Nursery Schools

NURSERY SCHOOLS. The nursery school is a compara tively modern section of education arising from the necessity of providing a suitable environment for the mental and physical development of children of pre-school age.

Great Britain.

The age of compulsory school attendance is five years, but education authorities have the option of admit ting children at three years. In the 19th century the general opinion was that the children of the elementary school class were better in school than out of it, and there were large classes of "younger infants" (three to five years old), in most elementary schools in urban districts in England. In Scotland there was no general demand for the admission of children under five.

By the beginning of this century the conditions essential to the right physical and mental development of the young child were more fully understood, and the school education of the "under fives" was attacked both by doctors and educationists. The doc tors asserted that epidemics were spread in crowded class rooms, and physical development retarded and impaired by lack of activity and fresh air; the educationists, that the formal instruc tion given in the three R's retarded intelligence.

In

1904 five women inspectors, appointed by the Board of Edu cation to enquire into the education of children under five years of age in public elementary schools, reported in terms so adverse that in 1908 the board appointed a consultative committee to report on the school attendance of children below the age of five. The conclusions of the committee, based on a survey of the field in Great Britain and in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Ger many, were that, where home conditions were satisfactory, the natural place for the child under five was the home ; that "many homes now exist in which the mental and physical development of young children cannot be properly secured"; that the elemen tary schools were not providing the right sort of education for these children ; that the children from "imperfect homes" should be sent to places specially intended for their training, the best place for this purpose being a nursery school as described in the report. The conditions there described were abundance of air

and sunshine ; open space ; hygienic structures ; opportunity for physical activity and sleep; education on kindergarten lines; training in right habits, and enlightened teachers. The board took no action, however, to establish such schools, and the local authori ties increasingly excluded the "under fives." Voluntary effort had already opened day nurseries for "under threes," and one or two free kindergartens on Froebelian lines for children from two to five. Nursery schools on these lines though in small numbers, became centres of light and healing in slum areas. The majority were held in adapted houses, seldom with more than a small garden attached, but all sought to provide conditions for healthy development of body and mind ; formal lessons were replaced by training of the senses and of speech and movement ; independence and self-control were encouraged; happy activity and comradeship in a friendly community fostered social virtues. The influence of Mme. Montessori was added to that of Froebel. Co-operation was established with infant welfare clinics and the public medical services. In 1914 a notable advance was made by Rachel and Margaret Macmillan, who in a riverside slum area in Deptford, London, established a large nursery school under completely open air conditions with remarkable results.

In 1918 the president of the Board of Education supported enlightened opinion by including in the Fisher Act regu lations giving local authorities power to supply, or aid the supply, of nursery schools (or nursery classes) for children from two to five years of age. Again economy nipped the new growth. Few new schools were established, but grants helped to maintain those in existence. There are now 24 nursery schools in England and 12 in Scotland. Meanwhile the "under fives" have returned in large numbers to the elementary schools, the best of which are in sympathy with the new ideals.