The book contains fifteen essays of Froebel collected by Wichard Lange into a volume entitled Die Pädagogik des Kindergartens, first published in 1861, in Germany, Berlin.
Contents of the book
"This original and fundamental nature of man, as being life in itself and therefore again giving life, makes itself known in man's impulse to creative formation. This fundamental nature makes itself known even in the child by the instinct for observing, analysing, and again uniting - that is, by the instinct for formative and creative activity. Indeed, the fostering of this instinct in the child makes manifest the life of man, at the same time wholly satisfying the demands of that life." (p. 8)
About the plan for kindergartens and instructions for educators and parents: the idea of development, of closeness to nature, and the following of the nature of the child. It presents various steps (read from page 18 to 22)
"The course of lays and menas of employment is to begin with that which is simplest, smallest, and near can develop from and explain by itself the manifold, great, and distant - can show the spirit of unity; and it is only the single spirit which creates the single life.
And thus we show here, for the fostering of the impulse to activity and of the creative nature of the child, first of all, the details of a whole series of boxes, for the play and for the occupation of children in methodical and coherent sequences, stages, and gifts, accompanied by illustrative drawings and text." (p. 22)
"Therefore, the first voluntary employments of the child, if its body needs are satisfied and it feels well and strong, are observation of its surroundings, spontaneous reception of the outer world, and play, which is independent outward expression of inward action and life. This dual expression, taking in and carrying out in life, is necessarily grounded in the nature of the child as well as of the human being in general, since its first earthly destiny is to attain by critical reception of the outer world into itself, by manifold inward impressions and through outward realisation of its inner world, and by critical comparison of both, to the recognition of their unity, to the recognition of life as such, and to faithful living in accordance with the requirements of life." (p. 29)
"That he may fulfil and attain his destiny, man is endowed on the one hand with senses, the organs by which he can make the external internal; on the other hand with bodily strength and limbs, by which he can represent his inner nature outwardly, therefore always by material means; finally, that he may comprehend spiritual unity, the nature of man appears as an anticipating and individual soul, because this nature is in itself a perceptive and uniting spirit.
It is therefore evident how important the training of body and senses is for man even in the early stages of his existence; and, from the more spiritual, comparing, and uniting point of view, it is also evident how important the kind of the voluntary, playful occupations of the child, are for the method of experience as to its conclusions and reasons, for the spirit of the knowledge and insight which it draws therefrom, and so for the expression of its nature, which makes itself known thereby." (p. 30)