “You’ve got a picture that looks just like my mother.” Teacher. Well, I saw a picture of a man and what was he doing? Child. Driving a truck ! Teacher. And there was another man doing what? A man with a hammer? Children. Building a house ! Teacher. Father building a house and mother giving the baby her bath. Teacher (going to blackboard, where yesterday a circle was drawm for each child and a line placed within the circle for each member of the family) : These weren’t here w’hen I wTent away yesterday. Jane. The biggest round circle is my house ! Teacher. Jane, you tell us about it. Who is each line for? (To little girl who knows Jane's family and wants to tell their names.) You let Jane tell us; she knows. Jane tells names of eleven in family. Several children take their turns in telling the names of the members of their families. Teacher. Yes, your house is there, Mary, and you have a large family too. Let’s see if we can sing about the family. All hold up left hand and pointing to one finger at a time sing: “This is the loving mother, always good, always dear ; This is the busy father, always brave, full of cheer; This is the merry brother, who grows so strong and tall ; This is the gentle sister ; This is the baby small. Here then they all together gladly meet, gladly meet; Here is the happy family, all complete, all complete.” They repeat the same with right hand. Teacher. What does the mother do? Children. Cook ! Sweep ! Make beds ! Sew ! Cook ! etc. Wash dishes ! my mother doesn’t wash the dishes, she makes my sister do it! (Much imitation, several children repeating what a few leaders say.) Teacher. And what does the busy father do? [ 133 ] Child. My father works in the shop! Another child: My father doesn't work in the shop! He's a barber! Another: My father works up in Boynton! Another: My father works on the meat cart! Teacher. And what does the great big brother do? Stays home and goes to school ! Does he ever help father or mother? Sometimes ! And what does the big sister do? Stays at home and goes to school and goes to church ! What about the baby? Does the baby do anything? Plays ! Children. T eacher. Children. T eacher. Children. T eacher. Children. T eacher. Children. T eacher. Children. T eacher. Children. There is something else she does. Creeps! Learns to walk! And at night she goes to Bed ! And in the day time she Sleeps ! They sleep so much, don’t they, those babies in their little cribs? T eacher. What song would you like to sing? (Songs follow for different members of family.) Child. Baby song! They sing. (Children go through the different motions.) “Here is a ball for baby, big and soft and round ; Here is a baby’s hammer, oh, how he can pound ; Here is baby's music, clapping, clapping so! Here are baby's soldiers, standing in a row! Here is baby’s trumpet, too-too-toot ! too-too ! Here is the way that baby plays at peep-a-boo! Here is a big umbrella to keep the baby dry; Here is the baby’s cradle, rock-a-baby-bye !’’ John (eagerly). Let's sing about the little boy who went walking! Teacher. We'll sing that song for the brother. Children sing the following song and illustrate: “A little boy went walking one lovely summer’s day: fie saw a little rabbit that quickly ran away; He saw a shining river go winding in and out, And little fishes in it were swimming all about. “And slowly, slowly turning, the great wheel of the mill ; And then the tall church steeple, the little church so still ; The bridge above the water; and when he stopped to rest, He saw among the bushes a wee ground-sparrow's nest. “And as he watched the birds above the tree tops fly, He saw the clouds a sailing across the sunny sky. He saw the insects playing, the flowers that summer brings; He said, 'I must tell mother! I’ve seen so many things.’” Teacher. And now what shall we sing? Child. Now let’s sing about the automobile! Teacher. Shall we sing that song for the sister? They sing: “Come, let’s take a ride in our automobile; honk! honk! goes the horn. Hold onto the wheel!” Teacher. See that nice little automobile on the table! Is there any other song you would like to sing? Would you like to sing about the bird's nest or the pigeon house ? One Child (quickly). The pigeon house! Another: After that the bird house! Another: After that the stork! They sing: [ 134] “My pigeon house I open wide and set the pigeons free; They fly over the fields on every side and light on the tallest tree; But when they return from their merry flight I'll shut the door and say ‘good night.’ Coo roo ! Coo roo!’’ Teacher. Now we ll put away our chairs. Child. Sing about the stork ! Teacher. Not now, maybe by and by we'll sing about the stork. Take the dol¬ lies that are sitting on the floor and put them in the doll house. Children arrange chairs, teddies, and dolls, putting them against the wall. The older children march into other room to music played by an assisting teacher. 9:30-10:00— Gift Period. Children stand in groups and discuss with assisting teacher what kind of furni¬ ture they can make for the dolls and teddies. They get trays of large floor blocks and build (on the floor) singly or in small groups. Occasionally a child gets one of the dolls to sit in his chair. Chairs, tables, beds, and trains are made from the blocks. All children are interested, some in building definite things, some want to build up as high as they can. They wish the approval of the teachers — “See my chair,” “That’s a train, toot-toot,” “My dolly just fits in that chair,” “I’ve got to make a better bed for mv teddy bear,” "Miss Smith, we were just building this up when it got on fire and now I’ve got to start all over again.” As kinder¬ garten supervisor enters room, “See! See!”, “See my chair!”, “See my bed!”, “I made a steeple on a church !” Kindergartner moves about, giving attention where needed. Assisting teacher chats with children. At close of Gift Period, children pick up material, place in boxes which they carry to side of room. 10 :00- 1 0:30 — Games. An assisting teacher plays march on piano; children march by course indicated by lines on the floor for several minutes, ending finally in a circle All clap hands to music. Teacher. I wonder if any one could make a pigeon house? Several Children (triumphantly). I can! I can! Teacher. Take hold of hands and Florence, you make a pigeon house with the other children. A group of children make pigeon house in center of floor, by joining hands in a circle. Child. I can be a mother pigeon ! Several children enter ring as pigeons, as children sing: “Come, little pigeons, come into the ring; Come while we sing.” Children then sing: “Then go to sleep in your nice warm nest, We will be quiet and let you rest.” Pigeons sleep. Children coo, like pigeons. Children then sing: “Now the sun is high in the sky, Now, little birdies, 'tis time to fly, Fly over fields and hill tops bright And then returning we wish you good night. While children sing above, pigeons fly out of house all around and then return. “Dear little pigeons, sweet rest to you, We were waiting to hear your soft coo roo. Pigeons coo roo. Teacher. Now it is dark and the birdies, pigeons and babies are all asleep! They sleep all night long. What wakens them in the morning? Several Children. The sun ! [ 135 ] Children sing: "In and out the windows, in and out the windows, in and out the windows, the pretty pigeons Hy.” Children leave ring with Hying motions. Teacher. That was a nice little pigeon house. I wonder if we can make another pigeon house. (Children eagerly advance to center and clasp hands to make pigeon house.) Put your two feet together in strong posts. I'he play is repeated with the new group of pigeons. Teacher. What was the name of that bird with long legs? Child (quickly). Stork! Teacher. We ll have some storks. Several children enter circle eagerly and stand on one foot. Children sing: “See the stork stand on one foot On the ground like tree or root When for food he hastes away Two feet show in Hight so gay.” Teacher. Pretty good ones! I saw two very strong storks. Now we’ll have some more storks. Another group of children enter circle as storks, all very anxious to do the best and to receive the approval of the teacher. Teacher. I’d love to have a mother robin. Marion, you be a mother robin. Little hoy. I can be a father robin. (He enters circle and Hies around.) I hree children, who wish to be baby robins, join mother robin on floor. Teacher. Father Robin, can you go and get a fat worm? Mother Robin, put your wings over the little birdies and keep them all safe. Father Robin bends over and drops the worm from his bill in center of family. Teacher. And all the little robins say — ? Children. And all the little robins say “peep.” Children sing: “One day the sun was warm and bright All shining in the sky; The mother said, ‘My little ones, ’Tis time you learned to fly.’ ” And all the little robins sang “I’ll try, I'll try, I’ll try.” Robins attempt to fly. Child (shyly). I want to be a robin! Inother child (eagerly). I want to be a mother robin! Above exercise is repeated with another group of children. Teacher. A family of robins and a family of storks! I wonder if we can have a family of people. I’d like a mother. (Child eagerly advances to be mother.) This is the loving mother. Where is there a father? (A little boy is chosen from many who wish to be the father.) Stand right beside the mother. Where is a great, big, tall brother? (I can be a brother!) Now a sister. Come right in (to little girl who is eager to be the sister). Now what else do we want to make a nice family? (Children: a baby!) (A baby is added to the group, and all stand in a row side by side.) Now, this family lives on this side of the street. I think it would be nice to have a family on the other side. In a very few seconds (the children are so eager to participate) a family is gathered for the other side of the street, and the two families face each other across the street. Teacher. Now all the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and babies are going to do their work. (To baby) What are you going to do? (Child, shyly: “Creep”) Can you creep like a baby? (Child: “No, but I can play.”) All members of the families illustrate their work, as other children sing: “These are the loving mothers, always good, always dear, These are the busy fathers, always brave, full of cheer; These are the merry brothers, who grow so strong and tall, These are the gentle sisters; [ 136 1 These are the babies small. Here then thev all together gladly meet, gladly meet; H ere are two happy families, all complete, all complete.” Teacher. Henry, what are you doing? Henry (who has been making various motions with his arms all through the song). I'm the father, making machinery go 1 Teacher. I thought so. Another child ‘who is a father. I'm making an automobile go! Teacher. How would you like to have a dance? Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and babies take hold of hands, and we’ll have a nice skip. (Tra-la-la.) Now make a bow to your partner (children bow to partners, after which they join the other children in outer circle). Teacher. Jane, you may enter the ring. Call to a little boy. Assisting-teacher plays piano; Jane enters ring and beckons to little boy to enter. Jane bows to little boy and leaves ring. Little boy beckons to little girl to enter ring, bows to her and leaves ring, etc., each little girl beckoning a little boy and bowing, and vice versa. Teacher. Now we will all fly to our chairs. 10:30-10:40 — Luncheon. Children gather around tables arranged in hollow squares. One child passes napkins, and another, crackers. All children then fold hands and a little prayer is said. Some children have milk, also, if their parents wish. 10:40-11:15 — Group work with assisting-teachers. Table 1 — Each group is working out a different project in paper cutting. Children paste paper dolls on pieces of cardboard which they cut to correct size on lines previously ruled. Table 2 — Free cutting of animals. Best of cutting mounted on chart, others mounted on cards which are ruled by student-teacher and cut by children. Table 3 — Children make tables by cutting out circles and squares (from trac- ^ ing patterns) and pasting on top of thread spools. Children select colored paper and cut (free cutting) table cloths, centerpieces, etc., for tables. They also cut chairs to go with tables. Child usually tells what he intends to cut. V arious children. “I can make two tables right together,” “My mother uses a table cloth on her table,” “My mother's table cloth is green and white." Table 4 — Children trim pictures for picture books. Pictures are taken from magazine pages and are mostly colored — pictures of furniture, fruit, animals, scenery. Four children cut out pictures while one pastes the pictures on a large piece of cardboard for the picture book. Each child takes a turn at the pasting. Table 5 — Children trim pictures of fruit, vegetables and flowers for large charts and for individual cards. All children talk freely with other children and with assisting-teachers as they work. Atmosphere homelike. 11:15-11:30 — Teacher seats herself in chair, a mysterious box and a doll on her lap. Children, after clearing away cutting and pasting materials, seat themselves on floor around the teacher, all anxiously waiting for the contents of the box. The children’s dolls and teddies are placed in chairs in a row facing the chil¬ dren. Teacher (picking up doll from her lap). Children, this dolly belongs to Miss Gray. She brought it to-day for us to see. Now her eyes are open wide and now they are closed. I’m going to ask Gladys to hold her while we see what is in here (points to box, on which all eyes are focused eagerly, takes a paper-wrapped package from box). I have a surprise for you. Children (as paper is unrolled). A little policeman! Oh, can I hold him? I want to hold him ! Teacher (passes the policeman to a child). I’m going to put my hand in again and see what I can find. (Hand emerges with another wrapped package, which, [ 137 ] after being unrolled, discloses a fisherwoman with a basket. This doll evokes muth merriment from the children, and they all want to hold it.) Teacher. Does she look like these other dollies? Children. No! Teacher. What has she here? Children. A basket ! Teacher. She comes from across the water, way from France. See her little shoes. She's a little French fisherwoman. (She passes the doll to a child to hold.) Teacher (drawing another package from box and unrolling it). Oh, we have another one from across the water! (As child eagerly reaches up for her to hold.) Wait just a minute! I want you to look at her first. See her earrings! She came way across the water in a big ship. A little Dutch lady. (Draws forth another package, which discloses another Dutch doll.) Look at her hair! She came way from Holland in a big ship. (Next package reveals a funny little doll, which causes much merriment among the children.) I guess he came in a ship too, but he didn’t come from the same country. Teacher (opening last package). Do you know who this is? (Children all know and say, “A sailor.”) Yes, this is a little sailor boy. Child. I didn't make any noise, Miss Keyes! May I hold the sailor boy? (Teacher passes the sailor boy to the child who has prided himself on not laugh¬ ing too loudly.) Teacher. Children, would you like to see my dolly? Will Miss Smith hand me that box all done up in paper? You didn’t know that I had a dolly, did you? I haven’t seen my dolly for a long, long time. She’s had a long ride in the cars, and I haven't looked at her since I found her in the store. (Opens box, disclosing a doll made of cornstalks, with hair of corn silk.) See her sweet, little face! And her hair! What do you suppose she is made of? Child. Paper! Teacher. Oh, no; she isn’t made of paper. Child (triumphantly). Cornstalks! Cornstalks! Teacher. Cornstalks, that’s just what she is made of. And her hair is made of corn silk. She was so nice that I had to buy her to be my dolly. Now I think that it would be lovely if all the children would go over there and pick out the dolly that you like best, then come back and sit down. One child (who seems to be without a dolly). Miss Brown, can I have a dolly? Teacher. Go over and get one quickly from the doll house. Hurry, for we are going to sing about the dollies. Student-teacher plays lullaby and children rock their babies to sleep in their arms, and sing: “This is the dolly that 1 love best, This is the way that she likes to rest; flere in my arms in her white gown dressed ; Dear little dolly baby. Hush-a-bye; hush-a-bye, Pretty little dolly rock-a-bye ; Hush-a-bye; hush-a-bye, Dear little dolly baby.” Teacher. Do you think these dollies have had a nice time today? (Children nod heads.) Now put the dollies in the chairs, and we'll get our things on to go home. (Children go out with teachers and return with coats and hats.) I am so glad that you brought your