PREFACE. Ar the suggestion of a friend, a Kindergartner, my attention was directed to the subject of compiling a little work on the system of Kindergarten. After proper deliberation, the arduous but interesting task of compilation - commenced and prosecuted under favorable auspices — has at last been accomplished; and I now have the pleasure of presenting the result of my efforts in this, as I trust, attractive style. Although the work is not intended to be a treatise on the theory or practice of Kindergarten, it, however, contains much that the author hopes will be regarded as important, not only to the Kindergartner, but also to parents and others who ought to be deeply interested in the welfare of the child. In the selection of quotations which appear so frequently in the work, the compiler has endeavored to incorporate such as bear most di 3 rectly upon the subjects with which they are connected, and to gather them from authors so well-known as to render the quotations worthy of the highest consideration. My thankful acknowledgments are due to Prof. HENRY GRAY, F.R.S., author of "Descriptive and Surgical Anatomy," for valuable information respecting the brain and the organs of the senses; to HENRY BARNARD, LL.D., author of "Kindergarten and Child-Culture," for ideas and facts which appear interwoven under the division entitled "Facts in relation to Froebel;" and also to any others whose words or ideas may be inadvertently expressed, but not designated as quotations. With the hope that this little work will be welcomed by those especially interested in a system of child-culture which is becoming so popular in this country, and also by all lovers of such reading as is calculated to inspire the mind with ennobling thoughts, it is most respectfully presented to the public. MAY 1, 1884. THE AUTHOR. |