PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

- FRIEDRICH FROEBEL -

Presented By:
Cael, Jesjomary A.

Cargullo, Lesly P.

Guerra, Jeamer T.

Layson, Raysia Lyn Ann E.

Maneja, Marlover Eleuterio B.

Marquez, Maylene N.

Mocon, Frelyn Joy T.

Pagaduan, Eurielle Keith O.

Patongao, Gueralden G.

Trangia, Beverly C.

Presented to:
Prof. Jannet I. Calica, MA.Ed
 Faculty

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel

Born : 21 April 1782
Died : 21 June 1852

Friedrich Froebel: Founder of the kindergarten

 The Historical Context of Froebel’s Life

 Friedrich Froebel: Pioneer Early Childhood
Educator
 Froebel’s Kindergarten Curriculum: Method and
Educational Philosophy
 Diffusion of the Kindergarten
 Conclusion: An Assessment
 References

THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF FROEBEL'S LIFE

 Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel, born April 21 1782 was the youngest of five
sons of Johann Jacob Froebel, a Lutheran pastor at Oberweissbach in the
German principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolfstadt.

 The political weakness and disunity of the various German states had an impact
on Froebel as well as on many young people who believed that Germans should
be united in one nation.

 Although Froebel was an educational rather than a political theorist, his

philosophy of education, stressing themes of interrelationship and interconnection,
reflected his wish for German unification.

 In 1806, Napoleon defeated Prussia and its kindred German allies. Froebel, then
age 24, served with the German army that was soundly defeated at the battles of
Jena and Auerstadt. After the 1806 defeat, the Prussian set to work rebuilding
their military forces and recouping their fortunes. These military events shaped the
context in which Froebel developed his educational ideas.

 Froebel’s life coincided with a period of rich intellectual development in Germany.

In addition to the idealist philosophical milieu in Germany, Froebel’s formative
years, especially as a university student, coincided with new scientific discoveries
and theories.

 Just as Froebel was influenced by philosophical idealism, so were his ideas

shaped by the dominant trends in science.

 When he developed his educational theory, Froebel continually referred to

doctrines of interconnectedness in which all creatures and all ideas was part of a
grand, ordered, and systematic universe.

 Such a universal design had no room for change or accident. Everything had a
place and everything was to be in its place.

 Froebel’s philosophy of early childhood education was filled with religious

language, symbolism, and meaning.
  Froebel’s kindergarten used a great deal of semireligious symbolism. It is believed
his tendency to express himself through symbolic language and metaphors was
influenced by Jacob Bohme, a 17th century Silesian mystic.

 It was this combination of political, philosophical, scientific, and religious events

and movements that formed the historical context in which Froebel lived and that
influenced his formation of a philosophy of early childhood education.

FRIEDRICH FROEBEL:
PIONEER OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR

AUTHOBIOGRAPHY:
 Humble Beginnings
 Influences on Froebel
 Finding His Calling
 Teaching Career
 The Founder of Kindergarten
 Works of Froebel
 Death

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
 Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel, born April 21 1782 was the youngest of five
sons of Johann Jacob Froebel, a Lutheran pastor at Oberweissbach in the
German principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolfstadt. Froebel's mother died when he
was nine months old. When Friedrich was four years old, his father remarried.
Feeling neglected by his stepmother and father, Froebel experienced a profoundly
unhappy childhood. At his father's insistence, he attended the girls' primary school
at Oberweissbach.
  From 1793 to 1798 he lived with his maternal uncle, Herr Hoffman, at Stadt-Ilm,
where he attended the local town school. From the years 1798 to 1800 he was as
an apprentice to a forester and surveyor in Neuhaus. From 1800 to 1802 Froebel
attended the University of Jena.

 In 1805 Froebel briefly studied architecture in Frankfurt. His studies provided him
with a sense of artistic perspective and symmetry he later transferred to his
design of the kindergarten's gifts and occupations.

 From 1810 to 1812 Froebel studied languages and science at the University of
Göttingen. He hoped to identify linguistic structures that could be applied to
language instruction. He became particularly interested in geology and
mineralogy.

 From 1812 to 1816 Froebel studied mineralogy with Professor Christian Samuel
Weiss (1780–1856) at the University of Berlin. Froebel believed the process of
crystallization, moving from simple to complex, reflected a universal cosmic law
that also governed human growth and development.

 In 1816 Froebel established the Universal German Educational Institute at

Griesheim. He moved the institute to Keilhau in 1817 where it functioned until
1829.

 In 1818 Froebel married Henrietta Wilhelmine Hoffmeister (1780–1839), who

assisted him until her death.

 In 1831 Froebel established an institute at Wartensee on Lake Sempach in

Switzerland and then relocated the school to Willisau. Froebel next operated an
orphanage and boarding school at Burgdorf.

 In 1851, Froebel married Luise Leven, a protégé.

INFLUENCES ON FROEBEL

Froebel was an innovator, who was influenced by the key pioneers of education
John Amos Comenius and Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

John Amos Comenius

  Comenius, who lived from 1592 to 1670, was a
Moravian theologian and educator who became bishop of
the Unity of Brethren.

 Comenius is considered by many to be ‘the father of

modern education’. He believed in providing education
for all children – both girls and boys – not just those from
richer families.

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

 Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was another

influence on Froebel. Living from 1746 to 1827, this
Swiss educator believed in offering all children
the opportunity of a good education.

He thought it was vital:

“To recognize that each child’s personality is

sacred.”

FINDING HIS CALLING

He decided to study architecture at Frankfurt. During this time he met Anton
Gruner, who ran a school in the city.

Gruner was a follower of Pestalozzi and, seeing Friedrich’s potential, suggested

that he become a teacher.

