Frank Lloyd Wright wrought us Organic Design on a Grid
Mishmashes articles by Pat Darnell | Apr 4, 2014 | Bryan TX
If we were to design a Kindergarten, this is how we would do it ... just copy what Froebel did over 170 years ago. Add this to your Home Schooling curricula, and don't be shy.
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Froebel ® Blocks - educational toys from the original Kindergarten: "When Friedrich Froebel established the first system for educating young children, he created a series of playthings to provide children with focused educational experiences. Up until that time, toys were intended for amusement and education was provided through books and instruction. Froebel's Kindergarten used play as its engine and his Spielgabe (or "play gifts") were the fuel. During his lifetime he codified the series of Froebel Gifts up through Gift 7 (parquetry tablets). "
'via Blog this'
Here is an edited transcript of the above youTube...
0:04 Friedrich Froebel invented kindergarten his "garden of children" over 170 years
0:09ago
0:09his spiel ... or play gifts were the original
0:13educational toys and the first child development tools
0:16Froebel developed his ideas about preschool education over a period of 20
0:20years
0:21from 1830 until his death in 1852
0:24he drew his inspiration from the great educator
0:27Pestalozzi and other philosophers such as Rousseau
0:30... main contribution was to synthesize ideas from education
0:35science and philosophy with his own observations of child development
0:41the materials he created were influenced by his studies in architecture
0:44and by his important work in the field of crystallography mathematics was more
0:49than an intellectual pursuit of Froebel
0:51it was the language of the universe he created toys for children that would
0:55allow them to experience the order
0:56and beauty of the physical world
0:59starting with gifts 1 through 6 children experience three-dimensional solids
1:04all forms of the physical world with gifts 7 to 9
1:08children experience two-dimensional shapes ... side to solids
1:11lines the edges of solids and points
1:15the cycle abstraction is completed with gift 10, the framework --
1:18-- this framework is a representation of solids made from
1:22points and lines
1:24while this may seem too abstract for young children the Froebel gifts help
1:28children to perceive the geometric building blocks of the world
1:31at a time when they're not able to understand them intellectually
1:35Froebel created three distinct ways to play with the Gifts
1:38he named these forms of Life, forms of Knowledge,
1:42and forms a Beauty, in forms Life, children are asked to create something from their
1:46world using
1:47... the gift pieces this could be a bed, or a house ...
1:51adults guide children through forms of knowledge activities in which the child
1:55explores
1:56mathematical and scientific properties with the Gifts,
1:59this could involve cutting the size of a cube, discussing the properties of a
2:03specific triangle or discovering the sound a piece makes when
2:07it is dropped on the floor, most types of math equations can also be reasoned out
2:11using the Gifts
2:13forms of beauty are abstract designs made with the Gifts using just two rules
2:18-- always use every piece and -- modify but never destroy
2:21design, it is important not to dictate designs
2:25but allow the child to create if a child wants to make something new
2:29he must find a way to modify an existing design stages
2:32to arrive at the new concept ... by playing with Froebel gifts
2:37a child builds his foundation of symbolic learning by internalizing these
2:41experiences
2:42this is a natural process for every child Froebel
2:46only sought to refine it why leave such an important activity to chance he
2:50thought, when a prepared environment will better nurture a child growing brain
2:54in Froebel's garden of children, adults help children to explore the world in a
2:59concrete way
3:00many years before they will understand an abstract discussion of art
3:04nature or geometry ... the gifts were just one part of his total system
3:09which also included songs in movement games, gardening
3:12and the craft activities he called occupations ...
3:15these various activities reinforced ideas for the five senses
3:20visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetics, ... Froebel realized that in infant's brain is
3:25still forming
3:26he concentrated his efforts on children from birth to age 7
3:30in Froebel's time this was considered foolish, but he intuitively understood the
3:34mechanisms of the infant brain
3:36over 150 years before science could confirm it; ... next he understood that a
3:42child's desire for play was nature's way to help stimulate the brain to grow
3:46the true nature a child is that he is sincerely trying to make sense of the
3:50universe by exploring it
3:52... it only seems natural that the parent would give the child experiences
3:56designed for this purpose
3:57play is the engine that powers education Froebel use many materials in his schools
4:03but he only wrote about the first seven gifts ...
