FILAMER CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Autonomous Status - CHED

GRADUATE SCHOOL
Roxas Avenue, Roxas City 5800, Philippines
Tel. No. (036)6212-317; Fax No. (036)6213-075
website: http://www.filamer.edu.ph

EDUC 403
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHERS OF FRONTIER THINKERS
FRIEDRICH FROEBEL

Prepared by: Ms. Lorena D. Fabular Professor: Mr. Exequiel Calimutan

“CHILDREN ARE LIKE TINY FLOWERS, THEY ARE

VARIED AND NEED CARE, BUT EACH IS BEAUTIFUL
ALONE AND GLORIOUS WHEN SEEN IN THE COMMUNITY
OF PEERS.”

Biography (1782-1852)

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel was born on April 21, 1782 in the village of
Oberwebach in Thuringia, Germany.

He was the youngest of five sons of Johann Jacob Froebel

Froebel’s strict father, a Lutherian pastor, raised him from infancy after Froebel’s mother
died when he was 1 year old.

At the age of ten (10), Froebel was sent to live with his Uncle Herr Hoffman who had a
son that died at the age of ten.

In his youth, Froebel enjoyed nature and studied botany and mathematics.

PROFESSIONAL LIFE

After Froebel's college years, he got a job in the forestry department at Bamberg. After
this, he got a teaching job at Frankfort.
In 1816, Froebel founded the Universal German Educational Institute, which was
relocated to Keilhau the following year where it functioned until 1829.

In 1818, Froebel married Henrietta Wilhelmine Hoffmeister (1780-1839), whom assisted

him until her death.

During this time, he began publishing his theories on education. His most acclaimed
work, The Education of Man, was published in 1826.

Froebel spent time in Switzerland and also founded an Institution for Education there in
1831.

Upon his return to Germany in 1837, Froebel dedicated his work to the study of Pre-
School Education
 He founded the Child Nurture and Activity Institute for young children in Blankerburg;
the school was designed to integrate play and activity into the educational arena.

Shortly after, the Institute became known as kindergarten (child garden). Froebel
developed all the educational play tools in the kindergarten, including building blocks,
pattern games, and other educational exercises.

He is known as founder and FATHER OF KINDERGARTEN

PHILOSOPHY

The Philosophy of Friedrich Froebel, 1782-1852 stresses the;

 respect with which the individuality and ability of each child should be treated
 the importance of creating a happy, harmonious environment in which he or she can
grow; and
 the value of self-activity and play as a foundation on which the integrated development of
the whole person can be built.
 He believed that humans are essentially productive and creative, and that fulfilment
comes through developing these in harmony with God and the world.
 His kindergarten system consisted of games and songs, construction, and gifts and
occupations.
 The play materials were what he called gifts and the activities were occupations.
 His philosophy also consisted of four basic components which were free self-activity,
creativity, social participation, and motor expression.

THE FROEBEL APPROACH

Froebel created a program for young children based on ‘play and activity’ and ‘the
nurturing of creativity’ to help children develop and grow.

“The learning experiences with the children in the garden convinced Froebel that action and
direct observation were the best ways to educate”.

Froebel’s Kindergarten Goals

o Physical activity

o the development of sensory awareness and physical dexterity

o creative expression

o exploration of ideas and concepts

o the pleasure of singing

o the experience of living among others

o satisfaction of the soul

FROEBEL’S KINDERGARTEN PHILOSOPHY

-all existence originates in and with God

-humans possess an inherent spiritual essence that is the vitalizing life force that causes
development

-all beings and ideas are interconnected parts of a grand, ordered and systematic universe.

THE KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM

 As a series, the gifts began with the simple undifferentiated

sphere or circle and moved to more complex objects. Following
the idealist principle of synthesis of opposites,
 Froebel’s cylinder represented the integration of the sphere
and the cube.
 The various cubes and their subdivisions were building blocks
that children could use to create geometrical and architectural designs.
 Using the sticks and rings to trace designs on paper, children exercise the hand’s small
muscles, coordinated hand and eye movements, and took the first steps toward drawing
and later writing.

FROEBELS GIFTS

The gifts are intended to give the child new universal aspects of the external world suited to a
childs development. The gifts lead to discovery and insight

SOLID

 Color first gift

 Shape second gift
 Number third gift
 Extent fourth gift
 Symmetry fifth gift
 Proportion sixth gift
 Surface (squares & equilateral triangle) seventh gift
 Lines eighth gift
 Rings ninth gift
 Points tenth gift

FROEBELS OCCUPATION

The occupations were items such as paper, pencils, woods, sand, clay, straw and sticks for use in
constructive activities. Kindergarten activities included games, songs and stories designed to
assist in sensory and physical development and socialization. Froebel published Mutter-und-
Kose-lieder, (Mothers songs, games and stories), a collection of kindergarten songs.

“The gift leads to discovery; the occupation to invention. The gift gives insight; the
occupation, power”.

“The occupations are one-sided; the gifts, many sided, universal. The occupations touch
only certain phases of being; the gifts enlist the whole being of a child”.

REFERENCES:
www.froebelweb.org>web7013

www.froebelgifts.com>history

www.goodtherapy.org>friedrichfroebel

Infed.org>fredrich-froebel-frobel

www.Britanica.com>biography