Is Kindergarten German? YES! The “Garden of Children,” or Kindergarten, sprung from the mind of Friedrich Fröbel, based on the idea that young children are like flowers or small plants, and with the right nurturing and care, they can grow to be productive adults. His education system for young people spread worldwide, and most countries today have some form of Kindergarten.
Most of us went to Kindergarten. But the experience in Germany vs. the United States are different. In the United States, it was such a right of passage. You were at the elementary school but weren’t usually mixed in with those giant 1st and 2nd graders. Today, emphasis is placed on basic reading and math skills, and preparing for elementary learning. Kindergarten in Germany is different. It’s a separate space, and the Kindergarten program lasts from ages 3 to 6. Instead of worrying about reading or mathematics, children spend time on arts and crafts, stories, playing outdoors, and taking excursions to see new things. It’s a learning while keeping an active environment. The program stretches kids’ imaginations while they learn skills to get along in the world.
But it wasn’t always like this!
Is Kindergarten German?
Before the 1830s, people had much different views of how to treat children than we do today. Young children were viewed as miniature adults that needed correcting, and play was a frivolous waste of time. Friedrich Fröbel’s ideas were revolutionary. He suggested that children learn through “creative, imaginative, and spontaneous play.” Under his mentor Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, the whole motto was “Learning by head, hand, and heart.” Froebel developed education plans and started by creating toys and writing education pamphlets.
In 1837, he developed his first school, a “care, playing and activity institute for small children” in Bad Blankenburg, Germany. On June 28, 1840, he opened the doors for the first Kindergarten. The school emphasized “free work,” which meant the children would learn about the world by exploring, playing, singing, and gardening. He encouraged learning through stories and observing nature and created the idea of “circle time.” (I love circle time!)
Because he felt small manipulative blocks and puzzles were essential to understanding how the world worked, he created a series of toys called “Froebel Gifts,” or “Fröbelgaben,” that would be introduced to children during the appropriate period of their development. A soft, hand-sized ball, a wooden cube, a ball set, and then moving on to building blocks. All are specifically designed to introduce the child’s brain to the 3-dimensional world in a way that they can control and fully grasp.
(On an interesting note, architect Frank Lloyd Wright credits his interest in architecture and building to a set of Fröbel toys he received as a child and couldn’t stop playing with. They enabled him to see, test, and experience the world in many dimensions.)
Froebel then caused waves in the education system by setting up training programs for women to teach Kindergarten. He firmly believed that because early childhood education is tied to nurturing, women were better suited emotionally for this task. Friederich Froebel’s nephew, Karl Froebel, wrote a book about these new schools called “Weibliche Hochschulen und Kindergärten (Female Colleges and Kindergartens).”
And that’s when the trouble started, and things got a bit confusing.
The Prussian government at the time decreed that the notions of ‘Women’s Colleges’ and ‘Kindergarten’ were the basis of a new socialist uprising, and Kindergarten was banned in Prussia. Never mind that they had made a mistake and that Friedrich’s schools for young children were not the same as the Women’s colleges. The damage was done, and soon, other German States followed their lead. Kindergarten, inside of Germany, was eliminated.
Kindergarten in America
Lucky for all of us, the ideas and concepts that Friedrich Froebel taught were already spreading throughout Europe. In 1856, Margarethe Schurz, one of Froebel’s students, moved to Watertown, Wisconsin, where she started a German Kindergarten for the local children. She didn’t do it for financial gain; she did it out of a firm belief that teaching young children in a nurturing and organic way was better for the social and educational development of children.
The original Kindergartens in the United States were German-speaking (and until 1914, many of the private Kindergartens were still taught in German). Elizabeth Peabody took the Froebel model and opened the first American-English Kindergarten in Boston in 1860. New York soon started a Kindergarten program as well. By the 1870s, the first public-school Kindergartens were opened in St Louis, and by the 1880s, there were 400 Kindergartens and Kindergarten training programs across America. By 1914, all major cities in the US had Publicly funded Kindergartens for 5-year-old children.
Vintage 1940s, German Building Blocks
Kindergarten Supporters
An early supporter of the Kindergarten movement was toymaker Milton Bradley (his daughters were the first two Kindergarten students in Springfield. Bradley used his skills to recreate Fröbel’s wooden block “gifts.” And although sales were slow, he believed in the product enough to keep making them. Eventually, Bradley’s gifts became standard in all Kindergartens in the US.
The Kindergarten movement continued to spread around the world. Although kindergartens were originally private, governments began to see the benefit of teaching young children, even in the poorest communities, to help develop social-emotional skills.
Eventually, the Kindergarten movement worked its way back to Germany. In 1867, the Prussian ban on Kindergarten was lifted. By 1908, Kindergarten teaching was regulated by the state.
Kindergarten Today
Kindergarten in Germany today still follows the old Fröbel model of playing, singing, and learning by observing the environment, including a mandatory 30-minute outside play time (remember, there is no bad weather, just wrong clothing). As hard as it is for many Americans to understand, German kindergarteners don’t have to learn to read or write, and they don’t sit at a desk working on mathematics. They play and build, go on field trips, and enjoy stories during circle time. Kindergarten is non-mandatory for kids aged 3-5, and parents can choose half or full-day programs. There are even fabulous-sounding Forest Kindergartens, where children spend days outdoors exploring the woods and nature and building their own constructions, all while under the loose supervision of their teachers.
As for Kindergarten in America, it has taken a turn from its original concept. Today, the emphasis is more on study and learning to read and write and less on exploration. A new documentary series about Kindergarten was released in 2018. You can learn more about it-> History of Kindergarten
Learn More About How Kindergarten Came to America
Kindergarten coming to America was more than just the education of young people… it had a massive effect on women. Giving them both a respected spot in the workplace, and a voice in childhood education.
To Find a German School in Your Area–>German Schools in America
I was a Kindergarten teacher in Alabama for 25 years. They have changed from what German Kindergartens are based. Sadly the days of play and exploration are being replaced with test scores and achievement goals. Childhood is being taken from our children too soon in order to meet adult goals.
You have so many popup ads, the whole site blares like a strobe light, and the text is so small, hard to read. big turn off.
I increased the font size again… I hope it’s better for you now.
Very interesting! You mentioned field trips and here in Dresden we often see groups of all ages experiencing the world outside of school. Sometimes we see the smallest kids in a wheeled buggy that can hold 6 tots and only needs one adult to push. It just fits on the trams here! I’ve forgotten what it’s called.
I love the field trips. Kids learn so much by DOING and SEEING. Those buggies are cool!! Could they be called a Kita Wagen?