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INTRODUCTION. |
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So it is in life with full many a pleasure ;
We are not to seize in our hands the treasure.
It wakens a nobler feeling of joy,
And both shall become then the gainers thereby.
The distinctive peculiarity of all kindergarten songs is the emphasis placed upon gesture. As the child sings he makes movements which point the meaning of melody and words. Before this particular song is sung the light-bird is thrown upon the wall by means of sunlight reflected from the flat surface of a mirror. As soon as the children catch sight of the quivering reflection they stretch out their hands towards it, follow it eagerly as it darts from floor to wall,and from wall to ceiling, admonish it with warning finger to be still and with beckoning hand invite it to them. At the words, " You must not fly away so," the^ extend their arms horizontally, and as they move them rapidly in imitation of the flight they deprecate, the school room seems to vanish and one feels for the moment transported into the midst of the fluttering life of forest and field. I have seen tears rush into strong men's eyes while listening to this song and watching the intent look on the little faces as suddenly ceasing their lively movements, and closing their fingers the children sing:
" The little bird is formed of light, And cannot be held in the fingers tight."
The third phase of Froebel's application of the method of symbolism is the most difficult to explain, though it is ■ the simplest in its practical adaptations. It rests on a two fold basis:—1st. That by our actions in small matters and our thought in definite and limited spheres, we fix our spiritual and intellectual tendencies:—2d. That as the process of thought is the solution of the universe, the nature of this process must be hinted in all of its products. Therefore, to lead the child to perceive relative unities is to prepare him to realize the inclusive process of the world, to train him in the smallest things to seek for the invisible causes of visible eflects, is to stir within him that reverence for the unseen, which will culminate in the vision of God.
The games of the weathercock and the bird's nest will illustrate this application of the symbolic idea. In the former, through representing the motion of the weathercock, the interest of the child is aroused in the wind. He is then led to notice the effect of the wind on different objects. The cock creaks on the steeple—it is the wind which makes it move, now here, now there. The clothes flutter on the line—it is the wind that moves them to and fro. The wind turns the sail of the windmill and makes its clappers beat. The wind bends the branches of the trees and sets each leaf in quivering motion. The little girl's hair is blown by the wind—through the wind the kite mounts high in the air. In a word, we have varied visible effects traced to the activity of a single invisible cause.
In FroebePs commentary on the game of the bird's nest he dwells at some length on the underlying unity of life, and insists that it should be hinted to the child through trac-ting connections in things which come under his own observation. In what, he then asks, can this be better shown than in a nest of young birds? Lead the child to notice, |
therefore, the season in which birds are hatched,—the places where nests are built, and the characteristic forms of different nests. In the beautiful spring time, when the baby birds are born, they find just the weather and the food they need. Summer brings them grain and berries, in autumn, when food is hard to find, they have learned to seek it for themselves and when cold winter comes they have grown strong enough to fly away. Be sure the parent birds have built their nests where they can easiest find food for their little ones. In the neighborhood of human dwellings are many flies, and gnats and spiders; and see between the rafters of one house is the nest of the sparrow—in the chimney of another the nest of the swallow. Robin Redbreast builds in the hedge so rich in insects ; the titmouse makes his home in the hollow trees where worms are plenty, and the stork, who loves frog, builds in.the marsh where frogs do congregate.
Notice, too, the various forms of nests and their adaptations. The finch's nest, between the branches of the apple tree, is scarcely to be distinguished from the bark ; the titmouse avoids danger by a nest which looks like a bundle of moss. Just what the little birds need for their safety and for their food, they have, and this fact dawning on the mind of the child, must stir within him a presentiment of the relationships of life and the unity of their source.
To think anything truly, we must think it as an element ;n an organic process. Particular things vanish—only the active processes abide. We think of the plant as springing from the seed—sending up its slender stalk, pushing forth its shining leaves, crowning itself with beauty in its flowers, consummating the circle of its life in the seed to which it returns. So old Jaques described the process of human life in his picture of the seven ages of man—the infant, school boy, lover, soldier and justice, being simply vanishing moments in the continuous individuality.
In a significant series of games, Froebel indicates the simple processes which may be grasped by the comprehension of the child. The farmer sows, and threshes, and reaps the grain ; the miller grinds it into flour, which the baker makes into bread, that the baby may have his supper. For his milk he must thank Molly who milked the cow, Peter who mowed the grass—God who sent sunlight and rain to make the grass grow. The spoon he eats with is traced back through the smith to the charcoal burner ; the house he lives in, through the carpenter to the trees growing in the woods ; his shoes through the shoemaker to the goat who gave his skin for leather; the worsted ball he plays with to the " white sheep's back on which it grew." Finally, the process is traced to its source in a thought or feeling. "The carpenter must love the child—thegood, protecting house to build." There is nothing true, exclaims Froebel, but thought. The things of sight and sense are only its fleeting manifestations.
Not yet, however, is Froebel through with the idea of unity and the method of symbolism. Both pervade and characterize his gifts. It does not fall within the scope of this paper to consider these gifts in detail, but in the features common to all of them, we shall readily find a key to Froebel's thought. |
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