The Tribune

So He's Not Going to
Kindergarten This Year

Have you a three or four year old that you would like to enroll in Kindergarten this fall and for various reasons are unable to do so?

Well here is the way I solved that problem last year, and I feel it turned out to be a most successful undertaking.

My little girl was three years old last fall and we lived in a place in which there was only one Kindergarten open. It was an exclusive school and to my estimation a very expensive thing. We didn't want our little girl to miss the training, so I planned a work schedule for myself so that I could include 1 1-2 hours each day devoting time to training our little girl's mind myself.

I was successful in planning the schedule so much so that I began to look forward to the date I planned to start with much joy. Then I heard that Kindergarten's didn't teach the old methods of "Reading, Riting and Rithmetic", so right away I made up my mind that I would go to school myself a couple of weeks to prepare for this great undertaking and here are some of the things I did.

I called the Kindergarten teacher of the town and told her I was interested in enrolling my little girl in her school and would like to know just what she was offering. She, of course, told me in a lengthy enough conversation for me to jot down a few notes. This gave me an idea how to go about it.

We were fortunate to have given our little girl and boy a set of "My Book House" by Oliver Beaupre' Miller for their birthdays and with the set comes a Parents Guide Book, an Art and Craft Book and a Monthly Parent magazine.

The Parents Guide Book contains lesson plans written by experts to be used at various age levels which not only told what was expected of the child's mind at that time so as not to overtax it, but it also gave definite data as to what page the information could be found in the other volumes. These lesson plans were made so as to develop the child's mind as it should be mentally, socially and psychologically.

I informed our little girl that she was going to "School" in a few more days and made her understand through answering her many questions that she was going to school right away at home: that Mommy was going to teach her and that she was not only to learn a lot of interesting things but that she was going to have lots of fun doing it.

This delighted her and she was just as thrilled as though she were going to a real School.

Next we went on a shopping tour for her supplies. We purchased the cheapest paper we could find for her drawings. We got construction paper, crayons, food coloring and chalk, the flour and salt I used I did not buy extra.

We did remarkably well the whole year. My little girl's interest did not lessen and she has at least been exposed to the songs, stories, drawing, arts, craft and social graces befitting her little age. The cost was very little as I made her molding clay, finger paints, etc., and her Daddy made her a drawing board which we were able to use very successfully for many things besides drawing.

We both survived a whole season and I am sure we both were far happier for it. So if you are faced with the problem of getting your little girl or boy to a good kindergarten this fall and it seems to be absolutely impossible to do so, why not try teaching him yourself?

You will not only discover that you have broadened the child's mind but also learned a great deal yourself.

I will be glad to answer any questions you might have concerning how I did this and managed to do all my regular housework which included three hot meals a day, cleaning, washing, ironing, taking care of the children and managed my sewing and baking as usual.

Did I ever get time off? I took my nap every day and had my evenings free as usual.