The Inventer of Kindergarten

Friedrich Froebel was born in Germany in 1782 and his early childhood was lonely, lacking in parental attention. This period of early solitude affected his entire life, and he spent a great deal of time playing alone in the gardens of his Fathers property where he remained in close contact with nature all of his life (Brosterman, 1997). Despite this early setback, he went on to study and work in an array of occupations, some of which included learning woodcraft, the skills of farming, bookkeeping and training as an architect, all of these having a major influence towards his final calling. He spent some years teaching at the Frankfurt Model School which was based on the progressive pedagogy of Johann Pestalozzi (Brosterman, 1997). This in turn took him to Switzerland where he trained under Johann Pestalozzi (1746-1827) who was also a very influential pioneer of early education. His two year visit in 1808, weighed heavily on his mind, as he was impressed with the warmth and human k...