FRIEDRICH FROEBEL Cindy Shelton

BIRTH & CHILDHOOD Born in 1782 in Oberweissbach, Germany Mother died when he was an infant Love of nature came from growing up alone and spending time outside with nature Died in his bed in 1852

CAREER & INFLUENCES Primarily self educated He went to Frankfurt to study accounting in 1805 but instead Began work as a teacher in 1805 Pestalozzian Frankfurt Model School Influenced by Pestalozzi Creation of a learning environment that promotes security Have an natural desire to learn Children need to be active participants in learning

Universal German Educational Institute Opened by Froebel in 1816 using some of the ideas from Pestalozzi Moved to Keilhau in 1817 This is where he started to develop his ideas for the education of young children

FIRST KINDERGARTEN Blankenburg Germany in 1837 Term Kindergarten came from his idea of a children’s garden Stressed natural growth of children through play These ideas were not widely accepted at the time From 1851-1860 Kindergarten was banned in Prussia due to political concerns Believed teachers should be observers of children

THE EDUCATION OF MAN The purpose of education is to encourage and guide man as a conscious, thinking and perceiving being in such a way that he becomes a pure and perfect representation of that divine inner law through his own personal choice; education must show him the ways and meanings of attaining that goal." - p2 The mind grows by self revelation. In play the child ascertains what he can do, discovers his possibilities of will and thought by exerting his power spontaneously. In work he follows a task prescribed for him by another, and doesn’t reveal his own proclivities and inclinations; but another’s. In play he reveals his own original power.

WORDS OF FROEBEL Kommt lasst uns unsern Kindern leben which means Come let us live with our children Play is necessary to educate the whole child “Play is the highest level of child development . . . It gives . . . joy, freedom, contentment, inner and outer rest, peace with the world . . . The plays of childhood are the germinal leaves of all later life.” “Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul”  “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”

WORDS OF FROEBEL “A child who plays and works thoroughly, with perseverance, until physical fatigue forbids will surely be a thorough, determined person, capable of self-sacrifice.” “The union of Family and school life is the indispensable requisite of education . . . if indeed men are ever to free themselves from the oppressive burden and emptiness of merely extraneously communicated knowledge heaped up in memory.” "Pestalozzi takes man existing only in appearance on earth," he said, "but I take man in his eternal being, in his eternal existence." "If three hundred years after my death my method of education shall be completely established according to its idea, I shall rejoice in heaven."

WORDS OF FROEBEL “The character and purpose of these plays may be described as follows: They are a coherent system, starting at each stage from the simplest activity and progressing to the most diverse and complex manifestations of it. The purpose of each one of them is to instruct human beings so that they may progress as individuals and members of humanity is all its various relationships. Collectively they form a complete whole, like a many branched tree, whose parts explain and advance each other. Each is a self-contained whole, a seed from which manifold new developments may spring to cohere in further unity. They cover the whole field of intuitive and sensory instruction and lay the basis for all further teaching. They begin to establish spatial relationships and proceed to sensory and language training so that eventually man comes to see himself as a sentient, intelligent and rational being and as such strives to live”

FROEBEL’S GIFTS His gifts are what we now refer to as manipulatives and are used in early childhood classrooms worldwide The material for building in the beginning should consist of a number of wooden blocks

FROEBEL’S GIFTS The gift leads to discovery  intended to give the child from time to time new universal aspects of the external world suited to a child’s development.

FROEBEL’S GIFTS GIFT ONE GIFT TWO GIFT THREE Yarn Ball - helps child distinguish form, color and movement SPHERE, CYLINDER AND CONE DIVIDED CUBES – UNITY AND SYMBOLIC PLAY

FROEBEL’S GIFTS GIFT FOUR GIFT FIVE GIFT SIX RECTANGULAR PRISM CUBES AND TRIANGULAR PRISM CLASSIC BUILDING BLOCKS

FROEBEL’S GIFTS GIFT SEVEN GIFT EIGHT GIFT NINE PARQUETY TABLETS SEVEN SHAPES STICKS AND RINGS THE POINT – SMALL OBJECTS TO REPRESENT THE POINT

FROEBEL’S GIFTS GIFT TEN – FRAMEWORK GIFT WHICH MOVES FROM CONCRETE TO ABSTRACT

WHO HE INFLUENCED Maria Montessori Rudolf Steiner first to recognize that significant brain development occurs between birth and age 3 mothers as the ideal first teachers of humanity

INFLUENCES ON EARLY EDUCATION TODAY The Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children recommended practices INT4 -Practitioners promote the child’s cognitive development by observing, interpreting, and responding intentionally to the child's exploration, play, and social activity by joining in and expanding on the child's focus, actions, and intent. INS7. Practitioners use explicit feedback and consequences to increase child engagement, play, and skills. 12 Principles of Child Development and Learning that Inform Practice according to NAEYC #10 Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation and promoting language, cognition, and social competence. #12 Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learning.

Robert Fulghum Wrote All I ever need to know I learned in Kindergarten Grew up in Waco Texas His philosophy is influenced by Froebel “These are the things I learned. Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you are sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw some and paint and sing and dance and play and work everyday”

Susan Blow Wrote Educational Issues in Kindergarten she opened the United States' first successful public kindergarten at St. Louis' Des Peres School in 1873 Based her Kindergarten on Frobel’s philosophy "that man is a self-creative being . . . education shall encourage self expression . . . encouragement shall be given only to those modes of self- expression which are related to the values of human life . . .“ Her work was pivotal in bringing Kindergarten to the US

Froebel’s influence in classrooms today Singing songs Finger plays Circle time Building blocks Spontaneous play Playing with puppets Planting a garden Using manipulative

WORKS CITED Blow, Susan. Educational Issues in Kindergarten. University of California Libraries (January 1, 1908) http://www.dec-sped.org/recommendedpractices http://www.froebelweb.org/ Froebel, Frederich, The Education of Man. Translated from the German and annotated by W. N. Hailmann. Clifton, NJ, A.M. Kelley, 1974. Fulghum, Robert. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Ballantine Books, 2004. http://www.naeyc.org/dap/12-principles-of-child-development Reifel, Stuart. “Observation and Early Childhood Teaching"  Young Children, March 2011 http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/978331903 7394-c2.pdf?SGWID=0-0-45-1439018-p176372389