TEACHING CAREER
In 1805 Friedrich Froebel became a teacher at a Pestalozzian school. In order to
prepare for the position, he studied under Pestalozzi at Yverdon. Froebel later went
back to school to study language, science, and mineralogy. He used many of the ideas
from these studies to develop his theories on human development.

Froebel established two educational institutes as well as a boarding school and

orphanage.

THE FATHER OF KINDERGARTEN

  In 1837, Froebel returned to Germany. There he established a new type of school
– “The Kindergarten.”

 The purpose of this school was to prepare young children (3 - 5 years old) for
learning. The children were provided with an educational environment and
direction for proper development.

 They learned through play with educational toys, activities, songs, and stories.

WORKS OF FROBEL
 Froebel is author of many books. The following works are mentioned because
they are mainly devoted to education.

1. Autobiography

2. Education of Development

3. Education of Man

4. Mother Play

5. Pedagogies of Kindergarten

DEATH
 In August 1851, Karl von Raumer, the Prussian Minister of Education, accused
Froebel of undermining traditional values by spreading atheism and socialism.
Despite Froebel's denial of these accusations, von Raumer banned kindergartens
in Prussia.

 He died on June 21, 1852 in the Marienthal. His final resting place is in Schweina
near Bad Liebenstein. His grave stone was based on the ‘gifts’ of the sphere,
cylinder and cube.

 The Kindergarten Ban in Prussia was lifted in 1860, eight years after his death.
Friedrich’s work lives on, however, in many places around the world.

“The sphere and the cube together

represented Knowledge, Beauty and Life”.

“The sphere predominantly corresponds with

the feelings or heart, (affective) and the cube
to thought and intellect (cognitive).”
 BRIEF HISTORY OF KINDERGARTEN

 Philosophical Foundations
 Froebel’s Influence on Early Childhood Education
 Froebel’s Kindergarten Philosophy

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS
 Froebel was greatly influenced by the work of German Romantic philosophers
Rousseau, Comenius, Pestalozzi, Fichte, as well as ancient Greek thinkers, and
had been exposed to Taoist and Buddhist teachings.

 He avoided the use of scripture in his schools but encouraged children to observe
their world ... to recognize and respect the orderly and endless creation we all live
within.

 A naturalist, philosopher and researcher (Froebel helped develop the budding

science of crystallography), he approached the universe scientifically and
developed his materials to demonstrate the geometry and patterns of the physical
world.

 Froebel was a spiritual idealist. For him all things of the world have originated
from God. Hence, all the objects , though appear different, are essentially the
same. This Law of Unity is operating in the whole Universe.

 The second characteristic of his philosophy is the Law of Development.

According to him this Law of Development is applicable of both, the spiritual as
well as the physical world in the same way.

FROEBEL’S INFLUENCE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

 Froebel's method inspired and informed the work of Maria Montessori, Rudolf
Steiner and others, who adopted his ideas and adapted his materials according to
their own work.

 Prior to Friedrich Froebel very young children were not educated.

 Froebel was the first to recognize that significant brain development occurs
between birth and age 3. His method combines an awareness of human
physiology and the recognition that we, at our essence, are creative beings.

FROEBEL’S KINDERGARTEN PHILOSOPHY

 All creatures great and small have the same spiritual source. Human beings are
endowed by their creator with a divine or spiritual essence and, at the same time,
have a body that makes them part of the natural and physical order.

 Human beings as composed of both a spiritual and a physical dimension. It is the

spiritual essence, however, that is vitalizing and motivating humans leads to their
development.

 Each child at birth has within her or him a spiritual essence, a life force, that seeks
to be externalized.

 The kindergarten’s gifts, occupations, and activities, especially play, are designed
to ensure that children’s development follows the correct pathway, which is both
God’s and nature’s plan.

 He construed ultimate reality to be spiritual rather than physical. All ideas were
related to and interconnected with each other and culminated in the great all-
encompassing idea that was God. All existence was united and related in a great
chain of being, a universal unity.

 In children’s education, the principle of interconnectedness was to be observed.

Nothing should remain in isolation.

 In the kindergarten, children were to learn that they were members of a great,
universal, spiritual community.

 Each individual child was active and autonomous but also associated spiritually
with every other person and thing.
 Children’s growth and development was essentially based on the doctrine of
preformation, the unfolding of what is present latently. All the child would become
as a man or woman was already present at birth.

 The kindergarten teacher was to be an agent who cooperated with God and
nature in facilitating children’s growth and development.

 Teaching was similar to a religious vocation.

 Kindergarten teachers were also to be observers of child life, games, play, and
activities. He strongly advised teachers to have a strong philosophical foundation
fro their instruction.

 The activities of teaching and learning were not separate and disconnected
episodes, but part of a whole that reflected the divine plan.

 As they prepared the kindergarten as a special environment for children’s growth

and development, teachers had to pay special attention to the elements of space
and time.

Space – referred to the kindergarten’s physical setting and layout.

Time – referred to the sequencing of activities children would experience

 In structuring the kindergarten, Froebel was convinced that its primary focus
should be directed toward play. Play was the means that stimulated children to
express their innermost thoughts, needs, and desires in external factors.

 Play was a natural part of living. Its nonserious mode permitted children to act on
their thoughts without that consequences that work entailed.

 Play is a means of cultural recapitulation, imitation of adult vocational activities,

and socialization

 He believed the human race could be viewed both in its racial, ethnic, and
linguistic diversity and as a unity. He believed the human race, in its collective
history, had experienced major periods of cultural development.

Froebel’s theory of cultural recapitulation

- each individual human being repeated the general epoch in his or

her own growth and development.

 In the kindergarten, children’s play provided the means of living through and
experiencing cultural recapitulation. The recapitulation process was aided in the
 kindergarten by the introduction of certain songs and stories with cultural
significance.

