About
Friedrich Froebel (usually pronounced "froy-bel") was born in central Germany in 1782. A deeply spiritual man and a scientist, Froebel was heading toward a career in mineralogy and crystallography when he was drawn into the field of education.
Froebel's work lead to his invention of kindergarten - the concept that children should be nurtured from an early age, like new shoots on a plant. Through this metaphor, he coined the term "kinder-garten" or "garden of children."
What Friedrich Froebel did was more than the coining of the word kindergarten or promoting the idea of preschool education. His contribution to education was not merely the founding of a school or the writing of a few books on education or philosophy.
His gift to the world was to point us in the right direction for educating our children and ourselves. The Froebel Gifts are part of his vision, a profound understanding of relationships between intelligence, the physical world, and our spiritual nature. The power and simplicity of his ideas is obvious, and the validity of his intuitions about learning can now be proven scientifically.
But the most profound aspect of his work is his trust and admiration for the perfect order of the universe. Each child is a unique creation waiting for the proper nourishment to unfold his/her potential. Froebel saw no higher calling than to become a gardener of humanity.
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