A Cast of Influential Thinkers

Many scientists, theorists, and philosophers have contributed to the current view that children should be respected as individuals in their own right. Further, these thinkers continue to help us understand how children learn and the methods and environments that best encourage the learning process. The following brief profiles describe individuals whose ideas and theories have generated important themes for early childhood curriculum; these will be addressed throughout this text.

Friedrich Froebel

Source: http://www.froebelweb.org/gifts/

Many of Froebel’s gifts, including various blocks and tiles, can be found virtually unchanged in preschool classrooms today.

Friedrich Froebel (17821852) is generally credited with proposing the seminal idea that young children need a systematic program and materials specifically designed for their unique learning style. Froebel likened children to seeds to be cultivated in a “garden of children,” or kindergarten. He believed a teacher’s role was to observe and nurture the learning process, in part by encouraging them to play. He also believed that children’s play should be structured for their own protection and maximum benefit.

Froebel’s curriculum for young children centered on concrete materials he called “gifts” as well as activities, including songs and educational games, he described as “occupations.” Gifts were objects such as wooden blocks and colorful balls of yarn designed to teach children concepts about color, shape, size, counting, measuring, comparing, and contrasting. The purpose of occupationswhich involved the child’s manipulation of items like clay, paper, and beadswas to develop the fine motor and visual discrimination skills needed for reading and writing. Froebel encouraged the use of the play circle, a curriculum feature that looks familiar in any preschool classroom today, as a time to sing songs that would help to reinforce concepts and develop memory.