Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
FREE KINDERGARTEN ASSOCIATION
FREE KINDERGARTEN ASSOCIATION. In 1894-1895 the public schools in Dubuque first offered kindergarten classes. In support of the movement, the Association in November 1894 felt the need to increase its resources. To realize this, the group offered evening programs featuring vocalists and educational programs.
On November 10, 1894 Miss Bertha Payne, principal of the Froebel Kindergarten Training School of Chicago, spoke to the group. The Daily Herald related the following day that she found that intelligence, "teachableness," and capacity were not confined to the higher classes. The second point she made was that kindergarten "endeavored to teach the principal of divinity that runs through the world." She did not support the kind of reading material usually furnished children believing that "they might as well hear something beautiful" instead of the boring material so often used.
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Source:
"Kindergarten at Work," Dubuque Daily Herald, November 11, 1894, p. 10