Froebel's Gifts Part 15

The difficulties of the new gift are very slight, as has been said, consisting neither in dictation, in ma.s.s of material, nor in new forms, lines, or angles. Equilibrium alone presents novel problems, but this law the child now understands fairly well in its practical workings, while he has gained so much dexterity in his use of the other blocks that the height and delicate poise of the new forms are added attractions rather than obstacles.

Forms of Life.

The sixth gift far surpa.s.ses all the other building blocks in its decided adaptation to the purely architectural forms. The bricks of the fourth gift may be used as a foundation for the construction of large and ambitious structures, and with this additional material, the sixth gift may excel in producing elegant and graceful forms.

The bricks of course admit of a much greater superficial extension and the inclosure of a more extensive s.p.a.ce than has heretofore been possible.

The children will unaided construct familiar objects, such as household furniture and implements, churches, fences, walled inclosures, and towers, with the new blocks, and seize with delight upon the possibilities of the column, which is really the distinctive feature of the gift.

So far, the building of object forms will closely resemble those of the previous gifts, but a step in advance may be made by the children if the kindergartner is complete mistress of the new forms and knows their capabilities. The gift may serve as a primer of architecture if its materials are thoroughly exploited, and may lead later on to a healthy discontent with incorrect outline, with vulgar ornamentation, and with crudity of form.[58]

[58] "The sense of beauty must be awakened in the soul in childhood if in later life he is to create the beautiful."--_Reminiscences of Froebel_, page 158.

Froebel himself, who had made exhaustive studies in architecture, and obtained the training necessary to enable him to take it up as a profession, has left us many examples of sixth gift building, which are to be found in all the German "Guides." The structures are no longer rude representations, but have a marked grace and symmetry, and in their simplicity, clearness of outline, and fine proportion, strongly resemble early Greek architecture. Colonnades, commemorative columns, facades of palaces, belvederes, temples, arches, city gates, monuments, fountains, portals, fonts, observatories,--all can be constructed in miniature with due regard to law, fitness, and proportion, and as the soft, creamy-white structures rise on the various tables, we see borne out Froebel's saying that the order of his Building Gifts was such that the child might be led in their use through the world's great architectural epochs from Egypt to Rome.[59]

[59] "As the gifts proceed from the first to the sixth, observation is demanded with increasing strictness, relativity more and more appreciated, and the opportunity afforded for endless manifestations of the constructive faculty, while all the time impressions are forming in the mind which in due time will bear rich fruits of mathematical and practical knowledge as well as aesthetic culture, for the dawning sense of the beautiful as well as of the true is gaining consistency and power." (Karl Froebel.)

Forms of Symmetry.

Although with this gift we cannot produce symmetrical forms in as great diversity as with the fifth, yet the materials are productive to the inventive mind, and when the pieces are arranged with care and taste, beautiful figures may always be developed, those having a triangular centre being novel and especially pleasing. Although not as diversified, however, they have the added advantage of approaching nearer the plane; and that this progression may be more clearly shown, it seems evident that the symmetrical forms should only be produced by laying the columns, "square-faced blocks" and bricks, flat upon the table, and that the practice, advised by some authorities, of changing the figures by placing the blocks erect, or half erect, should be discouraged.

Forms of Knowledge.

In the forms of knowledge we find again much less diversity than in the fifth gift,--the rectilinear solids and consequent absence of oblique angles limiting us in the construction of geometrical forms.

The blocks, however, offer excellent means for general arithmetical instruction, for working out problems as to areas, for further ill.u.s.tration of dimension, and for building many varieties of parallelopipeds, square prisms, and cubes, and studying the parallelograms which bound them. The elements of this knowledge, it is true, were gained with the fourth gift, but we must remember that interest in any subject is not necessarily decreased by repet.i.tion, and that the value of review depends upon whether or not it is mechanical.[60]

[60] "What makes Froebel's gifts particularly instructive is, indeed, the fact that the most varied materials constantly lead to the same observations, but always under different conditions, so that we obtain the necessary repet.i.tions without the dryness, the tiresomeness, the fatigue inseparable from constant unvaried iteration. But they also accustom the child to discover similarity in things that appear to differ, to find resemblance in contrasts, unity in diversity, connection in what appears unconnected."--H.

Goldammer's _The Kindergarten_, page 109.

Cooperative Work.

The group work at the square tables is now especially beautiful, both when forms of symmetry or object forms are constructed. The fourth gift may be used, as has been said, if more material is needed, and of course combines perfectly with the sixth gift blocks. A large sixth gift made as was suggested for the fifth, on the scale of a foot instead of an inch, is most useful for cooperative exercises in the centre of the ring, and the slender, graceful columns, for instance, which may thus be built in unison to commemorate some historic birthday, are so many concrete evidences to the child's eyes of the value of united effort.

The Gifts and their Treatment by the Kindergartner.