 His kindergarten was designed to encourage children to play and interact with
each other under the guidance of a loving teacher

FROEBEL’S KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM:

METHOD AND EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

 The Froebel Method

 Elements of Froebel’s Pedagogy

 Elements of Frobel’s Kindergarten

 Strengths of The Froebel Method

 Criticisms of Froebel Education

THE FROEBEL METHOD

 The learning experiences with the children in the garden convinced Froebel that
action and direct observation were the best ways to educate.

He gave children:

 respect for their intellectual and emotional abilities and development

 the classroom (symbolically viewed as an extension of a flourishing

garden)
  and that which he needed most as a child: A teacher who took on the role
of loving, supportive parent.

FROEBEL'S KINDERGARTEN GOALS

 Froebel's kindergarten was designed to meet each child's need for:

1. physical activity

2. the development of sensory awareness and physical dexterity

3. creative expression

4. exploration of ideas and concepts

5. the pleasure of singing

6. the experience of living among others

7. satisfaction of the soul

A CLASSROOM GARDEN
 Children can discover Froebel's "gifts" with indoor garden experiences.

 Plant window boxes with bulbs. Paper-white narcissus bulbs will grow and bloom
quickly indoors.

 Create a classroom terrarium in a clear fish tank. Fill the tank with layers of gravel,
sand, and soil and plant with mosses and ferns. Caring for this mini-ecosystem
lets children observe life.

 Plant seeds of fast growing vines such as beans and sweet peas.

ELEMENTS OF FROEBEL’S PEDAGOGY

1. The Principles

2. The Pedagogy Involve

 3. The Environment

4. Four Basic Components of Froebel’s Theory of Education

THE PRINCIPLES WHICH INCLUDE:

 Recognition of the uniqueness of each child's capacity and potential

 A holistic view of each child's development

 An ecological view of mankind in the natural world

 A recognition of the integrity of childhood in its own right

 A recognition of the child as part of the community

THE PEDAGOGY WHICH INVOLVES:

 Knowledgeable and appropriately qualified teachers and nursery nurses

 Awareness that skilled and informed observation of children underpins effective

teaching and learning

 Use of firsthand experience, play, talk and reflection as media for learning

 Individual and collaborative activity and play

 Activities which have sense, purpose and meaning for the child, and involve joy,
wonder, concentration and satisfaction

 A holistic approach to learning which recognises children as active, feeling and

thinking human beings, seeing patterns and making connections with their own
lives

 Encouragement rather than punishment

 Development of children's independence and sense of mastery, building on what

children are good at
  Development of all faculties and abilites of each child: imaginative, creative,
linguistic, mathematical, musical, aesthetic, scientific, physical, social, moral,
cultural, and spiritual

 A recognition that parents and educators work in harmony and partnership

THE ENVIRONMENT SHOULD:

 Be physically safe but intellectually challenging, promoting curiosity, enquiry,
sensory stimulation and aesthetic awareness

 Combine indoors and outdoors, the cultural and the natural

 Provide free access to a rich range of materials that promote open-ended

opportunities for play, representation and creativity

 Demonstrate the nursery to be an integral part of the community it serves, working

in close partnership with parents and other skilled adults

 Be educative rather than merely amusing or occupying

 Promote interdependence as well as independence, community as well as

individuality and responsibility as well as freedom

FOUR BASIC COMPONENTS FROEBEL’S THEORY OF

EDUCATION

1. Free Self-Activity

2. Creativity

3. Social Participation

4. Motor Expression

1. Free Self-Activity
  By allowing children to play in the way they wanted to play every day,
Froebel believed that each child could learn at their own pace. It would be
up to the child through their own self-activities to determine what they
would learn for that day.

2. Creativity

 Children are naturally creative, using their imagination to dream up brand

new worlds, characters, games, and activities. Froebel believed that any
educational system for young children should incorporate these elements,
allowing children to focus their creativity into the talents and skills that they
naturally had.

3. Social Participation

 Learning a particular skill is important, but so is learning how to interact

with other people. Froebel believed that when kids had the chance to meet
new people their age and were encouraged to develop friendships, it
would create an environment that was more welcoming and harmonious
for everyone involved.

4. Motor Expression

 By practicing specific physical skills, such as building, Froebel suggested

that kids could increase their overall learning potential by getting to know
more of what their bodies could do on a regular basis.

ELEMENTS OF FROEBEL'S KINDERGARTEN

1. The Gifts

2. The Occupations

3. The “Play-Songs”

4. The “Play-Circle”

5. The Woman Teacher

GIFTS AND OCCUPATIONS
A gift was an object given to a child to play with--

Such as a ball--which helped the child “to understand the concepts of shape,
dimension, size, and their relationships”.

The occupations were items--

Such as paints and clay which the children could use to make what they wished—
which helped the child “to externalize the concepts existing within their minds”

Froebel created three distinct ways to play with gifts . . .

1. Forms of Life
 The child can use the gifts to create something they find in their life – such
as a building, house, table, sofa or tree.

2. Forms of Knowledge
 The child can use the gifts to explore mathematics, science and logical
ideas. This enables them to develop their sense of proportion, equivalence
and order.

3. Forms of Beauty
 The child can use the gifts to create beauty.

There were six kindergarten “gifts” in total produced by Froebel, designed to serve
as “an alphabet of form … by whose use the child may learn to read all material objects.”

They form an organically connected sequence, moving in logical order from an

object which contains all qualities, but directly emphasizes none, to objects more
specialized in nature, and therefore more definitely suggestive as to use.

The gifts, occupations, and recreative exercises of the kindergarten were devised
by Froebel to satisfy what he terms the six instinctive activities of the child:

1. for play
2. for producing
3. for shaping
 4. for knowledge
5. for society
6. for cultivating the ground.

The “gifts” were objects that represented what Froebel defined as fundamental
forms.