dollies today. All sing “Good-bye” song. The Second Stenographic Report At eight-thirty o’clock the children enter the kindergarten. Assist in arranging tables, watering flowers, straightening up the library, cleaning the playhouse, getting out supplies (teachers guiding and directing). They then go to work. [ 138 ] Children are free to select the activity, the material, the children with whom they wish to work. (With a few exceptions, children stay with chosen work during the entire period.) Teachers move about from group to group giving help, sugges¬ tions, and criticism. Much quiet conversation among themselves or with the teacher prevails during the entire work period. Work Period (Proper) — 8:45 a.m. to 9:55 a.m. Types of activities during this period: I. Three girls at table cutting and pasting colored paper lanterns, fans, etc. II. Two boys and a girl cutting and pasting colored paper golf bags. Miss X. Yesterday Roy made a golf bag for his father to carry balls and golf sticks. He made this one this morning. (Holding up bag that has no bottom to it.) Roy, these children think this golf bag isn't quite right — what is the matter? Roy. I don’t know how to make a bottom. Howard. I know. Miss X. All right, Howard, show him what to do. Howard. Take a piece of paper and put paste on it and bring it around, and then you put the bottom in it here, but you don't want ball too heavy — it will drop out. (He demonstrates with a piece of paper.) III. Lib rary table — numbers vary. A few children, finishing other work, get books. Four girls, having cleaned the playhouse when they came to school, take the dolls and stay almost the entire period at the table reading the pictures to the dolls or to each other. One girl, who was the mother in the playhouse, continues to be the mother at the library table. One of the girls. Mother, I’m going to get another book. Mother. Yes, go ahead. (Girl brings back alphabet book.) Mother. Let me see it after you are through. (Other children finding the picture of "Rock-a-Bve Baby.") Read that! (Child reads, then they all sing very softly to their dolls.) One girl. Isn’t it a shame we have to hold these babies. Another girl (putting doll on chair beside her). I have a chair for mine. First girl. So have I. (One finds a picture of Santa Claus.) See it. Ain’t it pretty. (Miss X moves to library table, notices one child with two books.) Miss X. Do you think it fair for one child to bring two books to the table? (Child shakes head no.) Miss X. Why isn’t it fair? Pupil. ’Cause one would be enough. Miss X. Yes — someone else might want it, so put one book back. (About five minutes before the close of the period these four girls take their dolls for a walk about the kindergarten.) IV. One little girl draws at blackboard. V. Four girls cut scarfs of colored paper for mother and doll-house lunch table. VI. Two girls sew for small dolls (six inch celluloids). One boy sits with them stringing colored wooden beads (making a design). He suggests to the girls what to sew. Boy. Why don’t you make your doll a coat? (A tan satin coat was the result.) VII. Three boys and two girls at table draw pictures with crayola. (Toward close of period make books of the drawings.) William. Miss Y, Buddy wants a needle to sew his book. Miss Y. Ask one of the girls sewing, she’ll give you one. VIII. Seven boys and two girls build with blocks on a large rug. First at¬ tempt of girls with blocks — built nothing; after short time went to play with dolls i 139 ] for the rest of the period. Boys build houses, double garage, two filling stations, play with the toy autos. Two boys build a barnyard with pigs and cows; one builds barn for farmer; two build an engine house. IX. A group of boys build with blocks on a rug in other room. (Same group of boys were together the day before.) Miss X. Yesterday something happened that made us just a little unhappy. Do vou remember what it was? Pupil. Jack made a tilling station and it got knocked down. Miss X. Howard, do you think we could do anything this morning to make it happier ? Howard. I don't know. i Vliss X. Now try to think. Howard. To look out for other people's buildings. Miss X. Yes, that is right. Be careftd of each other’s buildings. (Children build — later Miss X returns.) Miss X. How many people made this garage? Frank (pointing to Jack and Howard). Me and him and him. (Jack, Howard and Frank now decide to build a fire engine house and repair -hop.) (Later: Miss X returning.) Miss X. How will people who come along the road know this is a repair shop. Howard. They’d see the tools. Another. Have a toy engine outside. Another child. A sign. iMiss X. What kind of sign would you put up. Children. Sign saying repair shop. Miss X. Could anyone make that sign? (No one volunteers.) Miss X. If I put letters on the board, who will do it? (Several hands raised — Miss X goes to board — group from rug follows her. Boys get paper ready to copy letters as Miss X prints.) Miss X. What do you think that says? (As she finishes the word “Repair.”) Children. Repair. (Miss X finishes the words “Repair Shop.”) Miss .Y. Jack, suppose you and Frank and Howard try; then we might chose the best. (One tries. The others watch, prompting the one making the sign by point¬ ing out the letters on the blackboard. When he has finished the word “Repair,” one of the group watching sees that he has written the word “Repair” too far down on the paper and too large, and says: Now start up here (pointing to the top of the sheet) because you made it too big. (So that the sign, when finished, reads — “Shop Repair”) (One of boys who has been very generous with advice, takes sign away from boy who has just finished making it, and says — Now I will go to my repair shop. (Sets up sign against repair shop.) Miss X. Did you ever see a sign any other place than right up against the house ? Pupil. Sometimes they have them across like that (putting sign up above shop, supporting it by putting block behind it; but it does not stand up straight and is not very steady.) Another hoy (more to himself). I know a good way to fix it, boy. Miss X. Frank says he knows a better way. Frank. Give me another block. (Puts another block behind sign, but it doesn’t work very well. Tries it a different way, and sign stands up, but is not yet steady.) Miss X. Suppose a wind would come along? [ 140 ] (At this point a girl from the pasting table interrupts Miss X to show her golf bag she has made. Miss X commends her work and she goes back to her table. ) Children (in answer to Miss X's question). It would fall off. Miss X. Can you fix it so it won’t fall off. (Pupil suggests a piece of paper). Miss A'. Do you think a piece of paper would hold it on so it wouldn't fall? Children. It would blow that away too. Miss X. Now, if the wind would blow it would sail right off. How about your thumb tacks? Children. Put another block in front of sign. (This is done and it stands firmly. They have worked out the problem.) Miss X. Now blow! (Children blow.) Miss X. I believe it will stay. (Children ask for toy train.) Miss X. Who’s going to take care of filling station? Pupil. I want to take care of garage. Miss X. Who is going to be the repair man? What are you going to be, Howard, the repair man? (Howard nods assent.) Miss X. What are you going to be, George? (George doesn't seem to know.) Miss X. He’s just going to be a man who has a machine. If you get in trouble what are you going to do? Children. Go to garage. Miss X (pointing to toy cows children have on rug). What do you have to be careful of? Children. So cows won’t be hit. Miss X. Yes, don't let them get in way of machines. (Boy who had left bottom out of golf bag brings it up now with bottom pasted in.) Miss X. Now suppose we find some golf sticks and see if the bag will hold them. (Going to cupboard and getting sticks which slip into bag.) Do they go in all right? Are they all right? (Children nod.) (Elizabeth comes up with bag which she has pasted which has handles on it.) Miss X. What is it Elizabeth has? What do you think you could use that for? Elizabeth. I don’t know. Miss X. What does mother carry that has handles on it like that? Elizabeth. Pocketbook. (Children play with toys about ten minutes. Howard is kept busy supplying gas, oil, etc.) The work period was interrupted at 9:00 o’clock; bugle is blown in hall; chil¬ dren salute Flag: “We give our hands and our hearts to our Country. One flag, one country, with liberty and justice to all.” Children then are permitted to leave room to take care of their wants. As thev line up at door to leave room, Rubv says there are more girls than boys. Miss X. How do you know, Ruby? Ruby. Because line’s longer. Miss X. Annette let’s count and see. (Annette counts. Frank counts the boys and counts ten; one of the boys has stooped down and has not been counted.) Miss X. Was that fair for you to stoop down and not let us count you? Let’s count again. Children (counting boys). 