Froebel's Gifts Part 12

{ Octagonal Prism.

{ Square.

{ Oblong.

{ Right Isosceles Triangle.

{ Rhomboid.

Planes. { Trapezium.

{ Trapezoid.

{ Pentagon.

{ Hexagon.

{ Heptagon.

{ Octagon.

6. The fifth gift shows the following contrasts and mediations:--

The diagonal line a connection between the horizontal and vertical; the right angle as a connection between the obtuse angle (largest) and the acute angle (smallest); in size of parts the half cube standing between the whole and quarter cubes.

We have thus far been proceeding from unity to variety, from the whole to its parts, from the simple to the complex, from easily constructed forms to those more difficult of manipulation and dictation, until we have arrived at the fifth gift.

Effect of the Study of Froebel's Gifts on the Kindergartner.

How instructive and delightful have we found this orderly procedure; this development of great from little things; this thoughtful a.s.sociation of new and practical ideas with all that is familiar to the child mind and heart. Every year the training teacher feels it anew herself, and is sure of the growing interest and sympathy of her pupils.

Many persons who fail to grasp the true meaning of the kindergarten seem to consider the b.a.l.l.s and blocks and sticks with which we work most insignificant little objects; but we think, on the other hand, that nothing in the universe is small or insignificant if viewed in its right connection and undertaken with earnestness and enthusiasm.

Nothing in childhood is too slight for the notice, too trivial for the sympathy of those on whom the Father of all has bestowed the holy dignity of motherhood or teacherhood; and to the kindergartner belongs the added dignity of approaching nearer the former than the latter, for hers indeed is a sort of vice-motherhood.

We must always be impressed with the knowledge which we ourselves gain in studying these gifts and preparing the exercises with them. In concentration of thought; careful, distinct, precise, and expressive language; logical arrangement of ideas; new love of order, beauty, symmetry, fitness, and proportion; added ingenuity in adapting material to various uses, aesthetic and practical,--in all these ways every practical student of Froebel must constantly feel a decided advance in ability.

Then, too, the simple rudiments of geometry have been reviewed in a new light; we have dealt with solid bodies and planes, and studied them critically so that we might draw the child's attention to all points of resemblance or difference; we have found some beautifully simple ill.u.s.trations of familiar philosophical truths, and, best of all, have simplified and crystallized our knowledge of the relations of numbers so that the child's impressions of them may be easily and clearly gained.

Why we are required to study deeply and to know more than we teach.

We have been required to look at each gift in its broadest aspect, and to observe it patiently and minutely in all its possibilities, for the larger the amount of knowledge the kindergartner possesses, the more free from error will be her practice.

Unless we know more than we expect to teach, we shall find that our lessons will be stiff, formal affairs, lacking variety, elasticity, and freshness, and marred continually by lack of ill.u.s.tration and spontaneity.

Lack of interest in the teacher is as fatal as lack of interest in the child; in fact, the one follows directly upon the heels of the other.

For this reason, continued study is vitally necessary that new phases of truth may continually be seen.

Above all other people the teacher should go through life with eyes and ears open. Unless she is constantly acc.u.mulating new information her mind will not only become like a stagnant pool, but she will find out that what she possesses is gradually evaporating. There is no state of equilibrium here; she who does not progress retrogresses.

It should be a comparatively simple matter to gain enough knowledge for teaching,--the difficult thing is the art of imparting it. Said Lord Bacon, "The art of well delivering the knowledge we possess to others is among the secrets left to be discovered by future generations."

Relation between Gifts, and their Relation to the Child's Mental and Moral Growth.

These are a few of the technicalities which have been mastered up to this time by a faithful study of the gifts of Froebel; and yet they are only technicalities, and do not include the half of what has been gained in ways more difficult to describe.

"To clearly comprehend the gifts either individually or collectively we must clearly conceive their relation to and dependence on each other, for it is only in this intimate connection that they gain importance or value."