The gifts had two meanings:

a. Their actual physical appearance;

b. A symbolic meaning

Symbolically, they are intended to stimulate children to bring the fundamental

concept they suggested into mental consciousness.

THE GIFTS
The term “gift” was more than just an encouragement for the child to play. The toys were
actually meant to be given to the students so they could use them at home and at school
to reinforce the learning process.

Froebel had only two rules when it came to playing with the gifts.

a. All parts of the gift had to be incorporated as part of the playing

experience.

b. The gift must always be presented in its whole form.

"Each successive gift in the series must not only be implicit in, but demanded by,
its predecessor, so the child is led to discover the Unity in all things'.”
 - Friedrich Froebel

GIFT 1: SOLIDS

Yarn Balls

Froebel recognized that balls are often the

first toys that infants enjoy. They are often a
favorite toy as well. By using yarn balls, not only
can a child play with something fun, but they can
also create geometric shapes through their play
efforts that can teach basic mathematics.

This first gift introduces three aspects which are central to all five gifts:

1. Engaging the interest and imagination of children

2. Interaction between mother and child
 3. Perception of geometric shapes

GIFT 2: SHAPES

Sphere, Cube, and Cylinder

The different features of the shape allow

children to embrace their curiosity and to see how
the shapes interact with other elements in the
world.

“ From the ball as a symbol of unity, we pass over in a consecutive manner to the
manifoldness of form in the cube.“

" The child has an intimation in the cube of the unity which lies at the foundation of
all manifoldness, and from which the latter proceeds."

-Friedrich Froebel.

THE BUILDING GIFTS

The building gifts meet two very strongly marked tendencies in the child:

a. the tendency to investigate,

b. the tendency to transform.

The first and second gifts consist of undivided units, each one of which stands in
relation to a larger whole, or to a class of objects.

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth gifts are divided units, and their significance lies in
the relationship of the parts to one another, and to the whole of which they are the parts.

GIFT 3: NUMBERS
 Divided Cubes

Froebel called these toys the “children’s

delight.” This gift was designed to help children
represent the different things that were in their life.
They could build towers, trains, or other structures
and then create imaginative stories around them.

GIFT 4: EXTENT

Rectangular Prisms

This gift is much like the divided cube,

allowing children to build something that is
important to them. It is divided into eight pieces,
allowing for modular construction.

GIFT 5: SYMMETRY

Cubes and Triangular Prisms.

This gift allows children to further explore

their building and construction skills with larger
objects. The cubes can be divided into quarter-
cubes, creating up to 21 unique pieces that can
be used to build something.

GIFT 6: PROPORTION
 Classic Blocks

This gift continues the building process,

giving children building blocks in oblong, square,
and column shapes, allowing children to continue
their construction and play concepts.

GIFT 7: SURFACES

Parquetry Tablets

In the seventh gift we pass from solid to

plane, a step which was hinted at in the bricks
of the fourth gift, and more definitely
suggested in the sixth. Squares and
equilateral triangles can be used allowing
children to create design

GIFT 8: LINES AND CURVES

Sticks and Rings

The staffs or sticks, representing the

embodied line itself, facilitate the elements of
drawing, serving as movable outlines of planes.

Reflect knowledge of circular entities.

Wooden, metal, or paper rings of various sizes;
whole circles, half circles, and quadrants are
included.
GIFT 9: POINTS

Seeds, Shells, and Pebbles

The ninth gift consists of points such as

beans, lentils, or other seeds, leaves, pebbles,
piece of cardboard paper. The child has
progressed from solid to the point. This gift
enables the child to represent the surface and
solid points.

GIFT 10: FRAMEWORK GIFT -RECONSTRUCTION

Peas and Sticks

The child can reconstruct the set of gifts from

the solid to the point using a sticks and a material
for holding them together.

CURVILINEAR GIFT

Variation on Gift 5

The Curvilinear Gift is also a more

complicated dissection and therefore more
suitable for an older child. Like Gift 5, this
new Gift is especially suited to architectural
constructions.
THE OCCUPATIONS

OCCUPATION 1: PERFORATING

The combining of points into lines and hence into figures ; or the outlining of
patterns, by making rows of pin-holes on a penetrable surface.

Materials : A stout darning-needle set in a wooden handle ; cardboard of

any desired shape or size, either checkered, dotted, or plain ; a
cushion of felt, carpet, or blotting-paper.

OCCUPATION 2 : SEWING

The kindergarten sewing is closely connected with pricking, as all lines, forms,
and designs which the child sews must first Sewing be perforated.

Materials: A large worsted-needle with blunt point; split, single, and

double zephyr of the six colors, their tints and shades ; card,Bristol,
or pasteboard of any size and color, with the desired pattern perforated upon it.

OCCUPATION 3: DRAWING

Froebel's idea of drawing, and his plans for introducing it as one of the first
occupations for young children, are exceedingly ingenious. The touching or handling of
the solid body are now much less used than formerly.

Four kinds of drawing:

 Linear Drawing

 Outline Drawing

 Circular Drawing

 Freehand Drawing

OCCUPATION 4: THE THREAD GAME

The thread game in the kindergarten is a very pleasing occupation, not only
pleasing, but possessing certain well-defined points of value. The thread used is of bright
colored darning cotton from twelve to eighteen inches long, the ends being knotted
together.
 Materials: A thread of bright - colored darning cotton ; a squared slate ; a
wooden pointer the size and shape of a slate pencil.

OCCUPATION 5: PAPER TWISTING AND SLAT INTERLACING

Paper twisting is commonly classed as one so called minor occupations.

There is much similarity between slat work and paper twisting, the aim of both
being paper interlacing two or more independent figures.

