Froebel's Kindergarten

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Froebel's Kindergarten
Mason City Study Group
On-Going

Since the study group did not have Gift 8, Connected Slats, or Gift 9, Disconnected Slat, they moved on to Gift 10, Stick Laying. Using a box of 1", 2", 3", 4", 5", and 6" colored wooden sticks, they decided to explore with a four inch long skinny wood stick to see what it could do, be and represent.

Each of the players took one stick. The sticks were rectangular prisms. They have six surfaces with square ends. There were sticks of every color, but they ignored the color. They were smooth and straight and rather sturdy for being so thin.

OK it's a line. What is a line? What does it represent? See lines all around. What is it made of and what can it do? Balance it, toss it, slide it, tap it, snap it, spin it, pull it, flip it, roll it between the hands...and it can be used for SO many things...for example to measure, to check proportion, and for all of the hundreds of things one uses a stick for...only gently in this case.

A simplified "person" can be represented standing and lying, and falling...or leaning...the supporting angle it becomes.

Wedge it over the top of your ear like a carpenter's pencil; or is it a cigarette? A director's baton? Yes, they can make music with it and varying percussive sounds. Long sticks make lower sounds than shorter ones.

If it were dipped in paint, they could make points from the ends or imprint straight lines from its long sides, but if They dragged it on its side they could make wide skid marks that could swirl like waves... or they could draw curved lines with the ends.

Now add a second stick...my goodness. One stick in each hand or two sticks in one. Now the possibilities are doubly endless. They have a clock, chopsticks, jaws, an airplane, and legs ...oh my with "legs" they can demonstrate all of the dance steps in rhythm!

There are so many ways two sticks can go together to represent things. They can do sign language. They have a snow plow, wings, oars, and can practice backing up a trailer to see which way one stick goes when the other stick goes "this way". Same with steering a boat.

They have a vertical and a horizontal, the "x" and the "y" axis, and every angle between 0 and 360 degrees, clockwise or counterclockwise. One can affect the movement of the other.

Together they are stronger. Of course, they can make a cross, railroad tracks, or can represent the cantilever: How far can one stick lean out over the top of another before it falls? With two sticks they have a band. Two sticks = lots of fun!

Three Sticks: DRUM ROLL...... THEY NOW HAVE A NEW PART! They can enclose a space! They can explore space! Thank God for three. Gretchen kept seeing perspective "happenings" in her 2-dimensional arrangements. Pat was into building something that would balance. Joanne was exploring spatial relationships...moving them about.

Letters started to form...some in English and some were Japanese-like ...simple representations or abstractions of objects...all is in the abstract after all! More creative exploration. They didn't miss trying out sounds and movements...like backing up with two hitched trailers!

They added another and another on up to twelve. They did follow the Guide Book in that respect since it said 10-12 sticks of one length was good to start with. They made some different shapes and triangles and polygons.

Pat got to business and followed Froebel methods of design transformation. She transformed her design with symmetry; moving sticks on both sides equally...one time a drone appeared. When there are more parts to a whole, following that important rule keeps things from getting unbalanced. With each move there was a new revelation as to what it could be or represent. Fascinating transformations appear this way.

They wished they had a large gridded table-top. The standard grid board is much too small. Never mind the mathematical learning potential. Only so much time! Gretchen and Pat always add so much to their time together that words cannot express. "To be there" is where it's at. Joanne added, "Shame on me for not taking any pictures!"

September 15, 2015
Joanne Hardinger, Pat Schultz, Gretchen King

A Frank Lloyd Wright Save Is A Froebel's Kindergarten Save

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