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! [ 141 ] Miss X (to Charles). Are you counting yourself; you make eleven. How many girls are there? Children. Thirteen! Miss X. And how many boys? Children. Eleven ! Miss X. Do you think there are more boys than girls? Children. More girls. (Children leave room; return in few minutes.) 9:40 a. m. Miss X gives a piano signal. Children immediately gather around piano very quietly. Miss X. Do you like the way we came up to the piano this morning? Children. Yes. (Some nod.) Miss X (addressing one). Why did you like it? Pupil. We walked up quiet, and didn’t even push. Miss X. Now this morning how many had a real happy time. (Hands raised.) Miss Ar. We have been good workers; how many will be good housekeepers? How do we keep our kindergarten clean ? Ruby. I know what we have to do, clean up. Children. Put our things away. (In answer to Miss X.) Miss X. When you finish cleaning up, you may bring your chairs up close to the piano. Before you go I want you all to see Roy’s golf bag. You know yester¬ day his bag didn't have a bottom. Show the children how well you put on the bottom. (Roy holds up bag; children comment on it.) One of the boys. Miss X, wouldn’t you come to see my filling station? (Miss X goes with him to look at it.) (Children now' go to their task of cleaning up; one is careless.) Miss T. What do you think would be a better way to put blocks away instead of breaking the building up that way? (She calls attention to the manner in which children on other rug are piling up blocks.) Pupil. Pile them up. (Little girl brings doll to Miss Y to show her the dress she has made for it.) Miss Y. Some of the others would like to see it. (Girl shows doll to others.) My, that is cute! How did you do it? Pupil. Cut it out. Miss Y. Did anybody help you? Pupil. (Shakes her head "No.”) Miss Y (to girls who had played in playhouse). What did you do in your doll house? Children. Cleaned house today. Miss Y. Did you sweep ? Children (nodding “Yes”). We moved the furniture. Miss Y. You are good housekeepers, you sweep under the furniture. (Some children have finished their cleaning and have brought chairs to piano; some have dolls with them, others drawings, books and articles they have pasted; one little girl holds a doll, and sits stroking her face wfith doll’s hand, as a mother sometimes does with baby’s hand.) (The other children are still cleaning up; some have brushes and pans; one has a broom; another has a sponge and washes off the paste table. One boy, on his own initiative, is putting thumbtacks in cardboard mat hanging on wall, the mat having come loose at the bottom.) (When children have finished the room is spotless.) 9:55 a. m., Assembly. Miss X begins to play, the entire kindergarten now is grouped around the piano, all seated. Children’s voices have been tested indi¬ vidually; there are three groups; 1st, those who carry a complete melody; 2nd, those, who, through lack of musical experience, cannot sing a complete song; 3rd, those who sing in monotones. [ 142 ] Miss X. Look around and see who was not here yesterday. Pupil (pointing to another). He stayed home. Miss X. Jack is trying to tind some one right now. (Jack goes around group and puts hand on boy he thinks was absent.) (Annette points to Edward.) Miss X. We’re so glad to have Edward and William back. (Miss X begins to play; children clap in time to music; “three-fourths” time.) Number of children. Play that the long way. (Meaning “four-fourths” march time.) (Miss X plays and they keep time by clapping.) One of pupils. Play about that little squirrel. Ruby. I was going to say about the little squirrel. Miss X. Joe, could you tell anything about that little squirrel? Number of children at once. Soft and furry. Miss X. Anything else? Children. His tail is long and bushy. (Some of the children say different things.) Miss X. How many people should talk at one time? Children. One ! Children (repeating). His tail is long and bushy. Miss X. His tail is long and brovsn and bushy. Can you tell me anything else about the little squirrel? Children. He lives within a hollow tree. (Miss X plays and children sing.) “Little squirrel soft *and furry, Lives within a hollow tree; His tail is long and brown and bushv, His eyes are bright, as bright can be.” Miss X. What about his eves? Children. As bright, as bright can be. (They sing again.) Miss X. What else would you like to sing? Pupil. Sing about little Jack Frost. Miss X. Why do you want to sing about Jack Frost? Pupil. Because it’s cold outside. Ruby. Last night’s weather bird says in the paper, he said — “Frost tonight and warm tomorrow.” I had my brother’s bathrobe over my bed. Another pupil. Because I went down to the library last night. Miss X. Well, how did you know Jack Frost was here? Pupil. Because it was cold out there. Miss X. Venita wants to say something. V enita. This morning I got up and I saw Jack Frost on some roofs. Miss X. What does Jack Frost look like? Children. White; snowy. Miss X. Where did you see Jack Frost, Joe? Joe. I saw Jack Frost on my shed. Miss X. Where did you see Jack Frost, Jack? Jack. On top of our house. Ruby. We went out last night and we had my thin coat on ; I got cold. (Miss X plays and children sing.) “How the wind blows — How cold it grows, Jack Frost is coming, Look out for your toes.” Miss X. William never heard that. Yesterday was the first time we sang it, so he didn’t hear it. [ 1+3 ] Nelson. Sing it again. Miss X. All right, let's sing it again. (Plays and children sing.) Miss X. Im going to see what good ears you have. (She begins to play snatches of different songs the children are familiar with.) (Plays few notes and stops.) Children. Baa Baa Black Sheep! (Plays strain of another song.) Ruby. This is the father, this is the mother! (Miss X plays again.) Children. One I love, two I love! (Plays again.) Children. Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep. (Plays again.) Children. Little Squirrel ! Miss X. No. Children. Jack be quick! Children (repeating). Jack be quick, Jack jumped over the candle stick! Miss X. You’ll have to guess again. Children. This is the mother, this is the father! (Plays again.) Children. Jack be nimble, Jack be quick! Miss X. This is about something that was holding tight to the trees all summer long and now Jack (interrupting Miss X). It's the leaves. Miss X. Yes, anything else? Maybe somebody can find a picture they would like to sing about. (One of the girls, Mildred, picks out a picture on the wall illustrating “Dance to your Daddy.”) Miss X. Mildred has found one. Why are the mother and little girl dancing? Children. Because they see their daddy's boat come in. (Miss X begins to play.) Roys. May we row the boats? Mi ss X. What can the little girls do while the boys are rowing? Girls. Rock the babies. Pupil. Can we play waiting for daddy to come home? (Three children are chosen to play the mother, daddy, and baby. They go out on Hoor; the mother and baby standing in one place, which represents the shore, and the daddy in another, representing the sea.) (Children sing — boys going through motion of rowing and girls rocking babies.) Miss X. 1 know a little boy who has a baby at his house who came to see us one day. Children. Frank! (Miss X plays — “We have a baby at our house"; children sing it; repeat it humming and going through motion of rocking.) “We have a baby at our house His eyes are big and blue, He has no hair upon his head — All he can say is Goo!’’ Xliss X. The luncheon committee may leave now. (Eight on luncheon committee; this committee is formed the first week through offer of service by eight pupils; after that the retiring members of committee name those who will succeed them. They each serve one week.) (This group leaves piano to fix tables; paper napkins are laid in place on the tables and a paper doily is placed in center of each table on which is placed a vase with flowers. Children at piano are directed to get up and stretch; then they play “Simon says thumbs up.”) [ 144 ] Miss X (interrupting game). Just a minute, I think the luncheon committee is ready. 