OCCUPATION 6: WEAVING

Weaving, perhaps the most ancient of the manufacturing arts, whose invention is
lost in the mists of antiquity, is that industry by which threads, or yarns of any substance,
are interlaced

Materials: Square and oblong paper mats of various colors and sizes, cut
into strips from one eighth to one half inch wide, and surrounded
by an appropriate margin (these represent the warp); strips of
similar widths and harmonizing colors (the woof) ; a steel weaving
needle (the shuttle).

OCCUPATION 7: PAPER CUTTING

The name Paper-cutting sufficiently explains this occupation. The papers are first
folded and then cut according to fancy, or in agreement with a certain geometrical
progression, and the pieces are subsequently arranged in a design by the child.

Materials : Squares, equilateral triangles, and circles of white or colored

paper, four inches in diameter ; blunt-pointed scissors ; mucilage or paste
; a camel's- hair brush or small pointed stick, and a cloth for pressing.

OCCUPATION 8: PAPER FOLDING

 Paper folding is performed by means of paper squares, oblongs, triangles, and
circles of white or colored paper, which are made into a great variety of figures,
dependent upon slight changes in a few definite folding.

Materials: Squares, triangles, and circles (usually four inches in

diameter) of engine-colored, glazed, and coated papers, dyed in all
colors, shades, and tints. Oblongs and hexagons are also sometimes
used.

OCCUPATION 9: PEAS WORK

In Peas work, slender sticks or wires are united by points represented by peas or
tiny corks, demonstrating that it is union which produces lasting formation of matter.

Materials : Dried peas, which have been soaked before using, and
slender pointed sticks. Balls of wax and clay are also sometimes
employed, as well as tiny cork cubes, and wires.

OCCUPATION 10: CLAY MODELING

It provides a universal language which all may understand, while it teaches the
child skill in controlling both hands, quickened observation, and a knowledge of many
properties of matter.

Materials : Clay, which can he bought, powdered or in bricks, and mixed

to the proper consistency, or which can be found ready prepared at a
pottery.

MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS

There are various occupations in common use in the kindergarten they seem to lie
somewhat outside of Froebel's scheme of geometric progression from point to solid.

 Chain Making

 Bead Stringing

 Boiled Strip Work

 Peg Tiles

 Cardboard Modeling
 Synoptical Table of the Gifts and Occupations
Showing the Connection between the Kindergarten and School.

THE FOUR ESSENTIAL POINTS OF CONTRAST BETWEEN GIFTS

AND OCCUPATIONS
a. The gifts are analytic, the occupations synthetic.

b. In the gifts there is investigation, combination, rearrangement of certain definite

material, but no change in its form ; in the occupations the material is modified,
reshaped, and transformed.

c. The results obtained in gift work are transitory, in the occupations permanent.

d. The gifts ascend from solid through divided solid, plane, divided plane, and line, to
the point ; the occupations begin at the point and travel the same road in an
opposite direction, until they reach the solid.

 “The occupations are one-sided; the gifts, many-sided, universal. The

occupations touch only certain phases of being; the gifts enlist the whole being of the
child.“

 Froebel's gifts were intended, above all, to unlock a child's inner powers by linking his
inner being with the fundamental forms around him...

 The gifts and occupations were a series of twenty devices and activities, essentially a
hands-on curricular system, intended to introduce children to the physical forms and
relationships found in nature.

 These tangible objects and activities assumed that there was a mathematical and
natural logic underlying all things in nature—one which Froebel ascribed to God’s
handiwork.

THE “PLAY-SONGS”
 It is a little universe, a Unity in itself.
Froebel wanted to sum up his thoughts on
education in this book. Froebel describes
family situations from the daily life in a
family…

 The book has a motto for each picture

and then a verse for mother and child.
Froebel also wrote commentaries to the pictures.

 The pictures, verses, rhymes and music should give the child an idea of an inner
world, that is from the outer to the inner.

 One of the purposes of the book was to develop a child’s ‘body, limbs and senses’
in various finger plays and games with its mother.

THE “PLAY-CIRCLE”
Froebel was struck by the fact that children spontaneously play games in which
they join hands to make a circle, and he adapted this procedure to his work.
The chairs in a kindergarten are almost always arranged in a circle. Froebel had a
complicated symbolic interpretation about the circle, most of which by now is forgotten,
but the arrangement has remained...

“Play is the real engine of learning”

- Friedrich Froebel -

THE WOMAN TEACHER

Froebel had an enormous effect in another area. He laid the foundations for many
women to develop professional careers as kindergarten teachers.

He wrote:

“The destiny of nations lies far more in the hands of women, the mothers,
than in the possessors of power, or those of innovators who for the most
part do not understand themselves.”

“We must cultivate women, who are the educators of the human race, else
the new generation cannot accomplish its task.”
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE KINDERGARTEN
Because he recognized that education begins in infancy, Froebel saw mothers as
the ideal first teachers of humanity.

Women, he believed, were best-suited to nurture children and became the

Kindergartners (teachers) for his schools. As such, the Froebel Kindergarten offered the
first significant careers for women outside the home.

Froebel also believed that men, especially fathers, were a fundamental part of a
child's education. For Froebel, education was a family activity, hence his famous quote;
"Come, let us live for our children.”

HISTORY OF GIFTS AND OCCUPATIONS

Almost immediately after his death in 1852, his

followers spread to other countries and begun to teach kindergarten.

England played an early role in establishing English language kindergartens

 Johannes and Bertha Ronge’s “A Practical Guide to the English

Kindergarten” was the first guide to the Froebel’s gifts in English published in
1863.
  In the United States, The Milton Bradley Company published Edward
Wrebie’s book “The Paradise of Childhood” in 1869. This book listed 20 Gifts.
Actually half of this should have been called Occupations. The difference being
that the gift can be return to its original form while occupation craft activity cannot
be undone.

 It was good business to have more gifts, so Milton Bradley encourage many
variations on the gifts. He even place Alphabet letters on the blocks which is
completely against Froebel’s plans.

