'During the previous period of childhood the aim of play consisted simply in activity as such; its aim lies now [during boyhood] in a definite, conscious purpose; it seeks representation as such, or the thing to be represented in the activity.'The Education of Man (Hailmann), p. 112. 'These fairy tales and stories will very clearly reveal to the observer what is going on in the innermost mind of the boy... whatever he feels in his heart, whatever lives in his soul, whatever he cannot express in his own words, he would fain have others express.'-Id. p. 117. 'How the serene happy boy of this age rejoices in song! He feels, as it were, a new, true life in song.'-Id. p. 118. Froebel insists that education is the joint work of the Common school and the home, and he indicates ten directions for this 'unified school and family life.' These are: means of education 1. The arousing, strengthening, and cultivating of the religious sense. For this purpose we have the learning by heart of religious utterances concerning nature, men and their relation to God, and particularly of utterances to be used in prayer. 2. Consideration, knowledge, and cultivation of the body, to be developed in orderly graduated exercises. 3. Observation and study of nature and the external world, proceeding from the nearest surroundings to the more remote. [This involves walks and school journeys.] 4. Learning by heart of short poems concerning nature and life, especially of short poems that impart life to the objects of nature in the nearest surroundings, and consequently to the incidents of home-life. 5. Exercises in language. 6. Exercises in representation of outward forms, by means of paper, cardboard, wood-work, modelling, etc. 7. Exercises in representation of outward forms by means of lines in squares. 8. The study of colours, and the representation of them in prescribed outlines. 9. Play or representations and exercises of all kinds in free activity. 10. Narration of stories and legends, fables and fairy-tales, with reference to the incidents of the day, of the seasons, of life, etc.1 The essence of Froebel's theory is that the development of man is continuous, and his education must therefore be continuous also; and that the work of the educator The Gifts is the promotion of the self-activity of the educated in every function of his being, body, mind and spirit. For the complete training of infants according to this theory he devised a series of gifts and games.2 The twenty gifts are : 1. Six soft woollen balls of different colours-red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. 2. A sphere, a cube, and a cylinder made of wood. 3. A large cube consisting of eight small cubes. 4. A large cube divided into eight oblong 'bricks.' 5. A large cube, which, being divided into three parts in each dimension, produces twenty-seven smaller cubes. 6. A large cube divided into twenty-seven oblong 'bricks.' 1 The Education of Man, pp. 234-236 (condensed). 2 A distinction is often made between gift and occupation, the sphere, for instance, being called a gift, and clay modelling an occupation, but the distinction is neither Froebelian nor necessary. Froebel called all the occupations plays, and all the materials for occupations, gifts. Clay is therefore as much a gift as the sphere, and the use which is made of the sphere is as much an occupation as modelling. There are altogether twenty gifts according to Froebel's general definition of the term, although the first six only are generally designated by this name.-Wiebe's Paradise of Childhood' (ed. Bradley), p. 78. Six of the oblongs are cut in halves, forming twelve cubes; three are cut lengthwise, forming six columns, making altogether thirty-six pieces. 7. Five boxes of tablets made of wood and painted in different colours. The first box contains squares. The second box contains right-angled isosceles triangles. The third box contains equilateral triangles. The fourth box contains obtuse angled isosceles triangles. The fifth box contains scalene triangles. 8. 'Sticks.' 9. Rings and half rings. 10. Materials for drawing. II. Materials for perforating. 12. Materials for embroidering. 13. Materials for cutting paper and combining the pieces. 15. Laths (in America called 'slats') for interlacing. 17. Materials for intertwining. 18. Materials for paper-folding. 19. Peas and wire. 20. Materials for modelling. The use which is made of these gifts is described fully in various practical works, such as Wiebe's 'Paradise of Childhood,' and Bates's 'Kindergarten Guide.' As an illustration Miss Bates's treatment of the second gift is quoted : Use of the Gift II. consists of a sphere, cylinder, and cube, all made of wood. They are inclosed in an oblong box similar to the box of 1. What it Gift I., and may be suspended in a frame, the materials for which are found in the box. consists of (a) Gift II. forms a perfect connecting link between Gifts I. and III. 2. Its use. (b) It is an excellent preparation for future Gifts and Occupations. The circle of the cylinder and the square of the cube prepare for drawing and writing, and also for Gifts III., IV., V., and VI., which are all closely connected with this one. (c) The children are happy in watching the movements, and in learning all about the qualities of the different objects. The first lesson of Gift II. might begin with a talk about the box. It is the same shape as the box of Gift I., but shorter, because it has not so many things to hold. It has a sliding lid in which are two holes to hold the frame (see fig. 7). 3. Comparison of the sphere with Gift I. FIG. 7 Show the sphere with one of the soft balls, let a child feel both. 'The ball is soft, the sphere is hard.' 'Why is the sphere hard?' 'Because it is made of wood.' 'Why is the ball soft?' 'It is made of wool.' 'The sphere is smooth, while the ball is rough. Now let us feel the weight of the ball and sphere.' (Let a child hold the ball on one hand, and the sphere on the other.) 'The sphere is heavy and the ball is light.' 'If we drop the ball it makes very little noise, but the sphere makes quite a big noise.' The ball is soft, but hard the sphere, All the games of Gift I. may be played with the sphere, and the various motions, swinging, jumping, etc., may be practised also. There is a brass loop on the sphere, to which the string may be fastened when it is used for movements. 4. Compari 'What can the cylinder do that the ball can do?' 'It can roll.' 'Why can it roll?' 'Because it is round.' 'But it is not round like the ball. How is it different?' 'It is flat at both ends.' 'The ball has only one face, but the cylinder has three, and on two of them it can stand. What have you seen like a cylinder?' 'A rolling son of sphere and cylinder pin, a jar, etc.' The cylinder may be suspended from the hook in the centre of one of the flat faces, and may be used for the motions of Gift I. Fig. 8.-If the cylinder be held with a double string attached to the hook in its side thus (fig. 8), and rotated quickly, a sphere will be seen. |