10:15 a. m. Luncheon. (Children take chairs and move into room where tables are set. They get their lunches and bring them to tables — the children are asked to bring apples, little cakes or a sandwich for this lunch.) Pupil (coming up to Miss X crying). He hurt my eye. (Miss X draws the two boys aside. Investigation proves that it was an ac¬ cident.) Frank (voluntarily). I didn’t mean to hurt you, Roy. (Miss X plays and children sing — “Song of Thanks,” after which they are seated.) (Children ask that fruit and sandwiches be cut for them. Miss Y and Miss X go from table to table helping children. Some children give cakes to others. When cakes have animals or other objects on them, the children divert themselves guessing what they are. At one of the tables, children are reciting Jingles, some of them being original, using the names of the children at the table in the rhymes, as “Roy, Roy, the big fat boy.”) (After the children finish lunch they are each held responsible for cleaning up their place of crumbs and paper, but the luncheon committee is responsible for the entire room. Some get pan and brush and sweep up crumbs. One of the girls gets broom out of playhouse and sweeps floor. While the children on the luncheon committee are finishing their work of cleaning up, the other children take their chairs into other room and rest.) 10:3 5 a. m., Recess Time. (Children leave room and go into the school yard. One little boy comes back to have the teacher button his coat.) 11:05 a. m. (Children come in from recess.) Rest period of five minutes. (Miss X begins to play at piano; children sit down on chairs, forming circle.) Miss X. You mat- rest any way you feel like resting — close your eyes, fold your hands, but everybody must be - Children. Quiet! (Some fold their hands and close eyes. Some just sit quietly. Others sit quietly counting children in circle.) 11:10 a. m., Story Hour. Aliss X. Did we find the day on the calendar when William came back to kindergarten? Maybe William can find it himself. Come, William, see if you can find the day you came back to kindergarten. (William goes to calendar.) Aliss X. Did he find it? (As William points to day.) Children. Yes, ma’am! Aliss X (addressing William). Get the crayola. (William gets crayola and marks day on calendar.) Miss X. Who knows the name of today. Ruby. Tuesday! Aliss X. Rub}' says Tuesday and someone else said Thursday. Which is it? Arthur. Tomorrow' is Friday. Annette. After Thursday — Friday, and after Friday — Saturday. Miss X. What is today, Thursday? Children. Is today Thursday? Miss X. Yes. (Nelson, w»ho brought a note for permission to be dismissed, comes up to Miss X.) Aliss X. Are you ready to go? Nelson. She is coming. Aliss X. Well, stand at the door and wait for your mother; don’t go until she comes. Miss X. Now you may bring your chairs up. [ 145 ] (Children bring chairs and group themselves around Miss X.) Miss X. Why did we move our chairs up? Ruby. To read a story. Miss X. When someone tells us a story, or reads us a story, how many people are talking at one time. Children. Just one! Ruby. Just the one who is reading. Miss X. Tell Charles. Ruby. The one that is doing it. Miss X. Doing what? Children (helping Ruby) . The one that is talking. Miss X. Remember we said yesterday if anybody wants to talk they can go in the other room and talk, but if you want to hear the story and stay in here, are we going to talk? Children. No. Miss X. Why isn’t it polite to talk while someone is reading a story? Children. Because people who want to hear it, can’t hear it. Children. Are you going to read Bobby? (‘‘Bobby and the Big Road,” by Maud Lindsay; a continued story. Miss X reads one chapter at a time.) Miss X. Some were not here when we started the story, and perhaps they don’t know about Bobby. (Noticing that some of the children are telling one of the boys to be quiet.) Thank vou for reminding Charles that we were waiting for him. (Continuing.) Perhaps thev don’t know just where Bobby lived. Arthur, can you tell where Bobby lived? Children. In the country. Miss X. Who lived with him? Children. His mother and father. Miss X. Had he always lived out there in the country? Children. He lived in the city. Miss X. How did he get out there in the country? Children. A train and a horse and buggy. Miss X. Didn’t they have an automobile? Ruby. Just a horse and buggy. Joe. We know somebody and went out there. Another. We went to Union Station one time. Miss X (continuing). What did Bobby find? Children. A swing. Miss X. Where was the swing? Children. On a tree? Miss X. Was there only one tree in the yard. Pupil. Two. Miss X. Just one tree larger than all the rest. What ran right in front of the house? Children. A road. Miss X. What was on the side of the road? Children. Flowers and trees. (Miss X reads.) Miss X (noticing one of the children is restless). Mildred, move your chair over here, I think you will be more comfortable. (Reads.) Miss X (noticing two boys in group). Kenneth, do you want Robert to sit down? (One child says Robert should move so Kenneth can hear the story.) Howard. Anybody that wants to talk can go in the other room. (Miss X reads.) Miss X (referring to story). Did you ever play a game like that. Number of children. Yes, I did. [ 146 ] One. We went out in the country with a big truck and it was dark and he put his lights on so we could see and we almost ran over a rabbit. (Miss X takes up reading again.) (Children are deeply interested. Some who are close to Miss X get up from chairs and try to look on book while Miss X reads.) “Bobby asked, ‘Do you suppose he knew we were waiting for him?’ ‘I cannot tell you that,’ said his father, but I know he will very soon find out that we are his friends.’” (From Chapter IV — “The Walk,” referring to the “Gray Squirrel.”) Miss X. I wonder how he found that out. Charles. Gave him some nuts. Miss X. That’s just what he did. I think Elizabeth told us a story the other day, a little verse, about loving the trees, and about something they give that the little squirrels like. It went something like — “I love the trees, for don’t you see”— What was it? Children (finishing the verse). They give the nicest things to me. Miss X. And what do they give? Children. Apples and peaches and grapes. One Pupil. And ripe nuts when Jack Frost comes. Frank. I found one on the way to school today. Miss X. Suppose we take our chairs and go back and make a great big ring. 11:25 a. m., Games and Rhythms. (Children make circle.) Miss X plays, boys get up and march. Miss X plays in a faster temp and they run; she changes time and they march; changes time and they skip; music stops suddenly and they stop; plays and they trot. Miss X. What is it Charles wants? Children. Squirting! (Meaning firemen using hose.) (Miss X plays and they run, ending with an imitation of firemen using hose. Great glee and excitement over this game.) Miss X. Yesterday Arthur made a good suggestion. When the girls were playing the boys keep quiet; and the girls when the boys are playing. (Miss X begins to play and girls skip.) Miss X. Howard, put your feet back; they might fall over your feet. (Miss X changes to slow music and girls tip-toe march.) Ruby. Try Jack in the Box. Miss X. All right; are the springs tight? (Miss X plays and children play Jack in the Box, starting and stopping with the music.) Annette. Can we play “Who wfill come and dance with me?” Miss X. All right, Annette. (Annette walks around circle and sings; other children also sing quietly. She takes as a partner, another girl; they walk around circle.) Miss X. Now, you have walked; now what do you want? Annette. Now, come and run with me! (The two girls go around circle singing “Who will come and run with me?” Other children answer, “I will come and run with you.” The two in circle choose partners and four of them run.) Miss X. Now what shall it be? Joe. “Skip with me.” (Four children in circle sing, and choose partners and skip.) Miss X. Now what shall it be? What is it Annette? Dorothea. “Walk”! (Miss X plays for the children to sing, “Who will come and walk with me,” but neglects to play for the children seated to answer, “I will come and walk with you”; they remind her of this.) Miss X. Oh, excuse me ! Venita. Oh, look who is coming in. (Mr. Z, the principal, comes into the room.) [ 147 ] (Continuing game, children choose partners and walk.) Miss X. What do you want now? Marie. Dance with me. Miss X. Now anyone who wants to dance may get a partner and dance. (Children get up and dance.) (Music stops.) Arthur. Now it's all over. 11:40 a. m. Conversation. Groups separate. Miss Y takes her children into one room; Miss X takes hers into other. Children are grouped around their teachers. Miss Y's group: Charles. Tell us a story. Miss Y. Let's get quiet first. Are we all ready? ... I want you to think about Bobby. What can you see? Close your eyes. Children. I see a tree. I kin see a squirrel. Miss Y. Kenneth, tell us one thing. Kenneth. Squirrel 1 Miss Y. Where was the squirrel? Kenneth. The squirrel ran up a tree. Joe. I saw the tree. I saw Bobby walking. 