DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1916, No. 5 KINDERGARTEN TRAINING SCHOOLS 4 ui 4 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1916. A D DITIO NA L COPIES Or THIS PUBLICATION MAT DR PROCURED PROM TILE SUPERDITENDENT OP DOCUMENTS I GOVERNMENT PRINTING OPTICE IESSBINGTON, D. C. , AT 10CENTS PER COPY v 146. Letter of transmittal 4 I. Kindergarten training in retrospect and prospect 5 II. Statistics of kindergarten training schools, 1912-13 10 Table 1. Schools for training kindergarten teachersPrincipals and Ai faculties A 10 Table 2.EntrillIce requirements 18 Table 3.Income, length of courses, certificates 23 Table 4.Enrollment, foes and other expenses,riadualfes 27 Table b. Curriculum 82 Table 6.Observation and practice teaching 38 Table 7.Schools giving/subjects other than those in Table 5 48 III. Suggested two-year kindergarten course 51 The course in detail.., 53 IV. Ideals in kindergarten training 55 3 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. DEPARTMENT OF THE rNTERIOR, BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, September 10, 1915. Sm.: The large increase in the number of kindergartens in the United States within the past few years and the revival of interest in .the kindergarten in all parts of the country have given rise to a demand for information about schools for the preparation of kinder- garten teachers and ,the standards and courses of study in tire schools. .The schools themselves ask for honest intelligent criticism of their work` and for suggestions for improving it.To meet this demand of the public, and to some extent in response to the requests of the schoajs, this report has been prepared at my request through the cooperation of the National Kindergarten Association anda com- kindergarten division of this bureau.This committee consists of the following members: Nina C. Vandewalker, Myra M. Winchester, Ella C. Elder, Alice O'Grady, Patty S. Hill, Julia Bothwell, Alma Binzel, Hortense Orcntt, Mabel MacKinney, Amalie Hofer Jerome, Luella A. Palmer, Alice Temple, Mary C. Shute, Margaret A. Trace, Elizabeth Harrison, Lucy Wheelock, Annie Laws, Mary B. Page, Maly McCul- loch, Catherine R. Watkkns, and Alice N. Parker. The section "Ide^als kin kindergarten training" has been prepared by Jhe Committee of Nineteen of the International Kindergarten Union.I recommend that this report be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of Education. Respectfully submitted. P. P. CLAXTON, Commissioner. The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 4 KINDERGARTEN TRAINING SCHOOLS. , I. KneDER6tutrzN TRAINING IN RETROSPECT ANDPROSPECT. .". By NINA C. VANNCY7ALKER, Bead of Kindergarten Department, State Normal .....* Scheel, Mih ukee, Win. , TheNincreaseill:the number of kindergarten's in the United-States and their ineorpoation into the school system have brought the training of kindergiutners into the field of public interest and inquiry. During the early..years of the movement the interest in such training was slight, since-the kindergarten itself was private and the training was given almost wlieV byrivate institutions.When the kinder- garten became A part; of the school system, the training of kinder- garten teachers necic:tarily became of vital interest to public school authorities. Interest in the quo is at present both kindly and critical. Atihoolauthorities that the kindergarten has contributed m ch to the scho it has, in fact, created new standards for e school as a whople adoption of which hap. enabled the school to increase its effectiveness and value many fold.From this stand- point kindergarten training is accorded high praise. Onthe other hand, from the stanipoint of the kindergartner's scholarship,her insight into the kiiidefgarten as a part of the schoolas a whole, and her acquaintantie with the aims and methods of education in general, itisfelt that kindergarten training isin need of improvement. School authorities who are conversant with the d44.velopment ofsuch training kribw, however, that improvement is already inprogress, and that the shortcomings in question are duo to the fact that thetype of training which originated in the earlyyears has not yet been fully. outgrown. A glance at the beginnings of kindergarten training is therefore necessary to a comprehension of the present situation. When the demand for kindergarten traininglint arose in the United States, during the decade from 1870-1880, elementaryedu- cation was OM upon the traditional basis.The child's interests had not yet been discovered as ,an educational asset, and the whole purpose of the school was instruction in the three R's, R ithout ovena diversion in the form of music, drawing, storytelling,or handwork,t Into this atmosphere ..,pf dead formalism the kindeigarten hadcome .with its message of education.as development