5.0 out of 5 stars
The Original Kindergarten In Its Most Preserved Form, March 9, 2006
This review is from: The Kindergarten Guide: Vol. 1 The Gifts (Paperback)
Early childhood professionals know Friedrich Froebel as "The Father of Kindergarten", but most do not know that his disciples (Susan Blow, Margarethe Schurz, Bertha Schurz, Matilda Kriege, Alma Kriege, Baroness von Marenholtz-Bulow, Elizabeth Harrison, Elizabeth Peabody, Mary Peabody Mann, and Maria Kraus-Boelte)contributed the most to the enduring presence and influence of his educational philosophy for young children. They wrote many of the most practical-minded interpretations of Froebel's more abstract ideas.
No other interpretation stands more complete, more full, and more thoughtful than John Kraus and Maria Kraus-Boelte's massive 800 page overview of Froebel's Kindergarten. This first volume (which covers The Gifts) shows that more exists to the methodology than just "playing with oddball materials". Beauty, Form, and Knowledge emerge from these open-ended activities.
A gentle warning: this book is not easy to read. If, however, the early childhood professional reads and re-reads it twice, it will permeate the mind like the Bible: one lesson, one line, one philosophical grain at a time in new contexts.
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