1 saw Bobby with his mama and father (and others). I saw Bobby's brown eyes. I saw the swing. Miss Y. You look like you had a good time in a swing. Where did you? Joe. Down by my aunt's, but now it's gone. Edward. I saw Bobby passing the house. Another. I seen a carriage. Miss Y. You saw the carriage? Edward. I saw the squirrel run. Several. I seen it, too! I seen two squirrels run up the tree. Miss Y. You saw two squirrels running up the tree. (Several children want to talk at the same time.) Miss Y. It's George's turn now. Children. Please tell us about the “Three Little Kittens.’’ (The children all help Miss Y tell the story by supplying words.) Miss X’s group: Children to Miss X. Are you going to read us that story? Miss X. You have been making some books, haven't you? (Holding a book with pictures pasted in it and a picture on outside cover.) Children (all talking at once). I have. Miss X. What did you paste in the books? Children. Pictures 1 Miss X. Now you know when you were making the books and pasting pictures of mothers, fathers, big sisters and brothers and babies, we brought pictures for this book and pasted them in. What is it that we have on the outside of a book so we know what kind of pictures are in that book? Some of the children. Father and brother! Miss X. Not always a father and brother. What is on the outside of that book? (Holding book that has picture of pig on outside.) Children. Pig! Miss X. Yes, that has a little pig, so that tells us it’s about pigs. This book has a picture out here to tell us what kind of pictures are in the book. One of pupils. Yes. Miss X. I am going to read you a little story and I want some one to tell what would be needed to put down here (pointing to front of book which has a picture of a little baby holding dog in its arms and sleeping). (Children look at picture.) One. Baby holding a little dog. Another. Little baby sleeping. Miss X. Do we have to put everything down to tell about the picture. Children. No. Miss X. Which would be better? One pupil.- Little baby holding his dog. Miss X. If you put down “Little baby holding dog" I might think it was wide awake. What is the little baby doing? Children. Little baby sleeping holding its dog. Miss X. Yes. Miss X (holding up picture of family at dining table). Roy, look at this picture. See what we could put at the bottom of this picture. Roy. Eating dinner! Miss X. I'll write it down. Ruby (referring to picture of sleeping baby). Baby sleeping with little puppy in his arms. Miss X. All right, we'll put that down. Now I am going to show you another. (Holding up picture of mother reading to a little boy and girl.) One pupil. Mother and sister reading brother a story. Another. Mother reading a story at night. Another. Mother reading brother and sister a story at night. (Miss X writes this title down; takes up another picture of children running up to their father in their home.) Ruby. I can. (Meaning that she can name the picture.) Miss X. You named one, Ruby; let’s see who else can name it. Jack. Little boy is coming to hug his daddy. Vernon. They look like they are going to take a nap. Miss X. Do you think it is daytime or night time? Jack 'says they are coming to hug daddy. I wonder what they are going to say. Children. Tell daddy goodnight. Miss X. Ruby says she thinks daddy just got home. Do you think daddy just got home? Frank. He’s been home about an hour. Miss X. Frank says he came home an hour ago. Daddy has been home long enough to eat his dinner and now the children have come to tell him goodnight. Another. I kiss my daddy at night. Miss X. Here’s another to name. (Annette tries to get attention.) Miss X. Let Annette tell us. One of pupils. Mother giving the baby a bath. Annette. Mother w’ashes the baby. M iss X. Now, just one more. (Holding picture of mother dressing baby.) Anna Ruth hasn’t told us one. Anna Ruth. Dressing the baby. Miss X. Who is dressing the baby? Children. Mother dressing the baby! Miss X. I know some big boys and girls up stairs who will print what you have named the pictures. Now this is the last. (Picture of mother feeding orange to baby.) One pupil. Mother feeding the baby. M iss X. What is mother feeding the baby? Orange ! Miss X. When does mother give baby oranges? One. When it has a cold. Another. When it takes medicine. Miss X. What other time does mother give baby orange juice. I know a little baby that has orange juice every morning. One of pupils. Mother gave my little brother orange juice when he got a big bump on his head. (Pointing to his head.) (It is now time to say good-bye. Children choose leader and leave room.) [ 149 ] ADDENDA PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS. AND TEACHER-TRAINING INSTITUTIONS CONTRIB¬ UTING STENOGRAPHIC REPORTS To the teachers and directors of the following public, private, and train¬ ing schools the Research Committee of the Department of Kindergarten Education is deeply indebted for the stenographic reports used in this study. Their cooperation in contributing the reports, in giving added information needed for the study, and their interest expressed in the correspondence is warmly appreciated. Clara S. Brown, Director of Kindergarten Training, Tempe Normal School, Tempe, Ariz. A. Maud Sproat, Supervisor of Grades, Pub¬ lic Schools, Miami, Ariz. John D. Loper, Superintendent of Public Schools, Phcenix, Ariz. Edith Leonard, Supervisor of Kindergartens, Public Schools, San Bernardino, Calif. Isabel O. MacKenzie, Director of Kinder¬ garten Training, State Teachers College, San Jose, Calif. Rose M. Sheehan, Supervisor of Kindergar¬ tens, Public Schools, Sacramento, Calif. Julia L. Hahn, Supervisor of Kindergartens, Public Schools, San Francisco, Calif. A. J. Hamilton, Supervising Principal, Berke¬ ley Univ. Elementary School, Berkeley, Calif. Madeline M. Veverka, Kindergarten-Primary Supervisor, Public Schools, Los Angeles, Calif. Grace Fulmer, Principal, Miss Fulmer’s Schools, Los Angeles, Calif. Julia Sommers, School of Open Gate, Holly¬ wood, Calif. Marion L. Chamberlain, Principal, Santa Barbara Girls’ School, Santa Barbara, Calif. Floy M. Lewis, State Teachers College, Fresno, Calif. Helen R. Gumlick, Kindergarten-Primary Supervisor, Public Schools, Denver, Colo. Genevieve Lyford, Director of Kindergarten Training, State Teachers College, Greeley, Colo. Frank O. Jones, District Superintendent of Schools, Hartford, Conn. Jessie I. Scranton, Supervisor of Kindergar¬ tens, Public Schools, New Haven, Conn. Fanny A. Smith, Principal, Fannie A. Smith Training School, Bridgeport, Conn. Minnie Lee Davis, Elementary Supervisor, Tower Hill School, Wilmington, Del. David A. Ward, Superintendent of Public Schools, Wilmington, Del. Catharine Watkins, Supervisor of Kinder¬ gartens, Public Schools, Washington, D. C. Eveline Pierce, Principal, Potomac Private School, Washington, D. C. Eugene A. Clark, Principal, Myrtilla Miner School, Washington, D. C. Etta Anchester, Supervisor of Kindergartens, Chicago Teachers College, Chicago, Ill. Edna Dean Baker, President, National Kin¬ dergarten and Elementary College, Chi¬ cago, Ill. Mrs. Bertha Hegner, Pestalozzi Froebel Teachers College, Chicago, Ill. Margaret E. Lee, Director of Kindergarten Department, Illinois State Normal Uni¬ versity, Normal, Ill. Edna Keith, Elementary Supervisor, Public Schools, Joliet, Ill. Frances Mason, Supervisor of Primary Grades, Public Schools, South Bend, Ind. Mabel Osgood, Kindergarten-Primary Super¬ visor, Public Schools, Fort Wayne, Ind. Alta Adkins, Assistant Superintendent of Public Schools, Hammond, Ind. Ruth Patterson, Kindergarten Supervisor, In¬ dianapolis Teachers College, Indianapolis, Ind. Dorothy Hammond, Director of Kindergarten Training, Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Iowa. Frances