KINDERGARTEN, kin'der-giieten (Ger., children's garden). A school for children from the third or fourth to the seventh year. sug gested and organized by Friedrich Fribel (q.v.). through which the natural activity of the child in play is so organized as to assist in the physical, mental. and moral development. Friibel first grasped the significance of the idea of evolution in its application to education, and saw the im portance of the earlier stages. To him educa tion was a setting free of the powers inherent in the individual. By an organization of the child's instinctive tendency to action, through gradual, continuous exercises, his hest can be strengthened, and at the same time he can acquire a certain preliminary knowledge of the world of nature and man around him. Thus the child gains control over his own being, develops power of thought, self-control, accuracy of sense perception. and a tendency toward an active in tellectual life.
Frac] was a close student of child life. Hence his suggestion of means and methods for the kindergarten work were based on accurate knowl edge of child nature, and have been of permanent value. The mere play instinct alone would not suffice, but the plays and 231111's must he se lected and organized. Frac] classified the ma terial to be so used as gifts and occupations.
The kindergarten is a new social institution for the child, in which lie has free scope to be him self while being also one of a community of equals toward whom he must observe his duties and accept the responsibility of his part in the whole. The gifts and the occupations are there introduced gradually and in a logical order. As he becomes familiar with the properties of the one he is led on to the next, which properly grows out of the first, each introducing new im pressions and repeating the old.
The first gift is composed of six rubber or woolen balls, three of the primary and three of the secondary colors. The ball is chosen :IA the simplest type form, from which may be derived all other forms, as embodying the element of con stancy and unity. Through the balls the idea of comparison is introduced, aml sensation and perception become clearer and stronger through the similarity, contrast, and discrimination made possible by the almost innumerable exercises and games. The second gift, comprising a wooden ball, cylinder, and cube, carries impressions further, and oilers not only in itself, but also with the first gift, a strong illustration of con trasts and their connections. In shape, in ma terial, in hardness, in color, etc., it contrasts with its predecessor, but is like it in the com mon shape of the halls. NVith the third gift, consisting of a wooden cube cut once in each dimension to form eight smaller cubes. begins the first impression of a whole divisible into similar parts. here, too, are the lirst steps in Lumber. in analysis of construction, the first sug gestion., in the gifts, of the relation of the indi
vidual to the whole, and of the need of every per fect part to form a perfect unit. With the use of this gift the child accustoms himself to regularity, care, precision. beauty. The fourth gift, a cube like that of the third, but cut once horizontally and twice vertically into eight rectangular parallelograms. introduces especially the new element of a whole composed of parts unlike itself. The fifth and sixth gifts are but extensions of the third and fourth, with more material and differing forms of solids. The seventh gift consists of quadrangular and tri angular tablets of cardboard or thin wood, giving a basis for studies in surfaces and colors. The eighth and ninth gifts are introductory to draw ing. and consist of small strips of laths and of rings and circles in cardboard. which can be ar ranged into all sorts of patterns.
The development of Frobelian principles has caused much more stress to be placed upon the occupations than upon the use of the gifts. These occupations are, modeling in clay and in cardboard, and, later, wood-car•ing, or sloyd; paper-folding, in two and three dimensions; paper-cutting, paper mosaic, and work with the color-brush; mat-plaiting, slat-weaving, paper weaving, sewing. wax or cork work with sticks, drawing in cheeks and free, bead-threading. and perforating. These occupations are grouped above, not in the order of their use, but as they deal with solids, surfaces, and lines and points. The union of part with part in the kindergarten periods is maintained by a central, seasonable thought, from which spring all the exercises of day, week, and month, that thought always deal ing with subjects within the general and local experience of the kindergarten children. The songs. games, and stories, which hold together the periods of gift and occupation exercises, are also an integral part of them, growing out of them and their necessities. While they are the means of developing the singing voice, facility in language, grace and strength of body, they are also compassing the powers of attention, observa tion, imagination--they are helping the child to think, to obey law, to govern himself, to stand in the proper attitude toward his environment. Another aspect is the industrial connection of the kindergarten with life. Manual training, not in special but in general dexterity, forms an important part of the kindergarten training. From the delicacy of touch, as needed in such gilts as paper-folding and parquetry, to the strength and decision gained by the hands in clay-modeling, all degrees of handling are intro duced, accuracy becomes a second nature, and crisp, distinct action is attained. The kinder garten also develops an interest in nature, and gives the child an impulse to study its forces and phenomena.