Infant Schools.

Infant Schools. The subject has been already treated under Education (q.v.). But there still remain a few points to be adverted to. Pastor Oberlin (q.v.) may be regarded as the founder of infant schools. He appointed women in his own parish to assemble the little children between the ages of two and six, to interest them by conversation, pictures, and maps, and to teach them to read and to sew. The first infant school attempted in Great Britain was in connection with Robert Owen's socialistic establishment in Scotland. The education and training of young children were matters of great interest and study to Pestalozzi (q.v.). His system was adapted to English requirements by the Home and Colonial Infant School Society, founded in 1836. This society has done excellent work in training teachers and instituting model infant and juvenile schools. But the most successful system of educating quite young children is the Kindergarten (q.v.).