 Next came Maria Kraus Boelte’s “Kindergarten Guide: The Self-instruction of

Kindergartners, Mothers, and Nurses” She outlined 13 Gifts in Volume I and 11
Occupations in Volume II. The extra numbers came from the various versions of
Gift 8, connected slats, straight sticks, curve sticks.

 In 1882, Hermann Goldammer’s German language book “The Kindergarten”,

was published in English. The main contribution by Goldammer was the inclusion
of Curvilinear Gift he called 5b. He correctly understood that Froebel had not
intended the series to be close but to function along certain parameters.

 Elizabeth Harrison book’s “The Kindergarten Building Gifts” promoted the

Curvilinear Gift Series developed by Belle Woodson and used in the Chicago
Kindergarten College.

DIFFUSION OF THE KINDERGARTEN

 The Kindergarten Movement

 Influence on Modern Art and Design

 Influence on The Toy and School Supply Markets

 Applications for Today

THE KINDERGARTEN MOVEMENT

  Friedrich founded the world’s first kindergarten here at “The House over the
basement” It is situated in the Esplanade in Bad Blankenburg, Thuringia.

 He coined the term “Kindergarten” to emphasize the need to encourage children

to grow.

He said:

“Children are like tiny flowers; they are varied and need care, but
each is beautiful alone and glorious when seen in the
community of peers.”

 Froebel’s ideas were backed by influential people, many of the strongest

advocates being women. Within a decade there were over 50 kindergartens
established across the country.

 The ideas also began spreading abroad – more of which later. During this time
Froebel started a publishing firm for his books and educational materials.

During these years Friedrich established the first training institute for kindergarten
teachers at Marienthal.
 “This would be a beautiful place for our
institution. Marienthal, the vale of the
Marys, whom we wish to bring up as the
mothers of humanity, as the first Mary
brought up the Saviour of the World.”

- Friedrich Froebel

 Success had its price, however, and the kindergarten movement was about to
suffer suppression.

 Froebel’s approach to education was perceived as radical, but the Prussian

authorities confused his views with those of his cousin, a fiery socialist.

 As a result, Prussia banned kindergartens from 1851, one year before Froebel’s
death. The ban remained in place until 1860.

 Fortunately for the kindergarten movement, however, influential people carried the
ideas abroad. Many of these pioneers were women. Here are just a few who
carried the torch:

1. Henriette Schrader-Breymann
2. Baroness Bertha von Marenholtz-Buelow
3. Bertha Meyer Ronge
4. Margarethe Meyer Schurz
5. Elizabeth Peabody
6. Susan Blow
7. Caroline Louisa Frankenberg
8. Maria Kraus-Boelté
9. Kate Douglas Wiggin
10. Elizabeth Harrison

Henriette Schrader-Breymann
  Henriette worked with Froebel when he was in
Thuringia and became one of the key educators in
the kindergarten movement.

 Blazing the trail in a previously male-dominated

culture, she developed a training centre for women
teachers.

 She combined theoretical training with hands-on

experience – an approach that continues to this
day. Henriette educated women from many
different countries including, the first Swedish
Kindergarten teachers.

Baroness Bertha von Marenholtz-Buelow

 Connected to aristocratic families across Europe,

she became a great advocate of Froebel’s
methods.

 She was a driving force in spreading his ideas to

the Netherlands, England, France, Belgium, Italy
and, through a relative, to the United States.

 The Baroness used her aristocratic contacts

when kindergartens were banned in Prussia and
other German states.

 Her efforts helped to lift the ban and she reached

a wide audience by publishing her
book Reminiscences of Froebel.
 Bertha Meyer Ronge

 was an activist in the causes of childhood

education, women's education and religious
freedom.

 She established the kindergarten movement

in England, where she founded the first three
kindergartens in London with the assistance of
her sister Margarethe Meyer Schruz.

 She followed the precepts of Friedrich Fröbel,

who advocated the use of structured play
activities to promote learning. Bertha Ronge was
largely responsible for Fröbel's kindergarten
concept gaining a foothold in England.

Margarethe Meyer Schurz

 Margarethe employed Froebel’s philosophy while

caring for her daughter, Agathe, and four
neighbour children, leading them in games and
songs and group activities that channelled their
energy while preparing them for school at the
same time.

 Other parents were so impressed at the results

that they prevailed upon Schurz to help their
children, so she opened a small kindergarten, the
first in the United States.
 Elizabeth Peabody

 Elizabeth was 55 when, in 1859, she learned of

Froebel’s work in Germany. The next year she
opened America’s first English speaking
kindergarten in Boston.

 She also founded the American Froebel Union in

1877 and became its first president.

 She ran the school for 8 years and then made a

study tour of Europe. Returning to the United
States, she spread the message through her
writing.

Susan Elizabeth Blow

 A dedicated proponent of Froebel’s work.

 Opened the kindergarten in Des Peres School in

Carondelet. Not only was this an amazing
moment in St. Louis history

 She made St. Louis a center of kindergarten

activity

Caroline Louisa Frankenberg

 She was The Cradle of America's Kindergarten

in Columbus, Ohio

 She studied with Friedrich Froebel and others at

Froebel's School in Keilhau. Her older brother
Adolph was a friend of Froebel and a teacher at
Keilhau.

 Her school was a cheerful place where children

sang and played. At this school, children enjoyed
themselves as they learned.
 Maria Kraus-Boelté

 Was a pioneer of Froebel education in the United

States, and helped promote kindergarten training
as suitable for study at university level.

 In 1873, Kraus-Boelté and her husband opened

a Seminary for Kindergartners alongside a model
kindergarten class, the Normal Training
Kindergarten.

 In 1877 they published The Kindergarten Guide:

the Self-instruction of Kindergartners, Mothers,
and Nurses.