Hungerford, Elementary School, State University, Iowa City, Iowa. Bessie Park, Director of Kindergartens, Pub¬ lic Schools, Des Moines, Iowa. Bertha Stiles, Kindergarten-Primary Super¬ visor, Public Schools, Waterloo, Iowa. I. Opstad, Superintendent of Public Schools, Iowa City, Iowa. M. G. Clark, Superintendent of Public Schools, Sioux City, Iowa. Henrietta Harken, Supervisor of Kindergar¬ tens, Public Schools, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. F. T. Vasey, Superintendent of Public Schools, Mason City, Iowa. T. B. Portwood, Superintendent of Public Schools, Atchison. Kans. M. C. Delmanzo, Superintendent of Public Schools, Lawrence, Kans. Elizabeth Smith, Director of Kindergarten Department, Kansas State Teachers Col¬ lege, Emporia, Kans. M. A. Cassidy, Superintendent of Public Schools, Lexington, Ky. Elizabeth Hannan, Public Schools, Louisville, Ky. Allene Seaton, Special Supervisor of Kinder¬ gartens, Public Schools, Louisville, Ky. Nicholas Bauer, Superintendent of Public Schools, New Orleans, La. Charles W. Bickford, Superintendent of Pub¬ lic Schools, Lewiston, Maine. Miss F. Berry, Supervisor of Kindergartens, Friends School, Baltimore, Md. Winifred Weldin, Director of Kindergarten- Primary Department, Maryland State Normal School, Towson, Md. Caroline D. Aborn, Director of Kindergar¬ tens, Public Schools, Boston, Mass. [ 151 ] Mary O. Pottinger, Supervisor Kindergarten Grades 1-3, Public Schools, Springfield, Mass. Jennie E. Scolley. Assistant Superintendent of Public Schools, Holyoke, Mass. Joseph A. Pitman, Principal, Salem Normal School, Salem, Mass. Anne M. Wells, Supervisor of Kindergarten- Primary Course, Bridgewater Normal School, Bridgewater, Mass. Nellie E. Barton, Kindergarten-Primary Su¬ pervisor, Public Schools, Flint, Mich. Edna E. Liek, Director of Kindergarten Training. Kalamazoo State Normal School, Kalamazoo, Mich. R. L. Bristol. Director of Kindergartens, Public Schools, Detroit, Mich. Marie B. Fowler. Supervisor of Kindergar¬ ten, Public Schools, Kalamazoo, Mich. Elizabeth Hall, Assistant Superintendent of Public Schools, Minneapolis, Minn. Sophia Borup, Supervisor of Kindergartens, Public Schools, St. Paul, Minn. Louise Sutherland, Director of Kindergarten Training, Winona State Teachers College, Winona, Minn. Charlotte Hunter, Kindergarten-Primary Su¬ pervisor. Public Schools, Hibbing, Minn. Stella Louise Wood, Principal, Miss Wood’s Kindergarten-Primary Training School, Minneapolis, Minn. Florence Parker, Director of Kindergarten Training, Mississippi State College for Women, Columbus, Miss. John Maddox, Superintendent of Public Schools, St. Louis, Mo. T. E. Spencer, Assistant Superintendent of Public Schools, St. Louis, Mo. C. A. Phillip, Director of Elementary School, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo. Clara O. Wilson, Director of Kindergarten Training, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nefcr. Iyla Chamberlain, Supervisor of Kindergar¬ tens, Public Schools, Concord, N. H. Ella J. Hamilton, Supervisor of Primary Grades. Atlantic City Public Schools, At¬ lantic City, N. J. W. J. White. Superintendent of Public Schools, Englewood. N. J. Mrs. Edith T. Bridges, Director of Demon¬ stration School, Montclair State Normal School, Montclair, N. J. Joseph P. O’Hearn, Assistant Superintendent of Public Schools, Rochester, N. Y. Luella L. Palmer, Director of Kindergartens, Public Schools, New York City. H. S. Dodge, Superintendent of Public Schools, Kornell, N. Y. O. Wendell Hogue, Director of Grades, Pub¬ lic Schools, Elmira, N. Y. Rose Birmingham, Supervisor of Elementary Grades, Public Schools, White Plains, N. Y. Jessica E. Beers, Director of Kindergarten Training, Ethical Culture School, New York City. Julia Locke Frame, Supervisor, New York Kindergarten Association, New York City. Anne S. Blake. Director of Kindergarten- Primary Department, Geneseo Normal School. Geneseo, N. Y. Merritt D. Chittenden, Director of Training School, Oswego State Normal and Train¬ ing School, New York City. Trix Barbor, Supervisor of Elementary In¬ struction, Public Schools, Asheville, N. C. Lura Whitney, Kindergarten Supervisor, Public Schools, Toledo, Ohio. Julia Bothwell, Supervisor of Kindergartens, Public Schools, Cincinnati, Ohio. Grace A. Fry, University of Cincinnati, Cin- f cinnati, Ohio. May Hill, Principal, Cleveland Kindergarten- Primary Training School, Cleveland, Ohio. Clara May, Principal, Oberlin Kindergarten Training School. Oberlin, Ohio. Grace Brown, Director of Kindergarten Training, Cleveland School of Education, Cleveland, Ohio. P. P. Claxton, Superintendent of Public Schools, Tulsa, Okla. Susan Thompson, Supervisor of Kindergar¬ tens, Public Schools, Oklahoma City, Okla- Ella R. Boyce, Supervisor of Kindergartens, Public Schools, Pittsburgh, Pa. Julia Wade Abbott, Director of Kindergar¬ tens, Public Schools, Philadelphia, Pa. W. K. Groff, Superintendent of Public Schools, Lansford, Pa. Willard D. Ballow. Dean, West Chester Normal School, West Chester, Pa. Margaret S. Crowther, The Progress School, Philadelphia, Pa. Julia Pepper, Director of Kindergartens, Pub¬ lic Schools, Providence, R. I. William A. Newell, Superintendent of Public Schools, Pawtucket, R. I. Christine Ferry, Kindergarten Supervisor, Public Schools, Knoxville, Tenn. Cora Martin, Director of Kindergarten Training, Northern Texas State Teachers College, Denton, Texas. Helena Wilson, Kindergarten Supervisor, Public Schools, Houston, Texas. Anna Washburn, Kindergarten Supervisor, Public Schools, El Paso, Texas. Anna Workman, Director of Kindergarten Training, Sam Houston Institute, Hunts¬ ville, Texas. D. W. McClelland, Superintendent of Public Schools, Bennington, Vt. Lyman C. Hunt, Superintendent of Public Schools, Burlington, Vt. S. C. Hutchinson, Superintendent of Public Schools. Montpelier, Vt. Caroline Woodruff, Principal, Castleton State Normal Training School, Castleton, Vt. Helen M. Reynolds, Supervisor of Kinder¬ gartens, Public Schools, Seattle, Wash. Mrs. Annie Peppard, Supervisor of Kinder¬ gartens, Montessori School, Seattle, Wash. Elsie English, Supervisor of Kindergartens, Public Schools, Tacoma, Wash. Charlotte Dewey, Director, Kindergarten Training School, Tacoma, Wash. Carrie Morgan, Superintendent of Public Schools, Appleton, Wis. Elizabeth Heiney, Supervisor, Milwaukee State Normal School, Milwaukee, Wis. Erna A. Miller, County Day School, Mil¬ waukee, Wis. F. M. Longanecker, Superintendent of Schools, Racine, Wis. Caroline Barbour, Director of Kindergarten Training, Superior State Normal School, Superior, Wis. T. J. Jones, Superintendent of Public Schools, West Allis, Wis. Mabel Thompson. Primary Supervisor, Pub¬ lic Schools, Casper, Wyo. [ 152 ] PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS AND TEACHER-TRAINING IN¬ STITUTIONS REPLYING TO THE KINDER¬ GARTEN INQUIRY The cooperation of the public school and teacher-training school systems in the following cities in replying to the Kindergarten Inquiry is appreciated by the Kindergarten Research Committee. All of the replies were not received in time to be included in this study. Those replies arriving after this study was completed are being held for future investigations. Arizona : Clemenceau, Douglas, Mesa, Phoenix, Prescott, Tempe. Arkansas : Texarkana. California : Bakersfield, Berkeley, Brawley, Burbank, Chico, Long Beach, Monrovia, Pittsburg, Redland, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose. Colorado : Denver, Fort Collins, Lamar, Walsenburg. Connecticut : Bridgeport, Darien, East Windsor, Hartford, S. Manchester, Middletown, New Haven, Norwalk, Stamford, Wallingford, Willimantic. District of Columbia: Washington. Florida : Tallahassee. Illinois : Chicago, Kewanee, Moline, Normal, Peoria. Indiana : Fort Wayne, Huntington. Michigan City, Richmond, South Bend, Terre Haute, Union City. Iowa : Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Sioux City. Kansas : Abilene, Atchison, Kansas City, Lawrence, Manhattan, Wichita. Kentucky : Louisville. Louisiana : Shreveport. Maine : Augusta. Maryland : Baltimore. Massachusetts : Boston, Braintree, Fall River, Holyoke, Milton, New Bedford, North Adams, Wellesley, Winchester, Worcester. Michigan : Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Cadillac, Detroit, Ferndale, Flint, Grand Rapids, Highland Park, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Mount Clemens, Mount Pleasant, Muskegon Heights, Saginaw, Ypsilanti. Minnesota : Aurora, Gilbert, Hibbing, Minneapolis, Rochester, St. Cloud, St. Paul, Winona. Missouri : Kansas City, St. Joseph, St. Louis. Montana : Dillon. Nebraska, Columbus, Grand Island, Lincoln, Norfolk. New Hampshire: Concord, Manchester, Portsmouth. New Jersey : Atlantic City, Bayonne, Cranston, East Orange, Elizabeth, Glen Ridge, Hackensack, Newark, Passaic, Plainfield. Ridgefield Park, Rutherford, Trenton. New York: Binghamton, Buffalo, Canandaigua, Geneseo, Kenmore, Michanicsville, New York, Olean, Schenectady, Syracuse, Watertown, Yonkers. North Dakota: Bismarck, Valley city. Ohio : Cincinnati, Cleveland, Cleveland Pleights, Columbus, Dayton, Fremont, Maumee, Oberlin, Portsmouth, Toledo, Warren. Pennsylvania : Ellsworth, Erie, Jenkintown, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading, Scranton, Titusville, West Chester. Rhode Island: Barrington, Cranston, Pawtucket, Providence. South Dakota: Sioux Falls. Tennessee : Knoxville. Texas : Dallas, El Paso. Vermont : Bennington, Montpelier. Virginia : Farmville, Harrisonburg, Norfolk. Washington : Olympia, Seattle. West Virginia: Fairmont. Wisconsin : Antigo, Appleton, Beloit, Kenosha, Menasha, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Sturgeon Bay, Superior, Waupun. Wyoming : Casper. Training Schools Not Included in Above List School of Education, University of Chicago. Dallas Kindergarten Training School, Dallas, Texas. Cleveland Kindergarten Primary Training School, Cleveland, Ohio. Superior Sta^e Normal School, Superior, Wisconsin. [ 153 ] BIBLIOGRAPHY Kindergarten Curriculum and Objectives Andrus, Ruth. A Tentative Inventory of the Habits of Children from Two to Four Years of Age. Teachers College, Columbia Uni¬ versity, 1904. Contribution to Education No. 1 60. Baldwin, Bird W. The Psychology of the Pre-School Child. D. Appleton Co., 1925- pp. 292. Bobbitt, Franklin. How to Make a Cur¬ riculum. Houghton Mifflin Co. Bulletins of the Bureau of Educational Experiments, 144 West 13th Street, New York City. Bui. VIII, A Catalogue of Play . Equipment, by Jean Lee Hunt. pp. 48. Buf. XI, A Nursery School Experiment, by Harriet M. Johnson, pp. 82. Bui. XII, School Records, A report, by Mary S. Marot. pp. 60. Hall, G. Stanley. Educational Problems. D. Appleton, 1911, New York. pp. 540. Chapters 1 and 2. - The Contents of Children's Minds on Entering School. Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. I, p. 37. Hill, Patty S. and others. A Conduct Cur¬ riculum for the Kindergarten and First Grade, pp. 104. Charles Scribner’s Sons. New York, 1923. Gesell, Arnold. The Pre-School Child. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1923. pp. 258. - The Mental Growth of the Pre-School Child, MacMillan, 1925. pp. 438. Coleman, Satis N. Creative Music for Chil¬ dren. G. P. Putman’s Sons, New York, 1922. pp. 220. Department of Elementary Grades and Kin¬ dergartens, Rochester, N. Y. Attainments in Reading (a chart), 1923. See Kinder¬ garten -and Pre-Primary Sections. Jennings, Herbert; Watson. John; Meyer, Adolph; Thompson, Wm. R. Suggestions of Modern Science Concerning Education. MacMillan, 1918. pp. 211. Kline. Linus Ward, and Carey, Gertrude L. A Measuring Scale for Free-hand Drawing. Part I, Representations. Johns Hopkins University Studies in Education No. 5. Johns Plopkins Press, Baltimore, 1922. McCarty, Stella Agnes. Children’s Draw¬ ings. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1924. Moore, Annie E- The Primary School. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1925- PP- 335- Parker, Samuel Chester and Temple, Alice. Unified Kindergarten and First Grade Teaching. Raymond, Mae E. Record Keeping in Kin¬ dergarten and First Grade, Childhood Edu¬ cation, Williams & Wilkins Co., Mt. Royal and Guilford Aves., Baltimore, February, 1925. Rogers, Agnes. A Tentative Inventory of the Habits of Children from Four to Six Years of Age. Teachers College, Columbia University, i924- SneddEn, David. A Digest of Educational Sociology. Teachers College, Columbia University, 1920. Chapter 16, Objectives in Developmental Control of Children, ages 4-6. Twenty-fourth Year Book of the National Society for the Study of Education. Pub¬ lic School Publishing Co., Bloomington, Ill., 1925. Report of the National Committee on Reading, pp. 26-30, Experience Which Prepare Pupils for Reading in Kindergarten and First Grade. Courses of Study Denver, Colorado. A Course of Study for Kindergarten. Los Angeles, California. A Course of Study for Kindergartens and Primary Grades. Reynolds, Helen Mary. A Course of Study in Terms of Children's Activities for Kin¬ dergarten and Primary Grades. Seattle Public Schools, Seattle, Washington, Janu¬ ary, 1922. Salisbury, Ethel I. An Activity Curriculum. Southern Branch, University of California, Los Angeles, Calif., 1924. Subcommittee of the Bureau of Education, Committee of the International Kindergar¬ ten Union. A Kindergarten-First Grade Curriculum. Bureau of Education Bulletin,. 1922, No. 15. — - The Kindergarten Curriculum. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1919, No. 16. San Francisco, California. Kindergarten and Primary Grade Courses of Study. Kin¬ dergarten, First, Second, and Third Grades, August, 1924. Syllabus for Kindergarten and Kindergarten Extension Classes in All Subjects, As Adopted by the Board of Superintendence, Board of Education, New \ork City, 1924. Syllabus for the Public Schools of Kalamazoo, 'Michigan. Book I. Early Elementary De¬ partment, 1923. [ 154 ] Admittance Age, Promotion, Retardation, Holding Power and Progress of Kindergarten Pupils Bradford, Mary D. Kindergarten and Its Relation to Retardation. N. E. A. Pro¬ ceedings, 1 91 2. Gard, Willis L. Influence of Kindergarten on Achievement in Reading. Educational Research Bulletin No. 4, 1924. State Uni¬ versity, Columbus, Ohio, pp. 135. Educational Bulletin No. 4, Minneapolis Pub¬ lic Schools, Minneapolis, Minn. Kinder¬ gartens in the Public Schools of Minne¬ apolis. May, 1924. Maclatchy, Josephine. The Influence of Kindergarten Attendance on Progress in Grade I. Educational Research Bulletin, Vol. Ill, No. 17, December, 1924. pp. 361. Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Root, W . T. Ample Justification for the Kin¬ dergarten. School Life, Vol. VIII. No. 10, June, 1923. Peters, W. J. Progress of Kindergarten Pupils in the Elementary Schools. Tournal of Educational Research, Vol. VII. ’ Public School Publishing Co., Bloomington, Ill. February, 1923. \ andewalker, Nina C. Kindergarten as an Integra I Part of the Public School System. School Life, November, 1924. - How the Kindergarten Aids Children’s Progress in the Grades. Bulletin of the Bureau of Education, Washington. Cir¬ cular No. 17. - Kindergarten Legislation. Bulletin, 1925, No. 7, Bureau of Education. V aite,- Mary. How the Kindergarten Pre¬ pares Children for Primary Work. Bureau of Education, Kindergarten Circular No. 15. January, 1924. Kindergarten Costs Moehlman, Arthur; Thomas, J. F. and Anderson, N. W. An Analysis of the 1922-1923 Budget Requests of the Board of Education . City of Detroit. Research Bulletin No. 8, February, 1922. pp. 4, 7. Stoops, R. O. Elementary School Costs in the State of New York. Educational Finance Inquiry. MacMillan Co., New York. Vol. II. 1924. Strayer, G. D., and Haig, R. M. The Financ¬ ing of Education in the State of New York. MacMillan, New York. 1924. Reports and Sur-veys Which Include Kindergartens A Report of the Survey of the Schools of Baltimore, Md. 1921. George D. Strayer, Director. Boston, Massachusetts. Burke, Jeremiah E. School Document No. .17, 1924. ’ pp. 54, 92. Detroit, Michigan. Cody, Frank. Seventy- ninth Annual Report, 1922. Membership and Attendants, p. 85. Lawrence, Kansas. Smith, Harry P. A Re¬ port of the Board of Education for the Period July, 1920, to August, 1924. Chp. l3> P- 115- Holyoke, Massachusetts. Peck, William R Annual Report of the Board of Education (School Department), Vol. 60, 1923 pp 22-24, 33. Kansas City, Mo. Cammack, I. I. Super¬ intendent's Report for 1 917-21. Classifica¬ tion and Progress of Kindergarten-trained Pupils, pp. 58-59. Principles, Policies, and Plans for the Im¬ provement of the New Bedford Schools. Frank E. Spaulding, Professor of Educa¬ tional Administration, Yale University. New Bedford, 1922. Survey of the Public School System of Springfield, Mass., 1924. A Report of the Survey of the Schools of Watertown, New York, 1925. ct. 8. Di¬ vision of Field Studies, Institute of Educa¬ tional Research, Teachers College, Columbia University. [155]