One of the First Principles. Development is one of the most important of these principles; it might be phrased as "Continuous Evolutionary Growth." Froebel saw this as a basic principle of the world, and of man's life, bodily and mental. He applied it to method in education in every way he could He believed that the child's activities and powers, physical, mental, spiritual, have, as plants have, a necessary and natural growth; that the tendency and rate of this growth depend on the kind of nurture supplied, as it does with plants; some being quicker, some slower, some stronger or weaker in certain qualities, so that right education means neither arbitrary control in forced directions, nor wild spontaneous growth. It means such cultivation, following what we observe of the child's needs and nature, as only patient and thoughtful people can give. He believed that such a method would give us a finer type of human beings, and would result in developing the best possibilities of which each child is capable. Starting Point in Education. Another principle, that of Creative Activity, or Self-Activity, is a natural accompaniment of the first. Froebel regarded the smallest active power in the child as important, as the starting point of education. Not only this, but as the spark of divine inheritance, the proof of our being God's children. "God," he says, "creates and works progressively in uninterrupted continuity." Again, "Think not, mother, that the almost infinitesimal powers of your child may be neglected. Out of least things, God created the greatest, therefore cherish and encourage your child's feeble efforts to use his power." He persistently urges that education means the drawing forth and training of the child's spontaneous energy and activity in all right and possible directions. Preventive of Wrong Activity. Froebel says, ‘There is but one sure preventive of wrong activity, that is right activity; an activity as persistent as it is fit and lawful, and that is not of the head alone, but of the head, the heart, and the body." As Col. Parker once said, "The whole child goes to school," but under old-fashioned methods it was almost a crime for a child to be active in school, and teachers would no doubt have preferred, had it been possible, to have heads there alone. It is the natural consequence of Froebel's principles, that manual training, gymnastics, art and music--in a word, everything that trains and develops the physical nature and the emotion as well as the intellect--should form part of education. Value of Play. Play as a valuable agency in early education was a natural conclusion from this belief in self-activity, since it was the child's earliest form of expression. Froebel believed play to be one of the highest, most wholesome forms of human activity; partly because it is the form of activity in which little children and ordinary people are best able to be spontaneous and creative. He thought the plays of children, if watched and studied, gave valuable hints for training them. He says, "I believe that whatever affords a child a pure (or wholesome) and persistent pleasure, is founded on a real need." In other words, that the native instincts and impulses give true information as to the powers and needs of children, though the need may often be to control and train the impulse, not to let it run wild. It is a great mistake to suppose that Froebel thought everything which is spontaneous should be let alone. He says, "All true education should be double-sided, prescribing and following, active and passive--positive, yet giving scope." He believed that in guiding play it is possible to give a valuable social training in sympathy and co-operation, leadership and comradeship, as well as in originality. Unity Contributes to Growth. Another principle of Froebel is generally spoken of as Organic Unity; by it is meant that as all the parts of a plant have their share in the activity which contributes to the whole growth, so should all humanity contribute, each to the benefit of all. Froebel felt deeply the relation between all created things; he felt that men were dependent on nature, God and each other, and should be full of gratitude and helpfulness. The child should learn gladly and actively to do his share as what Froebel calls a "Member-Whole" in the world. He is to give care to animals and plants, sympathy and help to his family, neighbors and fellow-citizens, with loving obedience and gratitude to God. In planning the kindergarten, the latest of his educational efforts, he strove to invent and suggest means for planting the germ of this idea in the minds of young children--mainly through action, for "Learn by doing" is his guiding rule. But Froebel's most urgent point is, that the child's life and education should be an organic unity, or natural whole. As a plant or tree has root, stem, leaves, blossoms and fruit, each needing the rest for its perfect growth, so every part of life should help every other; and parents, teachers, ministers. playmates, neighbors, should have a necessary and helpful part in all children's development; as the plant grows from the moment the seed life stirs, so each day of a child's life belongs to the whole. Froebel is most anxious that education and training for life should begin in the home; that parents should co-operate with the school, heartily, intelligently. He urges, "Come, let us live with our children," meaning, let us share their play and have them share our more serious pursuits, let us enter into the spirit of childhood, and so learn how to teach children. Plan of the Kindergarten. In his kindergarten, or child-garden, he plans for something of the order and grouping of the community-action of the school; and with this, some of the training in language and manners, the play and exercise of the senses, the moral training, the free movement and the happiness of a good home. The games are simply physical exercise, the preliminary to gymnastics; the hand work is the beginning of manual training; the songs, stories, verses and conversations are the beginnings of literature, nature study, civics, and moral teaching; the touch, ear, eye and mind are made more alert and ready for the work in reading and writing; the experiments with simple objects in contrasts of number, measurement and color are a basis for science and arithmetic; while the child's love for his home and his parents, and his duties to them as well as to teachers and playmates, are emphasized. First Training in the Home. Training, that is, seeing that the right thing is done over and over again until it becomes a habit, is especially the office of the home; for the younger we are, the more plastic we are in forming habits. Every day that a garment lies folded makes the crease deeper; so every time we act a certain way the habit gets more set, and every day a child is not forming good habits he is forming bad ones, for the wrong way becomes more set, if the right does not. (See James' Talks on Psychology, Chap. VIII.) So a child should carry with him from home to kindergarten habits of obedience, cleanliness and politeness and the habit of attending when he is spoken to. Above all, he should have the habit of happiness and good humor. For this is habit, too, and can be made natural to a child, especially by example at home; for young children learn more by imitation than any other way. If in addition the child has become interested in observing what he sees, has heard some pleasant childish rhymes and stories, and has been given toys such as he can arrange, take apart and put together by himself, not mechanical ones, he will enter easily into kindergarten activities. One warning must be given; neither home nor kindergarten must push or overstimulate growth. It must never be hurried. References. In the references given there is no attempt at a complete list of Froebel's statements on any point or principle of education; a few only of the most definite statements on each subject are mentioned, with a few similar or related views from other educators and psychologists. See Education of Man, pp. 8, 17, 27, 29, 194, 328, 329, and A Study of Child-Nature, by Elizabeth Harrison, chapter on "The Training of the Intellect." Froebel's Mottoes and Commentaries on Mother-Play, pp. 106, 199, 201, 307. See Education of Man, pp. 30, 34, 39, 71, 75, 99, 107. Froebel's Mottoes and Commentaries on Mother-Play, pp. 27, 153, 213, 297. See Mottoes and Commentaries, pp. 57, 59, 106, 127, 293, 294, 296. Read Education of Man, pp. 29, 255, 60, 107, 114; Mottoes and Commentaries of Froebel's Mother-Play, pp. 26, 29, 250, 225, 297. James' Talks to Teachers, Chapters VI, VII, X, XI, pp. 123, 146, 147, 235, 241. Education and the Larger Life, C. Hanford Henderson. Essay on Child's Play, R. L. Stevenson. Love and Law in Child-Training, Emilie Poulson. Froebel and Self-Activity, Chapter III; Bowen. Psychology of Childhood; Tracy.