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Show TEACHING SOCIAL VIRTUES By MRS. RUTH HEPPNER SWAINE. All kindergartens have one characteristic charac-teristic in common the respect which the children show for the individual i rights of others. Where many little children are gathered together, there must be governing laws and obedience to these laws. In the ideal kindergarten these laws are more feelings than facts. The children grow Jo respect and obey them spontaneously, almost unconsciously. uncon-sciously. Thus, even when they are four and five years old, they can be led to a right relation toward their fellow-beings. Could anything be more important? All children do not live near a kindergarten, kin-dergarten, but all children have playmates. play-mates. A wise mother will quickly establish the law of right relationships among the children who play in her horiie. Even a busy mother and are not all real mothers very busy? can with a word now anil then ininnrt n i feeling for tle rights of others, and this, ouce gained, is never lost through life. The kindergarten is the most democratic demo-cratic of institutions. The children feel no class distinctions in fact, there are none in the world of the three-year-old. My Philip plays as joyfully with the little fellow in the servant quarters next door as he does with the son of my best friend. The. public school kindergarten is particularly particu-larly interesting, because all classes mix freely and are eutirely free from self-consciousness. Each little individual indi-vidual contributes his personal traits toward the making of the whole. A fault may serve as great purpose as a virtue, and both may serve as mirrors mir-rors wherein the child set -himself. Urder the guidance of the kindergart-ner kindergart-ner he will see. wisely. Absorb Ruling Spirit. Moreover, the children soon learn to love the calm of the kindergarten room, and come readily under the influence in-fluence of the ruling spirit the denial de-nial of self for the good of the whole. In your own back yard there cannot be the close supervision that there is in the kindergarten, and elimination sometimes becomes a necessity. If you are fortunate enough to live among your own kind, where all the children in your neighborhood are reared similarly, simi-larly, you will probably not have any serious problem. But if you live in a cosmopolitan neighborhood and (here is an older child with avowedly wrong tendencies, the safest step is to encourage en-courage him to seek his older playmates. play-mates. I would deny him my babies of three to six. If the child conies to your gate who lias had less of a chance than your own little ones, it Is surely a privilege to take him in, for he will soon begin to thrive under the new 'influences. If you have much spare time, take In as many children as you can. Supervise them closely, and rather than let willful weeds fcrow among your flowers, eliminate. Join in Their Play. Be one of the playiiint.es yourself as often as possible. Join the little group for a few glorious minutes, ami you will come back to your housework completely resled. A whistle from mother for a moving train Is such a surprise, or an unexpected laugh over the tumbling blocks makes It only a Joke where It might have been a tragedy. trag-edy. The child feels your Interest ever In back of him then, and It Is very human hu-man to desire, the Interest of I hose we love. Toss the ball around Ihe circle, cir-cle, push the swing, make believe par- take of the sand cakes and observe the new values Ihe old plays tahv on. Iruw the children of the neighborhood neighbor-hood lo your own home If you wish lo experience a delightful sense of peace and love. No flowers you mlglil coax lo grow there are half so world while. Willi your guidance and their daily association, they will learn many lovely things, and carry them through life. Friendship, care for the weaker ones, niiKcllishness, Joy In the Joy of others and a feeling for Ihe right are the beautiful things of life that may be cultivated and that will he a Joy forever. |