KINDERGARTEN WORK IN THE CITY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 34, 4 November 1918, Page 3

KINDERGARTEN WORK IN THE CITY

OUR FUTURE CITIZENS The opening of the newly-built kindergarten belonging to the Wellington Free Kindergarten Union took place on Saturday afternoon. Mrs. W. l'\ Massey performed the ceremony in the presence ol many interested onlookers and friends. In introducing Mrs. Massey to the gathering, Mrs. Gill, president of the council, said that she was very pleased on behalf of the council to welcome,so many who had come to see the now homo that had been established for tho children of the district. Compared to the other place in which Uwy had worked t!;era w«/s a great ;ia',;r<:vfi-i!Mt, as there was now space for thG n'siJ&an. to move fitoat in the room for the circles, aad room "to carry on the w«'>; pmsraily. The counoil hoped to aror.sd ke»nm' interest in the kindergartens en. th<i pari of the people of the community, a "possible means of stimulation being that they could now moot the parents ami ■friends in the kindergarten itself, Mid thus see the children at work and play. In : spite of the many calls there had been upon people, - they had got along wonderfully well, and now that there was .tho possibility of .these calls lessening it was hoped that more financial help would bo forthcoming.. Mrs. Massey, who was called upon to open the kindergarten, paid a warm tribute to the women who had worked so hard and so earnestly and for so long a timo to improve the conditions of tho children who were not of school age. If the community wished to have good men and women, work for that end must be begun with the children. So cleverly did their teachers influence the little ones •that tho latter never recognised the fact that they were learning anything whilo they played their games and did what was expected of them. Mrs. Massoy expressed her pleasure at seeing so many present ready to show their, sympathy and help in the work, and declared tho kindergarten open. Tho Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) also spoke, and made appreciative reference to the great intorest and' help given to educational matters by the lato Judge Richmond and his family, Miss Mary Richmond having founded the kindergartens in Wollington so far back as 1905. Valuable though tho work was which was carried out among the children attending these kindergartens, it was still moro valuable where these kindergartens were established in congested areas of the city, and unfortunately Wellington had those blots.. It was the duty of the City i' Council to remove them and of the people to force the council to remove them if they were not willing to do so. He had tried to move in this direction himself, but circumstances had hitherto been against him, as first of all, shortly after he became Mayor, there was the big strike, and then the war broke out. Tho Mayor then read a financial statemont which showed that the new property was valued at £2m, of which JE7SO .had already been paid. The mortgage on the property was. ,£I7OO, repayable • in five years in sunis of .£25 and upwards. The great needs for carrying on the work were donations towards payment of pur- | chase money, annual subscriptions toj wards working expenses of the five kindergartens and training centre, and j special gifts in money and kind towardE ; ; the furnishing ..of tho building. The , estimated income required was ifitOOO n j year, of which half was provided by ! Government subsidy, which in future ! would be Sfe. on every £1 subscribed. i Miss Edith Howes was next asked tc 1 speak, and after congratulating the conn cil upon its day of culmination aftei thirteen years of strenuous endeavoui ■ said that members of the council and teachers alike wort : people with vision. They looked years [.ahead—it might be fifty, sixty, or seventy !—and. realised that the possibilities foi ; usefulness and happiness of the lives thai j-came'under their charge depended upon ! the training which they received in thf 1 plastic years of extreme youth. Give « child unbeautiful surroundings, unsuitable occupations, uninteresting lessons, and it lost all eagerness to learn, became dull, wayward, and unresponsive. • Work .along Nature's lines, however, so that work and play were: inextricably bound up with eacn other, and it would be found that learning became invested with an atmosphere of joy. Working through the child's interest/ concentration could be aroused, the habit of work formed,.and the habit of looking upon difficulties a: but stepping-stones to higher achieve' ment. If these things were fostered in tho young mind it would be found that the child was eager, alert, always learning, always advancing, always moving ir, the direction which meant true happiness. And not only - did this vision oi the-child's future years confront the teacher and the council, but also the influence for good which radiated from * ' well-brought-up man or woman. In thoss schools were taught 'kindness to each other and to all living things, loving servico, helpfulness in every way, and an appreciation of beauty not only in the green earth but in the person and in their surroundings. In the kindergartens were inculcated those things which are the highest form of education—work •' and love. These'were 'some'of the thinge the council had. tried to foster among the children, and in doing so they had earned the gratitude of the. whole community, because their work would react upon it. For this reason they should receive the earnest co-operation of that community Another speaker was the Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, who referred to the first kindergarten established in New Zealand,'and in discussing the aims and objects of their teaching quoted Elbert Hubbard, who said that'their object was "to train parents." There was no doubt that the order, cleanliness, and spirit oi service and love which wero taught in these schools radiated into the homes, The speeches ended, a tour of inspection over the kindergarten was made, and afternoon tea handed around. Apologies for their unavoidable absence wore received from Miss England, Mr. and Mrs. M'Kerrow, the Mayoress (Mrs, Luke), Mrs. Clarke, Mr. Tennant, and I Mrs. Porter. ■>,