Solids. { Rectangular Parallelopipeds.
{ Square Prisms.
Planes. { Oblongs.
{ Squares.
6. The fourth gift presents contrasts of dimension and, as to the area
of its faces, contrasts of size and their mediation.
* * * * *
What the Child has gained from Third Gift.
The use of the third gift opened to the child quite a new world of
experiences, each one of which was pleasant and instructive, combining
all the delights of mental and physical activity, imagination,
practical industry, and cooperation.
He has gained an idea, distinct in proportion to the skill with which
it has been placed before him, of the cube as a solid body having
surfaces, corners, and edges; of a whole and its equal fractional
parts; of the power of combining those parts into new wholes; and of
the fact that form and size are two separate and distinct
characteristics of objects. He has also gained new dexterity.[43]
His ten little fingers that seemed "all thumbs" as they arranged so
carefully the clumsy little cubes of the Low Wall can now build the
Bunker Hill Monument with unerring skill, and can even, with the grave
concentration that it demands, drop the last difficult little block
cornerwise into the top of the church window.
[43] "A child trained for one year in a kindergarten would
acquire a skillful use of his hands and a habit of accurate
measurement of the eye which would be his possession through
life." (W. T. Harris.)
The child has counted his cubes from one to eight until he knows them
like the children of a family, and can divide them into sets of two
and four with equal ease.
These are the deeds. As to the new words the little box of blocks has
brought him, their number is legion, comprising many terms of
direction and position, names of tools and implements, buildings and
places.
Truly if the kindergartner has been wise and faithful, the child has
gained wonders from this simple unassuming toy, one which is almost
too plain and rude to fix the momentary attention of a modern spoiled
child, though even he will grow to appreciate its treasures if rightly
guided.
Differences between Third and Fourth Gifts.
And now we approach another cubical box, containing the fourth gift,
and, on opening it, see that it presents resemblances between and
differences when compared with that just left behind.
We notice at once the new method of division, and in separating it
find that the parts, evidently in number the same as before, are
entirely novel in form, though the whole was familiar in its aspect.
If the child is old enough to understand the process of comparison, he
will see that the parts of the two gifts have each six surfaces, eight
corners, and twelve edges; but that while edges and corners are alike,
the faces differ greatly on the new block, which he will probably call
the "brick," as it is a familiar form and name to him. This process of
comparison will be greatly facilitated if he models the two cubes in
clay, and divides them with string or wire, the one into inch cubes,
the other into bricks.
Dr. Seguin's Objections to the Cube as the Primary Figure in the
Kindergarten.
Dr. E. Seguin, in his celebrated "Report on Education," says, in
regard to the use of the cube as the primary block or figure in the
kindergarten: "Had the kindergartners chosen it with their senses, as
it must speak to the senses of the child, instead of with their mind,
they would certainly never have selected the cube, a form in which
similarity is everywhere, difference nowhere, a barren type incapable
by itself of instigating the child to active comparison. Had they, on
the contrary, from infantile reminiscences, or from more philosophical
indications, selected a block of brick-form, the child would soon have
discovered and made use of the similarity of the straight lines, and
of the difference of the three dimensions. For example: Put a cube on
your desk and let a pupil put one on his; you change the position of
yours, he, accordingly, of his. If you renew these moves till both of
you are tired, they will not make any perceptible change in the aspect
of the object. The movement has been barren of any modification
perceptible to the senses and appreciable to the mind. There has been
no lesson unless you have, by words speaking to the mind, succeeded in
making the child comprehend the idea of a cube derived from its
intrinsic properties; a body with six equal sides and eight equal
angles."
Answers to these Objections.
With all deference to Dr. Seguin, whose opinions and deductions are
generally indisputable, we cannot regard as unwise the choice of the
cube as the primary figure in the gifts.
In the first place, Froebel, having a sequence of forms in his mind,
undoubtedly wished to introduce, early in that sequence, the one which
would best serve him as a foundation for further division and
subdivision. This need is, beyond question, better met in the cube
than in the brick, which would lend itself awkwardly to regular
division.
Secondly, although there is in the cube "similarity everywhere,
difference nowhere," and therefore it might be called in truth a
"barren type, incapable by itself of instigating the child to
comparison and action," we do not introduce it, by itself, but in
contrast with the sphere and cylinder.
Then, when it appears again in the building gifts, "as the simplest
and most easily handled form element," the kindergartner has every
opportunity to use it so that it may lead the child to comparison and
action, and to develop the slowly dawning sense of difference and
agreement without which she well knows "knowledge has not yet made the
first step." But, if the cube is a form speaking little to the senses
of a child, and requiring description by words spoken to the mind, it
is evident that we should use great care in dealing with the second
gift, lest we run needlessly into abstractions, and strive to give the
child ideas of which he can have no comprehension.
Value of the Brick Form.
The "brick" is a form rich in impressions, for we find that every
position in which it is placed gives the child a new perception, and
the union of these perceptions furnishes him with a complete idea of
the object, and of its possible uses in relation to its form.
Dr. Seguin does not rate it too highly when he says: "What a spring of
effective movements, of perceptions and of ideas in the exercises with
this form, where analogy and difference, incessantly noted by the
touch and the view, challenge the mind to comparison and judgment!"
Dimension.
The fourth gift contains all that the three former gifts showed, and
introduces differences of dimension and equilibrium only hinted at
before. It also, as Froebel says, "throws into relief the perception
of size by showing similarity of size with dissimilarity of dimension
and position."