instead of instruotien. The favor with which it was received is shOwn by the feat thatth9 10 6 turrnmicarrzrz TRAINING SCHOOLS. kindergartens in existence in 18 creased to over 400 by 1880.It was because kindergartners were txl that training schools sprang up to supply them, and it was been the demand was great that the courses wore short and meager.They -were ,hardly more meager, however, than the courses for the training of grade touchersat this time.The two wore, in fact, nearly parallel, since theessence of the prospective gradetteacher's course was instruction in tho methodsof teaching the schoN arts, and that of the prospective kindergartner was instruction in the methods of using the kindergarten instru- mentalitiesgames, songs, and handwork. The kindergartencourse had a strong element of interest which the other didnot have, however, in its exposition of the doctrine of developmentas the basis of edu- cation.Because of the new insight which this studygave, the course was satisfactory on the whole in spite of its brevity. The fact that the kindergarten remained private firmany years gave the training eahools the opportunity of organizing the, training course in accordance with their own ideals.In the course thus organized the central theme was, as before,a study of the Froebehan conception of education, illustrated by the, work in the kindergarten. Of this the study of the kindergarten instrumentalities, thegames, gifts, and occupations, formed an integral part.The carrying out of this plan called for much practice teaching and muchstudy of Froebel.The need for other lines of workwas hardly felt, in fact. Since the kindergartens had no organic relation to the school,training teachers felt no necessity fo'r making a study of educational theoryin general, and since music, drawing, and nature study hadnot yet become an organic part of general education, the need forinstruction in these or other general subjects was not felt.Such training, there- fore, became the typical kindergarten traillg, and, itwas not until kindergartners so trained entered upon pubschopl work that the need for change was felt. During -these years, from 1885 on, education had made' marked progress.The conception of educationas development had made itself felt in the school, and such' subjectsas music, drawing, and manual training had been added to the elementary curriculum. This had resulted ip. higher standards for the trainingof teachers, standards which kindergartners were not prepared tomeet.School principals expected them to have a knowledge of thesenew subjects, and an insight into the problems of education in general, tuttheir training had not included such subjects.The criticisms .made by school authorities upon thenarrowness of kindergarten courses awakened kindergirten training teachers to the realization that ift4e, kindergarten was to-form a part of the school system, thetraining of kindergartners must be such as to meet the schoolrequirements. _This resulted in a gradual broadening of kindergarten courses. RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT. 7 As public kindergartensincreased, the desirabilityof offering kindergarten training course§ inpublic normal schools hecame apparentKindergarten departments had, in fact been openedin 8 normal schools, during the decade from 1880-1890, butthese were rather for purposes of observation than of training.During the-- following decade such departmentswore opened in 25 more, mainly for the specific purpose of training kindergartners.From 1900 until the present time the number has increased 76. "The changing proportion,of private and public institutions is worthnoting. Of the 115 institutions that in 1903 gado kindergarten straining,135 were private and 40 public.Of the 147 in 1913, only 71were private and 76 public.In the number of students, the former stilloutrank the latter, however.Of. the 2,000 kindergartners whowere graduated in 1912, 1,100 were from the private and 900hell the public training schools'. The kindergarten course organized in normal schoolsdiffers in some respects from that in most private institutions.In it a study of kindergarten education is takenup against a background of gen- eral education in order that kindergaitnersmay see their own work in relation to that of the schoolas. a whole.That relation is made clear in the instruction given in music,art, literature, and nature studythe lines of work which the kindergartenshares with the grades.Because of the emphasis upon the relation of tb,ekinder- garten to the /chool, and upon .adequate instruction in ailthe lines of work that have their beginnings in thekindergarten, the graduates of such courses can doubtless articulate theirwork with that of the school more easily than can those who havetaken courses of a- different character.In these respects normal-schoolcourses