Ae Kindergarten FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS. VOL. III. NOVEMBER, 1890. No. 3. FROEBEL'S SYSTEM. BY BARONESS VON MARENHOLTZ-BULOW. Froebel considers the child, not according to the usual dualistic view, as a union of body and spirit, but as belonging to nature, man, and God. The human being is the connection of the opposites, God and nature. The child is the embryo man; but gives as little idea of what is to be, as the germ of a tree shows the full-grown tree; and yet, until now, the chief guide for the handling of children has been psychology, or lessons on the human soul as a conscious or spiritually developed essence. The fully developed powers and faculties of the man show to what the child is to attain, but neither the way nor the means of reaching the end. This is the province of education. For this the knowledge of the nature of the developed mind does not suffice. The consideration of man as body and spirit and the study of physiology and psychology are not sufficient for education. Philosophy and psychology deal with the mind, physiology with the body alone, but pedagogics must consider the human being as a whole. Therefore Froebel considers man as a child of nature, child of man, and child of God. The expression "child of nature" indicates the physical side of the human being, through which man is allied to the universe. "Nature is the first mirror in which man sees himself," says Froebel. The child is in a certain way the incarnation or the conscious life of nature. For all the conditions and laws of nature culminate in the human being to lead to a higher form of existence, that of conscious spirit. All the instincts of the animal world are found in childhood, bearing the stamp of a higher being, and are transformed into instincts for self-development. For instance, the instinct for shelter in higher animals leads in man to building, to plastic art; the love of home, to love of the fatherland; the instinct for food, to agriculture, and the social instinct, to the organization of communities and the state. At the same time that the instincts, leading to self-preservation, are shown, the playful activity of the child represents the elements of industry and of different branches of art, even of science, giving the purely human stamp to all his doing, and marking him as the child of man. Nothing can reach its highest perfection, save as it is allowed to mature fully during all the different stages of development; therefore, in order to meet his destiny as a citizen of the world, and as a citizen of heaven, man must live freely as a child of nature. The present system of education hinders free development by exercising the intellectual powers too early, causing unnatural maturity of these powers, sickness and feebleness of mind and body. This danger is lessened by the use of Froebel's play material before the school age. As "child of man," the child belongs to the human race, separated from the lower creation by the expression of individuality. Knowledge of this side of his being is gained by history which shows how man developed to his present degree of civilization and also what powers and opportunities he possesses. History is the second mirror in which man sees himself." says Froebel. As a child of God, the spirit of man leads him beyond the confines of this earthly existence to the source of all being, to God, knowledge of whom is gained in nature as well as in history, since both are revelations of the divine in different forms. Knowledge of the human being, therefore, cannot be gained without history and natural science; it must be the result of the three sciences together and not of psychology alone. First, the relation of the human being to nature must be shown in the instinctive life of the child, and the unconscious life studied as the source of all later consciousness. At the same time the history of creation must be presented from the modern scientific standpoint, showing the Creator in His never-ceasing creative activity in the world. Second, universal history must be presented in such a way as to trace the development from the children of nature to the people of to-day, in its educational bearing, showing both material and spiritual progress in their connection as cause and effect, and also the religious development of mankind as the result of the continuous, never-ceasing revelation of God in the human spirit. Psychology should study the workings of the child's mind, the natural state of the human mind, and the human powers in their immediate activity. Such pedagogic science, pedagogic history, and psychology constitute the knowledge essential for mothers and teachers which Froebel's theory of education supposes. The practical application gives his method, which we find in the Kindergarten. VI. THE KINDERGARTEN. For children up to the third year, the first stage of the Kindergarten is the family under the immediate guidance of the mother. The next stage is the Kindergarten for four or five hours a day until the child is five years old, with the home influence still continued. The third stage, or the upper division of the Kindergarten, for children of from five to seven, demands at home as well as in the Kindergarten more serious instruction in the Occupations. The fourth stage is "the connecting class, "which prepares for the school, and the Occupations of which introduce the work of the elementary school-classes. An outline follows for the different stages of instruction I. THE KINDERGARTEN IN THE FAMILY. 1. Finger-plays. Mother-play and Nursery Songs. 2. Stories, especially fables. 3. Songs. 4. Counting to ten with the fingers and play things. 5. Use of pictures. 6. Balls and ball-plays. First Gift. 7. Sphere, cube and cylinder. Second Gift. 8. Building with Third Gift. SYSTEMATIC SCIENCE FOR KINdergarten anD PRIMARY SCHOOLS. For months-three or four of them-the noon shadows had been growing longer and the sunny days shorter, while the Great Pole Star in the north had been rising higher and higher in the long nights. During the days of summer, the brown. earth and blue water which cover our half of the globe, had gained more heat than was lost during the short nights; but now all this was being reversed. Even the clouds, which tried to keep the heat from escaping so fast, often disappeared in rain or were brushed away by the wind, and then how chilly the nights became ! Roots, stems and leaves had been busy, each in its own simple way, doing the work God had given them, and most wonderful were the results. The grass, beet and dahlia roots had become plump and well-fed. The stems underground-potato, blood-root and Solomon's seal-had laid in rich stores of starch and other food, as had also the aboveground stems of maple, apple and grape. The thickened bases of the tulip and lily leaves were stuffed with good things for the use of the growing blossoms hidden so safely in their hearts, and the hepatica, spring beauty and crocus buds were all finishedeven to the color of the petals and shape of the stamens, ready for an early opening in the spring. Then what a wealth of fruits, with their enclosed seeds, were on every hand! They tempted us as, they strewed the ground; clung to our clothes when we walked; dropped upon us from the trees and flew before us in the wind. Many of the early plants--peas, beans and violets--had long since finished their work, and laying aside their green dresses, rested. Others, as the trees, kept on growing as though no rest was needed. But dear Mother Nature knew how to manage; and just as she stops the birds and children and men at night, by taking away the light, so she set to work with her plans that all might have their winter's nap. "It will do the dears good to rest, for they've had a busy summer," she thought. "But there's much to do, and some just won't stop till they have to; so I must send for Jack at once." The shortening days and lengthening shadows of noon were her message; but in our language it would have read something like this: "My dear helper, Jack Frost, Esq.You are needed down here, in this temperate zone. It is time to undress my plant children and tuck them up snugly for their winter's nap. Then the birds must go south and the insects take a rest, to say nothing of all the work I have to do in soil-making and other ways. Come at once, as some have long been sleeping and may wake up if the rest are not quieted. But, dear Jack (now don't be offended), you have such sharp ways. I know some of the trees have foolishly begun to bud again as though it were spring, and many seem to be greedy like those mortals, and I know they need a lesson. Still be gentle with them, Jack, for my sake --for all are my children and I love them. Just hint to them at first, in a slight way, that summer is over. Then nip harder so as to hurt a little; after that, dear Jack, if they simply won't mind, why, as the safety of all the rest depends on it, you'll have to freeze them up stiff so they can't move. Good-bye-from your MOTHER NATURE." |