friedrich-froebel

list of people who have contributed to our understanding of learning through practical hands-on activities:

Bruner, Jerome

De Bono, Edward

Froebel, Friedrich
Gregory, Richard
Khanna, Sudarshan

Malaguzzi, Loris

Papert, Seymour
Reggio Emelia Atelier

Thring, M W

about
contact

how is making
thinking?

name

Friedrich Froebel (also Fröbel) b.1782

working life

1805 - 1852

essentials

Founder of the Kindergarten System of education for young children in the 1840's. Creator of "the gifts" a set of wooden shapes, bricks, blocks and other material for children to learn through play.

info

"the gifts" are a particularly interesting set of materials as they were developed before any general system of state education existed in Europe. At that time most public education for young children was in the hands of the Church and was generally restricted to formal methods of instruction and teaching - reading, writing, maths, and religious studies. So it is inspirational to find two pedagogues (Froebel and Pestalozzi) setting up their own schools to carry out research on how children learn through play - how they develop through physical, manipulative experiences of different materials.

Fröebel attributed all manner of educational and spiritual learning to these "gifts" and it is easy to be put off by his ideas. How can a very young child learn about the "universe" simply by spinning a sphere on a string, and especially as his ideas were presented within such a profoundly religious framework of spiritual & moral learning? And yet this idea of learning through play has become the basis for all our early childhood education. A form of learning which cuts across all the standard scholastic ideals - ie intellectual development through instruction and teaching.

books

Kindergarten Guide by Loïs Bates (publ. 1898)

In this fully illustrated book the true nature of the kindergarten system, and "the gifts" become apparent - it describes an extensive range of practical activities using a variety of materials, many of which we would now call toys and craft activities. These are carefully staged and presented so a child can explore the qualities of the ideas and problems presented, and discover the solutions or criteria for themselves by trial and error, through play and interaction. Not "free play" in the sense we now understand it, but learning through structured play rather than instruction and teaching of facts.

• Kindergarten Guide by Loïs Bates publ. 1898 at archive.org
https://archive.org/details/kindergartengui02bategoog

see more:

• The main wikipedia page on Froebel is good for background info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Fr%C3%B6bel

You can now read many original / translated texts at archive.org

• Froebel and Education Through Self Activity by Herbert Bowen, publ. 1897
https://archive.org/details/froebelandeduca00bowegoog

• Bertha von Marenholtz-Bulow: Reminiscences of Friedrich Froebel, publ. 1877
https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesoff00me