The Evening Times

WHITE HOUSE CHILDREN

Miss Frieda Bethmann to Teach Them in a Kindergarten.

A CLEVER BOSTON TEACHER

The Cabinet Little Folks Also Will Benefit by the Arrangement—Something About the System by Which the Minds of Little Ruth and Esther Will Be Trained.

Miss Frieda Bethmann, of Boston, is visiting Mrs. Cleveland, whose acquaintance she formed at Marion five years ago, and she is to conduct a kindergarten at the White House.

Mrs. Cleveland first intended that Miss Bethmann should tutor the President's children exclusively, but quite a kindergarten has been founded, composed of little Ruth and Esther and the children of the different Cabinet officers, some ten in number.

Miss Bethmann is regarded as one of the brightest kindergarten teachers in this country. She has had every advantage for advancement in her work, as her mother, Mrs. Emilie Bethmann, is one of the foremost kindergartners, and has been employed in the schools of Boston ever since the inception of the system, being the first teacher selected by Mrs. Quincy A. Shaw eighteen years ago, when she inaugurated kindergarten teaching as a purely philanthropic venture.

Miss Bethmann is a personable young lady of about twenty-five summers, perhaps, just the ordinary height—five feet or under—and has a clear, dark complexion, and brown hair. She began teaching eight years ago as an assistant to her mother, but she is now principal instructor, in charge of the kindergarten department of the Thomas N. Hart School, at South Boston, with a class of sixty children ranging in age from three to five years.

She has been granted leave of absence that she might instruct the President's children. She comes of an excellent family, which, previous to reverses, was wealthy. She is of German extraction, and has a pleasing personality and natural kindly way which seems to draw the children toward her and inspire them with confidence.

WELL PREPARED FOR HER WORK

Miss Bethmann is well prepared for the duties of instructor of the children of the first family in the land, for she has passed through the several grades of the public schools, the girls' high school, and has taken special courses of study at private schools, including a course under the noted kindergartner, Miss Lucy H. Symonds.

In securing her certificate to teach in Boston she has, after passing the regular teachers' examination, to show that she was proficient in the studies of mother-play and nursery songs, Froebel's system of games, gifts and occupations, clay modeling, and drawing, Froebel's and Gruber's number and form system, and plant and animal life.

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION.

Miss Bethmann's first instruction is only play, apparently. She teaches the little ones to sing motion songs, sitting on a low chair which forms part of the ring of chairs about her, so that all can see her, and so bright and animated does she become that the veriest dullard would get inspiration from her.

She sings very sweetly, and exemplifies sowing wheat by an outward motion of the hands and a graceful swerving of the body, and immediately each little kidlet goes to wiggling fingers and feet, and swaying till two or three drop off their chairs, then they all laugh and begin over again.

Miss Bethmann believes that one may grow, no matter what the art that one works at, but in the main Froebel is her guide. She says that she uses the gift lessons, occupations, movement plays, games and talks with children just as the mood seems to be upon them to do certain things.

If their fat legs get tired and want to be twisting she sets them dancing in some motion song in which feet play the most prominent part. If their small hands want to be clutching at something she sets their fingers to work. If they want to talk she says to them: "Tell me a story. Tell me what you saw when you went riding today."

And then they concoct the most wonderful tales in the most babyish language, which she is careful not to prune down too quickly, only guiding their tongues over hard words and supplying one now and then when they seem at a loss for it.

When each has told a story she sometimes tells a very little one herself in short words and shorter sentences and has one of them repeat it, and the others listen to see what the repeater leaves out. That trains their retentive faculties and their memories. If the laugh and tendency to shout becomes irrepressible she sets their voices to melody and lets them shout it out in song.

TRAINING THE MIND.

"We must not work too fast," she says, "for that would tax the expanding intellect and do an injury that would be time lost. Many children are stunted in intellect and taught bad habits by not giving them employment. Child life, like mature manhood, must needs be employed unless you would have it getting into mischief.

Men who must work, women who have not time to gossip or talk scandals, are the men and women who make the world better.

"Children are only fainter types with much more energy, and if they are properly employed and their expanding minds directed as you train a tender vine to grow upon a trellis instead of groveling upon the ground, you make useful citizens of them, just as you improve upon the lowly habits of a vine whose loveliness must be lost if you neglect it even for a few weeks."