Originally published as "Reminiscences of Friedrich Froebel," this enchanting 1894 account of the German inventor of kindergartens was instrumental in bringing kindergartens to the United States. This lively portrait of a pioneer of modern education is a refreshing reminder of the essential role of play and creative exploration in the development of children. Froebel's methods provide a much-needed antidote to the current emphasis on high-stakes testing and accelerated curricula--a corruption, as Herbert Kohl argues in his foreword, of the original concept of kindergartens as children's gardens of learning.

This pioneering work, first published in 1908, played a key role in the development of early childhood education in the United States. Drawing on her own experiences as a teacher and administrator, the author makes a compelling case for the value of play-based learning and emphasizes the importance of individualized instruction for young children. The book includes detailed descriptions of the kindergartens in several major American cities, along with practical advice for parents and teachers. Today, over a century later, Vandewalker's ideas continue to influence the field of early childhood education. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from The Kindergarten in American Education Wherever the democratic idea has emerged during the past century it has been accompanied by certain movements which have tended to anchor and hold it fast. Of all such social phenomena the kindergarten has been one of the most interesting and enduring. German thinkers had been for half a century consciously imaging the universal ideals of freedom and unity in their literature, philosophy, and art. "The Faust," "The Ode to Joy," "The Ninth Symphony," and Novalis' "Blue Flower" were embodiments of that national spirit which had been inarticulate for two centuries. At last the Idee craved political expression and midway down the century all Europe was stirred by spirited revolutions. These revealed the extent to which men's hearts were reanimated with courage and humanitarian purpose. New social programs were offered by patriots and freethinkers to the several governments under agitation. For the most part these were rejected or proscribed, and their authors cast out across the waters, only to propagate and quicken the democratic idea wherever they were received. The United States being made by and for such as these, they came from Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, and Bohemia with the ideal of liberty more consciously enthroned in their minds than ever before. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.