Exercise 8. Read the text again and complete the following sentences by choosing the one correct variant (a, b or c) that best completes the sentence

1. F. Froebel’s father was a … .

2. … were pillars in Froebel’s own early education.

3. The village where F. Froebel was born had been known for its … .

4. F. Froebel learnt about Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi’s ideas when he worked in … .

5. He became a teacher at … in Berlin.

6. F. Froebel introduced the concept «…» into pedagogy.

1. Where and when was Friedrich Froebel born?

2. Who was F. Froebel’s teacher?

3. What concept did Froebel develop?

4. Can you describe the village where F. Froebel was born? How did families live in it?

5. When did he begin the career of an educator?

6. What was his main literary work?

7. What concept did F. Froebel introduce into pedagogy?

8. What activities did Froebel include in the first kindergarten?

Exercise 10. Make an information map to collect information about Friedrich Froebel.

Friedrich Froebel


to be a German

pedagogue

Froebel’s idea of the kindergarten found appeal, but its spread in Germany was thwarted by the Prussian government, whose education ministry banned it on 7 August 1851 as atheistic and demagogic for its alleged destructive tendencies in the areas of religion and politics. Other states followed suit. The reason for the ban, however, seems to have been a confusion of names. Froebel’s nephew Karl Froebel had written and published “Female Colleges and Kindergartens”, which apparently met with some disapproval. To quote Karl August Varnhagen von Ense, the stupid minister von Raumer has decreed a ban on kindergartens, basing himself on a book by Karl Froebel. He is confusing Friedrich and Karl Froebel. Froebel’s student Margarethe Schurz founded the first kindergarten in the United States in 1856, and she also inspired Elizabeth Peabody, who went on to found the first English-speaking kindergarten in the United States – the language at Schurz’s kindergarten had been German, to serve an immigrant community – in Boston in 1860. This paved the way for the concept’s spread in the USA. The German emigre Adolph Douai had also founded a kindergarten in Boston in 1859, but was obliged to close it after only a year. By 1866, however, he was founding others in New York City.

The pedagogue August Koehler was the initiator and cofounder in 1863 of German Froebel Association, first for Thuringia, out of which grew the General Froebel Association in 1872, and a year later the German Froebel Federation. August Koehler critically analyzed and evaluated Froebel theory, adopted fundamental notions into his own kindergarten pedagogy and expanded on these, developing an independent “Koehler Kindergarten Pedagogy”. He first trained kindergarten teachers in Gotha in 1857. In the beginning, Koehler had thought to engage male educators exclusively, but far too few applied. Thekla Naveau founded in October 1853 the first kindergarten in Sondershausen and on 1 April 1867 the first kindergarten after the Prussian ban was lifted in Nordhausen. Angelika Hartmann founded in 1864 the first kindergarten after Froebel’s model in Koethen, Anhalt. In 1908 and 1911, kindergarten teacher training was recognized in Germany through state regulatory laws.

In the meantime, there are many kindergartens in Germany named after Froebel that continue his pedagogy. Many of them have sprung from parental or other private initiatives. The biggest Froebel association today runs more than 100 kindergartens and other early childhood institutions throughout the country through the Froebel-Gruppe. Committed to Froebel’s legacy is also the New Thuringian Froebel Association, and in particular to protecting the legacy’s business receipts. As well, the Association runs a school museum and the Froebel Archive in Keilhau. Furthermore it engages itself in Fröbel institutions worldwide (United States, United Kingdom, Japan). Through this network, the NTFV further continues one of the most prominent lines of modern pedagogy from the authentic “Froebel town” of Keilhau. The Froebel Diploma, now conferred by the Froebel Academy in Rudolstadt, can also be traced back to the NTFV. All this ensures that Fröbel’s ideas will live on into the future. Froebel’s building forms and movement games are also forerunners of abstract art as well as a source of inspiration to the Bauhaus movement. In Froebel’s honour, Walter Gropius designed the Friedrich Froebel Haus.

smb’s legacy to be an initiator and cofounder

female colleges kindergarten teacher training

state regulatory laws an early childhood institution

to establish a college to engage male educators

a collection archives an immigrant community

educational legacy elementary education

kindergarten pedagogy a constituent college

a confusion of names a source of inspiration

Exercise 5. Read and translate the text with a dictionary. Choose sentences which help you to tell about Froebel’s legacy.

Exercise 6. Choose the best word to complete the sentences. Check yourself with a dictionary.

1. conferred	2. ban	3. constituent	4. inspiration
5. trains	6. appreal	7. disapproval	8. legacy

1. He expressed his … of what they had done.

2. The honour was … on him just after the war.

3. She has been an … to us all.

4. The Greeks have a rich … of literature.

5. They still teach Latin because they believe it … .

6. There should be a … on talking and eating loudly in cinemas.

7. The council’s … members include a representative from each country.

8. Parties on river- boats have lost their … since one sank and several people died.

1. In Froebel’s honour, Walter Gropius designed the Friedrich Froebel House.

2. The first kindergarten was founded in the USA by the Russian government.

3. Adolph Douai was the cofounder of German Froebel Association.

4. F.Froebel first trained kindergarten teachers in Gotha in 1857.

5. Many kindergartens in Germany continue August Koehler’s pedagogy.

6. The first kindergarten after Froebel’s model was founded in Anhalt by Angelika Hartmann.

Exercise 8. Read the text again and complete the following sentences by choosing the one correct variant (a, b or c) that best completes the sentence.

