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Norman Brosterman
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Inventing Kindergarten Hardcover – February 1, 1997

by Norman Brosterman (Author)
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 21 ratings
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This is the first comprehensive book about the original kindergarten, a revolutionary educational program for children that was invented in the 1830s by the charismatic German educator Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) and grew to become a familiar institution throughout the world by the end of the nineteenth century. Using extraordinary visual material, it reconstructs the most successful system for teaching young children about art, design, mathematics, and natural history ever devised.
Kindergarten - a coinage of Froebel's combining the German words for children and garden - involved not only nature study, singing, dancing, and storytelling, but also play with the so-called Froebel gifts - a series of twenty educational toys, including building blocks, parquetry tiles, origami papers, modeling clay, sewing kits, and other design projects, that became wildly popular in the nineteenth century.
Architect and artist Norman Brosterman tells the story of Froebel's life, explains his goals and educational philosophy, and - most remarkably - describes each of the gifts, illustrating them all, as well as many examples of art by nineteenth-century kindergarten teachers and children, and diagrams from long-forgotten kindergarten textbooks.
In a section of the book devoted to the origin of abstract art and modern architecture, Brosterman shows how this vast educational program may have influenced the course of art history. Using examples from the work of important artists who attended kindergarten - including Georges Braque, Piet Mondrian, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier, among others - he demonstrates that the design ideas of kindergarten prefigured modern conceptions of the aesthetic power of geometric abstraction.
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  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harry N. Abrams
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 1997
  5. Grade level
    8 and up
  6. Reading age
    13 years and up
  7. Dimensions
    9.5 x 0.75 x 12 inches
  8. ISBN-10
    9780810935266
  9. ISBN-13
    978-0810935266
  10. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Adults over a certain age probably have similar memories of their first taste of school--the half-day kindergarten that featured singing, finger-painting, stories, and naptime. Whatever lessons we absorbed during those halcyon hours were not obvious ones, but we developed confidence, exercised our imaginations, and learned the basic schoolroom drill concerning school buses, milk money, and raising our hands before asking or answering a question. These days, kindergarten is a far departure from its earlier incarnation; instead of a loosely structured time to play and discover, modern kindergartens are more like First Grade 101, in which children are taught their numbers and letters and even assigned homework. Norman Brosterman, author of Inventing Kindergarten, doesn't approve.

Inventing Kindergarten is partly Brosterman's views about the importance of the traditional kindergarten in shaping the hearts and minds of children, partly a biography of an almost-forgotten educator, Friedrich Froebel, the inventor of kindergarten. In tracing Froebel's life and beliefs about education, Brosterman makes a strong case for returning to Froebel's original model in order to encourage the development of "a sensitive, inquisitive child with an uninhibited curiosity and a genuine respect for nature, family and society." Even if you don't agree with Brosterman's belief that kindergarten is responsible for many of modern art's geniuses, it's hard to argue with a philosophy that makes room for the importance of play in early education.

From The New Yorker

... the juxtaposition here of nineteenth-century kindergarten work with the work of Braque, Klee, Mondrian, and Frank Lloyd Wright will make you gasp. This is a revelatory book, and one that gives new meaning to the derisive snort "My kid could do that."

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0810935260
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harry N. Abrams; First Edition (February 1, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780810935266
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0810935266
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.5 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.5 x 0.75 x 12 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

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Norman Brosterman

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Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
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21 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

S. Soloff
5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opener
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2012
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Even though I worked for years as a kindergarden aide and later taught art (following California standards) in the first and second grades, I had very little knowledge of Friedrich Froebel's legacy as the inventor of kindergarten and none whatsoever of his influence on modern art. In this little review I cannot begin to explain the complexity of Froebel's philosophy and how it tied into his instructional system. If you are an artist, an educator, a parent, or someone who cares deeply about learning you must read this book. Norman Brosterman,the author,is to be praised for his understanding and appreciation of Froebel's genius. His book enables the reader to go back in time and see how kindergarten developed and it's developmental effect on the child. I'm sorry to say that today, in many schools, kindergarten is simply a place where children are prepared to move on to first grade with a knowledge of the alphabet, the ability to print letters, introduction to math, etc. Something got lost.
5 people found this helpful
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*MA*
5.0 out of 5 stars Should be of interest to anybody interested in the Bauhaus
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2019
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For anyone interested in Bauhaus, this is a fascinating book that traces the Bauhaus design vocabulary and sensibility to the German Kindergarten.

The book is out of print, and new copies are very expensive, so I ordered a used book. It was accurately described as being in good condition.
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Cindy
5.0 out of 5 stars The past can teach us something
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2012
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This book tells us a bit about the thinking behind kindergarten---how it was designed and why. We've lost that in our modern educational institutions. It is time to go "back to basics," in the sense that it is time to return to the ideas of the great educational thinkers such as Friedrich Froebel. Our schools are in trouble. They push children to memorize and regurgitate information---facts---but they no longer teach children HOW to be learners. Critical thinking and problem-solving are being lost, along with joy and curiosity and initiative. its time to review our schools and this book is a good start to the conversation.
One person found this helpful
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Juliane Klein
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2017
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All good!!!
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Gift Card
5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2015
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The book is awesome it came on time!
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E.Sisto
5.0 out of 5 stars facinating book
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2015
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facinating book
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edna@mills.edu
5.0 out of 5 stars fresh perspective on the Froebelian "gifts"
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 1998
A thorough tracing of the ideas and uses of materials (gifts/occupations) in the early kindergarten movement. The juxtaposition of pictures of the kindergarten exercises and manipulatives with the adult abstract art of 20th century Cubism, Constructivism, and architectural planning is stimulating and thought provoking. This book is both delightful reading and browsing, and intellectually fresh in probing connections between childhood experience and adult art expression. The respect paid to Froebel is also gratifying. Many books in education leave the impression that he was an irresponsible dreamer and was a victim of lifelong misunderstanding and harrassment. This book acknowledges the personal and political problems he experienced without making them a focus of the text. Professionals in child development will find this a rewarding reading experience.
17 people found this helpful
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Shawn J. Rosenheim
5.0 out of 5 stars a work of love
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2007
A beautiful book, and one I often give to new parents. Brosterman writes well and lovingly, and the book is equally good to look at.
2 people found this helpful
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