kindergarten

[German=the children's garden.] Education: A system of education, for infants and young children, devised by Frederick Fröbel (1782-1852), by whom, in conjunction with M. Ronge, it was first carried out at Hamburg, in 1849. In 1858, Ronge published a work on the subject. Knowledge is imparted in an attractive form, chiefly by simple object-le ons, by toys, games, singing, and work-plaiting, weaving, folding, and cutting out paper. Corporal punishment is excluded. The chief merit of Fröbel's method appears to lie in the fact that he makes education a real drawing-out, not a mere imparting of instruction, which he considers as a means, not an end; his object is the unfolding of the child's whole nature, with a view to free self-development and action. The kindergarten system is becoming increasingly popular in this country. 153 chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this; kindly