Kate Douglas Wiggin

 Was an American educator and author of

children's stories, most notably the classic
children's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

 She started the first free kindergarten in San

Francisco in 1878 (the Silver Street Free
Kindergarten). With her sister during the 1880s,
she also established a training school for
kindergarten teachers.

 She published scholarly work on the educational

principles of Friedrich Fröbel: Froebel's
Gifts (1895), Froebel's Occupations (1896),
and Kindergarten Principles and Practice (1896)
 Elizabeth Harrison

 Influenced by the book Mothers at

Play by Friedrich Fröbel, she founded the
Chicago Kindergarten Club in 1883.

 In 1886, Harrison founded a training school for

kindergarten teachers in Chicago.

 In 1889 she renamed her institution the Chicago

Kindergarten Training College.

William Torrey Harris

 He made a significant event in making the

kindergarten part of the public school system.

 He incorporated the kindergarten into the St.

Louis, Missouri, public school system in 1873.

 When Harris became the U.S. commissioner of

education, he continued to press for the
kindergarten’s incorporation into the public school.
 Henry Barnard

 Henry Barnard, the first U.S. Commissioner of

Education, popularized Froebel's philosophy in
his Common School Journal.

INFLUENCE ON MODERN ART AND DESIGN

Frank Lloyd Wright, Buckminster Fuller, and many other notable architects and
artists were educated with the Froebel Gifts.

Frank Lloyd Wright

 Frank Lloyd Wright's connection to the Gifts is

well-documented and he was a lifelong champion
of the method, even constructing a Kindergarten
for his own children (and others in the
neighborhood).

Buckminster Fuller

 Buckminster Fuller developed his geodesic dome

as a child in the Kindergarten. More than an
opportunity for creativity, the Kindergarten
provided Wright and Fuller a foundational
philosophy for design, shaping their views of
nature, pattern, and unity.
 The Bauhaus
 The Bauhaus artists used Gifts & Occupations,
creating the new language of modern art. Paul
Klee, Vassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and
others were either educated in the Kindergarten
as children or were trained Froebel Kindergarten
teachers. They utilized these materials and
adapted the philosophy into their Bauhaus design
school. Even today children of the Kindergarten
receive a university-level 2D/3D design
curriculum, learning a sophisticated visual
language even before they develop their verbal
skills.

INFLUENCE ON THE TOY AND SCHOOL SUPPLY MARKETS

In the decades that following the spread of the Kindergarten, toys were marketed
for their educational content and displayed more potential for creative expression.

Milton Bradley

 Milton Bradley was the first major toymaker

to produce the Gifts & Occupation materials in
the United States. Not only did this lead to the
rapid expansion of the school supply market
but affected the design of toys in general.

APPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

  Froebel's ideas are still used all around the world; the kindergarten is now a part
of many public school systems. Many of the gifts, though they now go by
different names, are in use in schools throughout the United States.

 Froebel advanced the ideas of learning through play, song, and interaction.
Thousands of kindergartens have been set-up around the world. His work also
had a strong influence on educational thinkers such as Thomas Dewey in
America.

STRENGTHS OF THE FROEBEL METHOD

 There are many strengths to the Froebel method. One of the main strengths for
students who attend a Froebel School is that they learn to see problems from
many angles and to solve them independently. As they work with materials, they
gain perseverance as they attempt to figure out how to manipulate them to create
the output they want.

 The Froebel method also works well to encourage independence in students.

Since they are used to solving problems that arise during their play, they feel
confident in their ability to handle issues as they arise.

CRITICISMS OF FROEBEL EDUCATION

 Critics of the Froebel education believed that the structure of the program was too
rigid. More progressive educators modified the original program into the
kindergarten that we know today, which includes more free and imaginative play.
 In addition to the Froebel gifts, other unstructured materials were added such as
doll houses and large blocks where children could experience more free-play and
social interaction. Reformers decided that children needed other ways to express
themselves, and also added music, art and movement activities to Froebel’s
original ideas.
 There are also those who believe that there is too much focus on fine motor skills,
and that more language, writing and reading would benefit students.
 Many think that the focus on the gifts and occupations should be supplemented
with more academic types of activities, reading and writing specifically, so that
children who are develop mentally ready for these types of activities will have the
opportunity available to them.
 CONCLUSION: AN ASSESSMENT
 The Kindergarten provided a milieu in which children could develop freely and
naturally.

 The gifts were part of the system, including songs, games and occupations.

 The gifts are not mystical, but rather simple tools to stimulate symbolic meaning.

 The occupations were the raw materials children could use in drawing and
building activities that allow them too concretize their ideas.

 Importantly, songs, stories, and games would introduce children to their culture
and socialize them.

 Play is the heart of Froebel’s system.

 Children construct their understanding of the world through direct experiences.

 Play is the engine of “real learning”

 Humans are creative beings who can visualize new ways of living.

 Froebel wanted children to see the interconnectedness of all creation

 We need Froebel’s method now for our technological world.

So what's missing?

?
 Reading and Writing
“Teaching children to read . . . Froebel believed would produce habits of mind
positively injurious . . . destroying the mind's elasticity and originality.”

- Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, 1868

“Instead of the reading, writing and arithmetic (three Rs), the three Hs are
substituted, heads, hands and hearts.”