Every gift and occupation and exercise of the kindergarten has been developed with infinite love and forethought to meet the child's wishes and capabilities; every one of them has been so delicately adjusted to meet the demands of the case, and so gently drawn into the natural and legitimate channel of childlike play, that they never fail to meet with an enthusiastic reception from the child, nor to awaken the strongest interest in him.

The kindergartner should be careful that he never builds hastily or lawlessly, and above all she should guide him to those forms which he will be able to construct with perfection and accuracy. She should always follow him in his work, answering his questions and suggesting new ideas, letting him feel in every way that she is in sympathy with him, and that none of his plans or experiments, however small they may be, are indifferent to her. It is always a delight to the child if his productions are understood by grown-up people, for he often feels somewhat doubtful of the value of his work until the seal of approval has been set upon it by a superior mind.

Underlying Idea of Froebel's Gifts.

If we have grasped the underlying idea which welds the ma.s.s of material which forms the kindergarten gifts into a harmoniously connected whole; if we have developed the a.n.a.lytical faculty sufficiently to perceive their relation to the child, the child's relation to them, and the reasons for their selection as mediums of education; if we see clearly why each object is given, what connection it has with the child's development, and what natural laws should govern it in play, then we comprehend Froebel's own idea of their use.

Education _vs._ Cramming.

Certainly the ignorant and unsympathetic kindergartner may err in dealing with them, and introduce the cramming process into her field of labor as easily as the public school teacher, for it is as easy to cram with objects as with books, and should this occur there is cause for grave uneasiness, since the opportunity for injuring the brain of the child is greater during these first years than at any other time.

If we force the child, or make the lesson seem work to him, his faculties will rebel, he will be dull, inattentive, or restless, according to his temperament or physical state; he will not be interested in what we teach him, and therefore it will make no impression on him.

The child has memory enough; he remembers the picnic in the woods, the glorious sail across the bay, the white foam in the wake of the boat, the very tint of the flowers that he gathered,--in fact, he remembers everything in which he is interested. If we would have him remember our teachings forever, we must make them worthy of being remembered forever. And to this end it is essential that only the best teachers be provided for little children. The ideal teacher should know her subject thoroughly, but should be able to boil it down, to condense it, so that the concentrated extract alone will remain, and this be presented to her pupils.[61]

[61] "If you would be pungent, be brief; for it is with words as with sunbeams,--the more they are condensed the deeper they burn."

In leaving these first six gifts, we need finally to remember these things:--

Suggestions as to Method.

First, that we must not be too anxious to resolve these plays into the routine of lessons; with our younger pupils especially this is not admissible, and we must guard against it in all exercises with the kindergarten materials.

Second, we may a.s.sure ourselves, in all modesty, that it is a difficult matter, indeed, to direct these plays properly; that is, to have system and method enough to guard the children from all lawlessness, idleness, and disorder, and yet to keep from falling into a mechanical drill which will never produce the wished-for results.

Play is the natural, the appropriate business and occupation of the child left to his own resources, and we must strive to turn our lessons into that channel,--only thus shall we reach the highest measure of true success.

Third, we must strive by constant study and thought, by entering into the innermost chambers of the child-nature, and estimating its cravings and necessities, to penetrate the secret, the soul of the Froebel gifts, then we shall never more be satisfied with their external appearances and superficial uses.

NOTE. In arranging the blocks of the sixth gift, place the eighteen bricks erect, in three rows, with their broad faces together. On top of these place nine of the square-faced blocks, thus forming a second layer. The third layer is formed by placing the remaining three blocks of this cla.s.s on the back row, and filling in the s.p.a.ce in front with the six pillars, placed side by side.

READINGS FOR THE STUDENT.

Paradise of Childhood. _Edward Wiebe_. Pages 27-29.

Kindergarten Guide. _J._ and _B. Ronge_. 20-31.

Kindergarten Guide. _Kraus-Boelte_. 113-145.

Koehler's Kindergarten Practice. Tr. by _Mary Gurney_. 31, 32.

The Kindergarten. _H. Goldammer_. 105-110.

Stones of Venice. _John Ruskin_.

Architecture, Mysticism, and Myth. _W. K. Lethaby_.

The Sources of Architectural Types. _Spencer's Essays_, vol. ii.

page 375.

The Two Paths. _John Ruskin_. (Chapter on Influence of Imagination in Architecture.) Discourses on Architecture. _E. E. Viollet-le-Duc_. Tr. by _Henry Van Brunt_. (First and Second Discourses.)

FROEBEL'S SEVENTH GIFT

"The properties of number, form, and size, the knowledge of s.p.a.ce, the nature of powers, the effects of material, begin to disclose themselves to him. Color, rhythm, tone, and figure come forward at the budding-point and in their individual value. The child begins already to distinguish with precision nature and the world of art, and looks with certainty upon the outer world as separate from himself."

FRIEDRICH FROEBEL.

"Froebel's thin colored planes correspond with the mosaic wood or stone work of early man." H. POESCHE.