If the kindergartner does not recognize the relationship which exists between them and their relation to the child's mental and moral growth, she uses them with no power or intelligence. We conceive nothing truly so long as we conceive it by itself; the individual example must be referred to the universal law before we can rightly apprehend its significance, and for a clear insight into anything whatsoever we must view it in relation to the cla.s.s to which it belongs. We can never really know the part unless we know the whole, neither can we know the whole unless we know the part.

Pleasure of Child at New Gift.

In the fifth gift, which, it may be said, can commonly only be used with profit after the child has neared or attained his fifth year, we find that we have not parted from our good old friend, the cube, that has taught us so many valuable lessons. We always find contained in each gift a reminder of the previous one, together with new elements which may have been implied before, but not realized. So, therefore, we have again the cube, but greatly enlarged, divided, and diversified. When the child sees for the first time even the larger box containing his new plaything, he feels joyful antic.i.p.ation, surmising that as he has grown more careful and capable, he has been entrusted with something of considerable importance. If he has been allowed to use the third and fourth gifts together frequently, he will not be embarra.s.sed by the amount of material in the new object.

Lest he be overwhelmed, however, by its variety as much as by its quant.i.ty, it might be well before presenting the new material as a whole to allow the child to play with a third gift in which one cube cut in halves and one in quarters have been subst.i.tuted for two whole cubes. He will joyfully discover the new forms, study them carefully, and find out their distinctive peculiarities and their value in building. When he has used them successfully once or twice, and has learned how to place the triangular prisms to form the cube, then the ma.s.s of new material as a whole can have no terrors for him.

How great is his pleasure when he withdraws the cover and finds indeed something full of immense possibilities; he feels, too, a command of his faculties which leads him to regard the new materials, not with doubt or misgiving, but with a conscious power of comprehension.

Its New Features.

At the first glance the most striking characteristics are its greater size and greater number of divisions, into thirds, ninths, and twenty-sevenths, instead of halves, quarters, and eighths.

These divisions open a new field in number lessons, while the introduction of the slanting line and triangular prism makes a decided advance in form and architectural possibilities.

Importance of Triangular Form.

The triangle, by the way, is a valuable addition in building exercises, for as a fundamental form in architecture it occurs very frequently in the formation of all familiar objects. Indeed, the new form and its various uses in building const.i.tute the most striking and valuable feature of the gift.

We find it an interesting fact that all the grand divisions of the earth's surface have a triangular form, and that the larger islands a.s.sume this shape more or less.

The operation of dividing the earth's surface into greater and lesser triangles is used in making a trigonometrical survey and in ascertaining the length of a degree of lat.i.tude or longitude. The triangle is also of great use in the various departments of mechanical work, as will be noted hereafter in connection with the seventh gift.

Difficulties of the Fifth Gift.

The difficulties of the fifth gift are only apparent, for the well-trained child of the kindergarten sees more than any other, and he will grasp the small complexities with wonderful ease, smoothing out a path for himself while we are wondering how we shall make it plain to him.

Effect of Good Training.

But here let us note that we can only succeed in attaining satisfactory results in kindergarten work by beginning intelligently and never discontinuing our patient watchfulness, self-command, and firmness of purpose,--firmness, remember, not stubbornness, for it is a rare gift to be able to yield rightly and at the proper time.

If we help the little one too much in his first simple lessons or dictations; if we supply the word he ought to give; if, to save time and produce a symmetrical effect, we move a block here and there in weariness at some child's apparent stupidity, we shall never fail to reap the natural results. The effect of a rational conscientious and consistent behavior to the child in all our dealings with him is very great, and every little slip from the loving yet firm and straightforward course brings its immediate fruit.

The perfectly developed child welcomes each new difficulty and invites it; the imperfectly trained pupil shrinks in half-terror and helplessness, feeling no hope of becoming master of these strange new impressions.

Arrangement of Pieces.

To return to the specific consideration of the gift, there must be a plan of arranging the various pieces which go to make up the whole cube.