1. Froebel’s idea of the kindergarten was thwarted to spread in Germany by … .

2. Margarethe Schurz founded … in the USA.

3. Adolph Douai had founded … in Boston in 1859.

4. Kindergarten teacher training was recognized in Gemany through … .

5. There are many kindergartens in Germany named after … and continue his pedagogy.

6. Froebel’s followers established … in London to continue his traditions.

1. Who thwarted to spread Froebel’s idea of kindergarten in Germany?

2. What educational institute did Margarethe Schurz found in the USA?

3. Who was the initiator and cofounder of German Froebel Association?

4. Whose theory and fundamental notions did August Koehler adopt in his own kindergarten pedagogy?

5. Where did A. Koehler train kindergarten teachers at first?

6. When did kindergarten teacher training recognize in Germany?

7. How many kindergartens does the biggest Froebel association run today?

8. What can you tell us about Friedrich Froebel’s educational legacy

Exercise. 10. Make an information map to collect information about Froebel’s legacy.

Froebel’s legacy


the first kindergarten

in the United States

Elizabeth Palmer Peabody was an American educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States. Long before most educators, Peabody embraced the premise that children's play has intrinsic developmental and educational value.

Peabody was born in Billerica, Massachusetts on May 16, 1804. She was the daughter of Nathaniel Peabody, a physician, and spent her early years in Salem. After 1822 she resided principally in Boston where she engaged in teaching. She also became a writer and a prominent figure in the Transcendental movement. During 1834–1835, she worked as assistant teacher to Amos Bronson Alcott at his experimental Temple School in Boston. After the school closed, Peabody published Record of a School, outlining the plan of the school and Alcott's philosophy of early childhood education, which had drawn on German models.

With grounding in history and literature and a reading knowledge of ten languages, in 1840 she opened a book store, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody's West Street Bookstore, at her home in Boston. It was there that the "Conversations" were held, organized by Margaret Fuller. The first of these meetings between women was held on November 6, 1839. Topics for these discussions and debates varied but subjects were as diverse as fine arts, history, mythology, literature, and nature. Fuller served as the "nucleus of conversation" and hoped to answer the great questions facing women: "What were we born to do? How shall we do it? Which so few ever propose to themselves till their best years are gone by". Many figures in the woman's rights movement took part, including Sophia Dana Ripley, Caroline Sturgis and Maria White Lowell. For a time, Peabody was the business manager of The Dial, the main publication of the Transcendentalists. In 1843, she noted that the journal's income was not covering the cost of printing and that subscriptions totaled just over two hundred. The publication ceased shortly thereafter in April 1844.

When Peabody opened her kindergarten in 1860, the practice of providing formal schooling for children younger than six was largely confined to Germany. She had a particular interest in the educational methods of Friedrich Froebel, and in 1867 visited Germany for the purpose of studying them more closely. Through her own kindergarten, and as editor of the Kindergarten Messenger (1873–1877), Peabody helped establish kindergarten as an accepted institution in American education. She also wrote numerous books in support of the cause. The extent of her influence is apparent in a statement submitted to Congress on February 12, 1897, in support of free kindergartens. «The advantage to the community in utilizing the age from 4 to 6 in training the hand and eye; in developing the habits of cleanliness, politeness, self-control, urbanity, industry; in training the mind to understand numbers and geometric forms, to invent combinations of figures and shapes, and to represent them with the pencil – these and other valuable lessons… will, I think, ultimately prevail in securing to us the establishment of this beneficent institution in all the city school systems of our country».

Peabody died January 3, 1894, aged 89. She is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

to have a particular interest in smth an educator

topics for discussions and debates the women’s rights

to spend smb’s childhood an assistant teacher

an intrinsic development a prominent figure

to be engaged in teaching an educational value

in support of the cause the journal’s income

an early childhood education a beneficent institution

smb’s knowledge of languages to open the kindergarten

the educational methods a nucleus of conversation

the first English-language kindergarten valuable lessons

Exercise 5. Read and translate the text with a dictionary. Choose sentences which help you to tell about Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, an American educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States.

Exercise 6. Choose the best word to complete the sentences. Check yourself with a dictionary.

1.publication	2. incomes	3. language	4. discussions
5.jconversation	6. model	7. knowledge	8. debate

1. Human … consists of words that are usually spoken or written.

2. The educational system was a … for those of many other countries.

3. I’m afraid my attempts to strike up a …with the exotic-looking man in black came to nothing.

4. Education is the current focus of public … .

5. Average … have risen by 4-5% over the past year.

6. The brochure will be ready for … in September.

7. … between the two sides produced no solutions.

8. He has a limited … of English.