4:05his followers expanded the list to include materials he used in his
4:09kindergarten
4:10but never described in his writings because of this the number of gifts as
4:14has ranged from 10 to 20 different items
4:17almost immediately after his death in 1852
4:20his followers spread to other countries and began to teach about the
4:24kindergarten
4:25England played an early role in establishing english-language
4:28kindergartens
4:29the book by Johan and Bertha Ranga a practical guide to be English
4:33kindergarten
4:34was the first guide to the Froebel gifts in English published in
4:381863 in the United States the Milton Bradley company published Edward B b's
4:43book the paradise of childhood:
4:44in 1869 this book listed twenty gifts
4:48actually happen be should have been called occupations
4:51the difference being that a gift can be returned to its original form
4:55while an occupation craft activities such as painting or folding paper
4:59cannot be undone it was good business to have more gifts
5:03so milton-bradley encourage many variations on the gifts
5:06even placed alphabet letters on the blocks which is completely against
5:10...Froebel's plan
5:12next came Maria ...'s kindergarten guide
5:15she outlined 13 gifts in volume 1
5:18and 11 occupations in volume 2 the extra numbers came from the various persons a
5:23gift a connected slats, Straight sticks, curves sticks
5:27in 1882 Herman Dahmer's German language book "the kindergarten" was
5:31published in English
5:33the main contribution by Dahmer, was the inclusion up the
5:36curvilinear Gift, he called five-b ... he correctly understood that
5:40Froebel had not intended to give series to be closed but to function along
5:44certain parameters
5:47Elizabeth harrison's book the kindergarten building gifts
5:50promoted the curvilinear series developed by Bell woodson
5:53and used in the Chicago kindergarten college the simplicity of the gifts in
5:57confusion about them led to their misuse
6:00as busy work ... or simply as manipulatives ... many kindergarten teachers
6:05use the gifts by rote,
6:06dictating their use to the 4 to 5-year-olds in their care ...
6:09it was the ignorance and rigid adherence to incorrect techniques
6:13that ultimately contributed to the abandonment of the Froebel kindergarten
6:17today ... for Froebel, is mostly known for his affect on modern art and architecture to
6:21the works of Frank Lloyd Wright R Buckminster Fuller ...
6:23the educators of the early 20th century saw Froebels' work as part of the
6:28German Romantic movement
6:29or worse as some mystical quasi-religious ... because of their
6:33unfortunate lack of vision and understanding
6:35the true power of Froebel's work was lost.
6:39the most amazing thing about Froebel's gifts is that they are not absolutely
6:43necessary to follow his method the idea behind the gifts is focused play
6:48this could be done with materials acquired from a nature walk
6:51or with everyday household objects there is nothing mystical about the gifts
6:56as so many educators misunderstood it is about a trained adult guiding a child to
7:01form connections in their mind regarding the nature of the physical world
7:05the adult gently helps the child to experience
7:08and understand these fundamental ideas ... in this way
7:12the child can put their new ideas into a context ...
7:15this is Froebel's goal ... the understanding by the child at the logic and
7:19interconnectedness of the universe
7:21all future information can be put into the right context or framework ... his
7:26method allows children to form an outline for future knowledge
7:29before they are asked to fill it with otherwise meaningless facts
7:33children are not empty containers waiting for information to be poured in ...
7:37it is more important in this age of the Internet to know how information fits
7:41together
7:42than to memorize the facts themselves. The foundation of Froebels' philosophy is
7:47that humans are creative beings
7:49unlike animals, whose lives have not changed much in millions of years
7:53we humans are constantly altering our world ... our superiority over other species
7:58is due to the fact that abstract ideas can exist in our minds
8:02it allows us to become creative beings we can conceptualize the vast universe
8:07or the tiniest sub-atomic particles it is both a profound truth in a simple
8:12fact of our biology
8:13the new millennium requires children to live in an ever-changing technology
8:17filled world
8:18parents and educators now realize that early childhood is the most important
8:23time in a person's education
8:24many believe that for Froebel's kindergarten is still the most advanced
8:28system for
8:29early childhood development ever created ... To recap
8:32Froebel created his kindergarten gifts between 1830
8:36and 1852 ... the gifts were part of a system
8:39including songs, games, and occupations ... Froebel
8:43only name gifts 1 through 7 his followers created several numbering
8:47schemes for other gifts
8:48gifts 1 through 6 or solids 7 a surface
8:52eight is line, nine is point, and 10 is a framework for solids
8:57the gifts are not mystical but rather simple tools to stimulate symbolic
9:01learning
9:02... PLAY is the heart of the Froebel system ... children construct their understanding
9:07of the world through direct experiences
9:09humans are creative beings who can visualize
9:13new ways of living Froebel wanted children to see the
9:16interconnectedness of all creation ... We need for Froebel's method now
9:21for our technological world
9:26if you would like additional
9:27 information please visit our website at WWW dot
9:31Froebel gifts dot com
_______________________Reference
http://www.froebelblocks.com/
http://youtu.be/LNBzmCKLNdU
http://faculty.knox.edu/jvanderg/202_K/Pestalozzi.htm
http://www.froebelgifts.com/
