Kommt, lasst uns unsern Kindern leben!. This quote from Friedrich Froebel is often translated into English as "Come, Let us live with our children". German uses case endings ( here Dative/Plural= unsern Kindern ) to express relationships commonly expressed in English by prepositions. This is a true and beautiful 19th century construction . . . Lasst uns Unsern Kindern. The meaning is fuller than English for or with . . . it means really alongside of, and for the sake of.
The article published in History of Education Quarterly 28 (Spring, 1988): 23-48 was titled, "Let us Live for our Children: Kindergarten Movements in Germany and the United States, 1840-1914".
Froebel´s thinking was a part of the romantic movement. Philosophically he is an objective idealist, the centre in his universe is God. His practical education was very well structured and founded in the rationalistic practice of Pestalozzi. Froebel claimed that education is like a natural process; that the child is an organic whole which develops through creative self-activity according to natural laws; that the individual is an organic part of the society; and that the universe as a whole is an organism of which all lesser organisms are members. According to Froebel, man is a self-expressive being, who has to follow the inner calling.
Froebel's appreciation for the interconnectedness of all nature appeals to those who are interested in protecting the environment and understanding the complexity of the ecosystem. As an apprenticed forester Friedrich moved through the woodlands of Thuringia, aware of each plant and animal, absorbing healing from the forest and developing the deep awareness of the unity of nature, which he was to bring to the education of children. His choice of the name, kindergarten, meaning a garden of children, directs our attention to the wonder and unity of nature.
Froebel was one of the most gifted of nineteenth century educators. He founded the kindergarten movement and developed theories on the importance of constructive play and self activity in early childhood. The kindergarten was unique for its time. The earlier institutions for small children in Holland, Germany, and England had been welfare nursery schools or day care centres intended for looking after children while parents worked, Froebel stood for the socializing or educational idea.
Froebel was one of the most influential educational reformers of the 19th century. He was an intensely religious man. His pedagogical ideas have a mystical and metaphysical context. He viewed man as a child of God, of nature, and of humanity who must learn to understand his own unity, diversity, and individuality, corresponding to this threefold aspect of his being. On the other hand, man must understand the unity of all things.
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody opened the first English language kindergarten in the United States.
Susan Elizabeth Blow launched the first public kindergarten in the United States.
Irene M. Lilley, Friedrich Froebel: A Selection from His Writings (1967), emphasizes aspects of Froebel's life often neglected in other studies.
William H. Kilpatrick, Froebel's Kindergarten Principles Critically Examined (1916), is a penetrating analysis.
The interest in the Friedrich Fröbel Framework has encouraged the broader concept of a Froebel Web project to provide links to information about Friedrich Fröbel.
Copyright © 1998-2000 Froebel Web All Rights Reserved. froebelweb@yahoo.com
http://geocities.datacellar.net/froebelweb/frobelweb.html