Kindergarten Chapter 8 Summary

Chapter 8

Lines

After inventing Kindergarten's solid forms (Gifts 1-6) and planes (Gift 7), Froebel moved on to investigations of lines, which call for informal as well formal observations and analyses of concrete objects. However, Froebel's movement from concrete toward abstract thinking is bridged by the Connected Slat (Gift 8) representing elements of surface and edge in a tangible form, where the plane gives way to the line, as an object that can be seen, handled and readily understood by children. The development of lines as boundaries of planes as outlines of geometric figures continues through child play in Froebel’s Kindergarten encompassing Slat Interlacing (Gift 9), Stick Laying (Gift 10), Ring Laying (Gift 11) and Thread (Gift 12), all subjects of the embodied line. With so much happening in Froebel’s Kindergarten when it comes to conducting hands-on exercises, for practical reasons, take into account the number of exercises that may be carried out up to this point. Beginning with the First Gift (The Ball=30 exercises); Second Gift (Sphere, Cylinder and Cube=20), Third Gift (Small Divided Cube=105); Fourth Gift (Small Divided Cube=171); Fifth Gift (Large Divided Cube= 132); Sixth Gift (Large Divided Cube=89); and, Seventh Gift (Parquet Tiles=554), for a grand total 1,101 practice exercises. While there is no reason to expect that Wright

When completely folded, the Gift, barely larger than a single slat, depicts a straight line, while with two slats different sized angles can be created for study. Comparisons are made between right, acute and obtuse angles by rotating two slats about their common point of attachment. With three slats, like three lines, the least required number for enclosing a space, children can arrange the slats into a triangle of equal