- NZ Weekly News report, 1910, claiming to be quoting Froebel,

quoted in Helen May's The Discovery of Early Childhood

 “Play is the highest expression of human
development in childhood, for it alone is the free
expression of what is in the child’s soul”.
- Friedrich Wilhelm August
Froebel
Father of Kindergarten

"Come, let us live

for our children."
- Froebel

REFERENCES
 Friedrich Froebel: Founder of Kindergarten. Chapter 16, pages 256-273. Historical and
Philosophical Foundations of Education. A biological Introduction. By Gerald Gutek.
 Brief Hstory of the Kindergarten. Website: http://www.froebelgifts.com/history.htm
 Pioneers In Our Field: Friedrich Froebel - Founder of the First Kindergarten By Early Childhood
Today Editorial Staff. Website: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-
content/pioneers-our-field-friedrich-froebel-founder-first-kindergarten/
 The Kindergarten of Friedrich Froebel. Website:
http://www.organonarchitecture.co.nz/CLIENTS/MMEF/Froebel_MMEF.pdf
 Friedrich Froebel’s Gifts Connecting the Spiritual and Aesthetic to the Real World of Play and
Learning • Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. Website:
 http://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/2-1-article-
friedrich-froebels-gifts.pdf
 Building Blocks designed by Friedrich Froebel for the first Kindergarten. Website:
http://www.ozpod.com/store/froblox.html
 Friedrich Froebel's Contributions to Early Education. Website:
https://brainmass.com/education/comparative-education/friedrich-froebels-
contributions-early-education-488916
 Elements of a Froebelian Education. Website: http://friedrichfroebel.com/elements.html
 Friedrich Froebel’s Theory of Education Explained. Website:
https://healthresearchfunding.org/friedrich-froebels-theory-of-education-explained/
 About Froebel: Who was Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852). Website: https://www.early-
education.org.uk/about-froebel
 Froebel Gifts. Website: http://www.froebelgifts.com/gift.htm
 Philosophy of early childhood education 2. Website:
https://www.slideshare.net/Eacademy4u/philosophy-of-early-childhood-education-2
 Paradise of Childhood by Milton Bradley Co. Springfield Mass. Website:
https://archive.org/stream/quartercenturyed00wieb#page/232/mode/1up
 The Songs and Music of Friedrich Froebel’s Mother Play. Prepared and arranged by: Susan E.
Blow. Website:
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el.html?
id=NVFMAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=on
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 The Students’ Froebel. By William H. Herford. Website:
https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/The_Student_s_Froebel_Adapted_from_Di
e_E.html?
id=8atJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=one
page&q&f=false
 Mother Play and Nursery Songs. By Friedrich Froebel. Edited By: Elizabeth Peabody. Website:
https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/Mother_play_and_Nursery_Songs.html?
id=gTQQAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=o
nepage&q&f=false
 Mother’s Songs, Games and Stories. Rendered in English By Frances and Emily Lord. Website:
https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/Mother_s_Songs_Games_and_Stories.html
?
id=Y_5NAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=o
nepage&q&f=false
 The Mottoes and Commentaries of Friedrich Froebel’s Mother Play. Rendered Into English
Verse by: Henrieta R. Eliot. Website:
https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/The_Mottoes_and_Commentaries_of_Fried
ric.html?
id=Fk0BAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=on
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 Rediscovering Kindergarten. The Life and Legacy of Friedrich Froebel. Website:
http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2015/rediscovering-
kindergarten
 Friedrich Froebel: His Educational Work and Legacy. Website:
https://www.thepositiveencourager.global/friedrich-froebels-educational-work-and-
legacy/
 Early Childhood Education - Preparation Of Teachers, International Context – OVERVIEW. By
Janet S. Hansen. Website: http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1927/Early-
Childhood-Education.html
 Friedrich Froebel (1782–1852) - Biography, Froebel's Kindergarten Philosophy, The
Kindergarten Curriculum, Diffusion of the Kindergarten. Website:
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1999/Froebel-Friedrich-1782-1852.html
 Friedrich Fröebel - the Inventor of Kindergarten. Website:
https://www.froebel.com.au/about-froebel/friedrich-froebel/
 Froebel Gifts. Play and playground encyclopedia. Website:
https://www.pgpedia.com/f/froebel-gifts
 Friedrich Froebel. Play and playground encyclopedia. Website:
https://www.pgpedia.com/f/friedrich-froebel
 The Republic of Childhood: Froebel’s Gifts. By : Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald
Smith. Website: https://books.google.com.ph/books?
id=5x6gAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=one
page&q&f=false
 The Republic of Childhood: Froebel’s Gifts. By : Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald
Smith. Website: https://books.google.com.ph/books?
id=J9ZEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA6&dq=froebels+occcupation&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEw
jqtv6VubXcAhVHFYgKHXOPCKsQ6wEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=froebels
%20occcupation&f=false
 The Education of Man by Friedrich Froebel. Translated from German and annotated by W. N.
Hailmann. Website: https://books.google.com.ph/books?
id=_ERbzozFscwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=education+of+man+froebels&hl=en&sa=
X&ved=0ahUKEwjH2YX2ubXcAhULQd4KHY0iDQwQ6wEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=educ
ation%20of%20man%20froebels&f=false
 Friedrich Froebel’s Pedagogics of Kindergarten. Translated by Josephine Jarvis. Website:
https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/Friedrich_Froebel_s_Pedagogics_of_the_Ki
.html?
id=VWlJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=one
page&q&f=false
 Autobiography of Friedrich Froebel By Friedrich Froebel. Translated and Annotated by Emilie
Michaelis. Website:
https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/Autobiography_of_Friedrich_Froebel.html?
id=sakLAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=one
page&q&f=false
 Video: Froebel’s Gifts. Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN3tDUeRLQY
 Video: Early Childhood Education Froebel and Montessori. Website:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXGqD5FulJg
 Video: Froebel Kindergarten Gifts Early Childhood Education History of Toys. Website:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICy2v6YtwRA
 Video: Nick & Elena's Presentation on Friedrich Froebel. Website:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6au1rzHvlRk
 Video: Early Childhood Education, Froebel and Montessori. Website:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLcKTB_aAFs
 Video: History of Kindergarten Documentary series 2017 Trailer from Froebel to Today.
Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL7JL8Vr5cI