As to dimension, the child built the Shot-tower with the third gift,
and knew that it was high, the Platform and that it was broad, the
Well and that it was deep, the Wall and saw that it was thick, etc.,
so that he has a conception of height, length, breadth; but in the
fourth gift he is shown these dimensions in a single block. He is thus
led from the known to the unknown.[44] They are united and contrasted
in one object, and therefore emphasized.
[44] "The three principal dimensions of space, which in the
cube only make themselves known as differences of position,
in the fourth gift become more prominent and manifest
themselves as differences of size. These three relations of
size are in the fourth gift as abiding and changeless as the
position of the three principal directions was before and
still is."--Froebel's _Pedagogics_, page 189.
Equilibrium.
As to the law of equilibrium, it is very forcibly brought to the
child's attention every time his forms fall to the table when
constructed without due regard to its principles.
He soon sees its practical significance, takes care to follow its
manifest expression, and to observe with more care the centre of
gravity. Great liberties could be taken with the stolid little cubes
and they seldom showed any resentment; they quietly settled down into
their places and resisted sturdily all the earthquake shocks which are
apt to visit a kindergarten table during the building hour. The bricks
on the other hand have to be humored and treated with deference. The
moment one is placed upon another, end to end, the struggle begins,
and in any of the high Life forms, the utmost delicacy of touch is
necessary as well as sure aim and steady hand.
Here comes in, too, a necessity of calculation not before required.
The cubes could be placed on any side and always occupy the same
space, but the building with the bricks will vary according as they
are placed on the broad, the narrow, or the short face. They must also
fit together and bear a certain relation to each other.
In the dictations it will be perceived that we now have to specify the
position which the brick must take as well as the place which it is to
occupy. We designate the three faces of the brick as the broad face,
the narrow face, and the short face or end.
Fourth Gift Building.
The symmetrical forms are much more interesting than before and
decidedly more artistic when viewed in comparison with the somewhat
thick and clumsy designs made with the cubes. The fourth gift forms
cover more space, approach nearer the surface, and the bricks slide
gracefully from one position to another, and slip in and out of the
different figures with a movement which seems like a swan's, compared
with the goose-step of the stubby little cubes.
It is a noteworthy fact that "the buds," as Froebel calls them, of all
the fourth gift Beauty forms were contained in those of the third
gift, and have here opened into fuller bloom.
The Life forms are much more artistic now, and begin to imitate a
little more nearly the objects they are intended to represent. We can
make more extensive buildings also since we have an additional height
or length of eight inches over that of the third gift, and thus can
cover double the amount of surface and inclose a much greater space.
In the first play with the gift, the children's eyes, so keen in
seeing play possibilities, quickly discover the value of the bricks in
furniture-making, and set to work at once on tables and chairs, or
bureaus and sofas and bedsteads.
They engage too in a lively contest with the law of equilibrium, and
experiment long and patiently until they comprehend its practical
workings.
When they understand the fourth gift fairly well, know the different
faces and can handle the bricks with some dexterity, the third gift
should be added and the two used together. They complement each other
admirably, and give variety and strength to the building, whether
forms of Life, Beauty, or Knowledge are constructed.
Froebel, however, is most emphatic in directing that each set of
blocks should be given to the child in its own box, opened so as to
present a whole at the first glance, and carefully rebuilt and packed
away when the play is over. The cubes and bricks should never be left
jumbled together at the close of the exercise, nor should they be kept
in and returned to a common receptacle.
"Unimportant as these little rules may appear," he says, "they are
essential to the clear and definite development of the child, to his
orderly apprehension of external objects, and to the logical unfolding
of his own concepts and judgments."
"The box of building blocks should be regarded by the child," he
concludes, "as a worthy, an appreciated, and a loved comrade."
The mathematical forms are constructed and applied in precisely the
same manner as before. The fourth gift, however, offers a far greater
number of these than its predecessor, while it is particularly adapted
to show that objects identical in form and size may be produced in
quite different ways.
Throughout all these guided plays, it should be remembered that time
is always to be allowed the child for free invention, that the
kindergartner should talk to him about what he has produced so that
his thought may be discovered to himself,[45] and that in all possible
ways Group work should be encouraged in order that his own strength
and attainments may be multiplied by that of his playfellows and swell
the common stock of power. Froebel, the great advocate of the
"Together" principle says, "Isolation and exclusion destroy life;
union and participation create life."[46]
[45] "The child is allowed the greatest possible freedom of
invention; the experience of the adult only accompanies and
explains."--Froebel's _Pedagogics_, page 130.
[46] _Pedagogics_, page 180.
It is perhaps needless to say that the philosophical laws which govern
the outward manifestations of a moving force, as equilibrium or
self-propagating activity, are for personal study, and are never to be
spoken of abstractly to the child, but merely to be illustrated with
simple explanations.
Transmitted Motion.
To show simply the law of transmitted motion, for instance, let the
child place his eight bricks on end, in a row, one half inch apart,
with their broad faces toward each other. Then ask him to give the one
at the right a very gentle push towards the others and see what will
happen; the result is probably as great a delight as you could
reasonably wish to put within his reach.
When he asks, "What makes them do so?" as every thoughtful child is
apt to do, let us ask the class the same question and set them
thinking about it. "Which brick did it?" we may say familiarly, and
they will see it all in a moment,--where the force originated, how it
gave itself to the next brick in order, that one in turn doing the
same, and so on.
This law of transmitted motion, when so simply illustrated in the
fourth gift, easily suggests to the children the force of example, and
indeed every physical law seems to have its correlate in the moral
world. We may make the children see it very clearly through the seven
poor, weak little bricks that fell down because they were touched by
the first one. They really could not help it; now, how about seven
little boys or girls? They can help doing things, can they not?
By such simple exercises and appropriate comments the children may be
made to realize their moral free agency.