Fröbel Society

A few years after the death of Friedrich Fröbel, in 1859 the first Fröbel Society was created in Berlin. One of his prominent figures was Lina Morgenstern , who already in 1860 published the first German textbook on the Fröbel method: “Das Paradies der Kindheit” ^[1] . The Fröbel Society was also created in London ^[2] .

In Russia, the Froebel societies began to be created in the 1870s in a number of large cities - St. Petersburg, Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa, Tbilisi. First of all, they instituted paid Froebel pedagogical courses for the training of teachers (both permanent (one-three-year) and temporary, summer. To improve the family education of children, societies and courses organized public lectures.

Russian teachers ( P.F. Kapterev , A.M. Kalmykov and others) realized the harm of dogmatic perception and mechanical transfer to Russia of the Fröbel system as a whole and, without denying the creative ideas of the Fröbel kindergarten, developed them on the basis of the pedagogical ideas of Russian teachers: K. D. Ushinsky , P. F. Lesgaft , E. N. Vodovozova , E. I. Konradi , A. S. Simonovich and others:

Our "children", "shelters", rural gardens positively can not and should not be "Frebel", with their meticulous organization; they should be simpler, more family-friendly and, most importantly, closer to the conditions of our folk life and customs

- Bobrovskaya E. The essence of the Frebel system ... (cited in the Index of books on education and training. - M., 1906. - P. 21.

The St. Petersburg Fröbel Society was founded in 1871 on the initiative of Paulina Karlovna Zadler (daughter of a doctor, real state adviser K.K. Zadler , wife of A.A. Rauchfus ) and E.A. Werther - graduates of the seminary for teachers and kindergartens in Gotha ( Germany). A group of 22 people, with the active participation of I.I. Paulson and K.A. Raukhfus (husband P.K. Zadler), who as early as 1869 created a pedagogical circle, developed a draft charter of the company, approved on May 28, 1871 (2- I edition - February 5, 1877). The founding members were: I. I. Paulson, K. A. Rauchfus, P. K. Zadler, K. K. Zadler, A. S. Voronov , F. K. Wulf, F. F. German , K. K Grotto , F. Ya. Karell , K. I. Lubebil , S. A. Lubebil, K. I. May , E. A. Markevich, A. K. Nauk , I. T. Osinin , K. A. Ritter , P. G. Redkin , P. P. Semenov-Tien-Shansky , Count G. A. Stroganov , K. A. Treborn, V. M. Yurgenson. He took him under his protection. Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna . The first chairman of the company was P. G. Redkin.

The purpose of the establishment of society was "through the dissemination of educational ideas of Frebel to arouse and support in families an interest in rationalizing the upbringing of children and thereby contribute to improving education in general." To do this, on February 1, 1872, special pedagogical courses (first one-year, from 1878 - two-year) for the preparation of kindergartens ( with an annual fee of 30 rubles) with two exemplary free public kindergartens : from 50 to 120 children aged 4 to 8 years old were raised annually in the winter garden ^[3] ; summer folk kindergarten (in 1894-1898 - at Prudki ^[4] , and from 1899 in the Tauride Garden ) for three summer months, up to 200 children aged 4 to 12 were visited per day ^{[5 ]} , per month - up to 8000 children of the poorest classes of the population ^[6] . Over the first decade, 181 students were trained in the courses.

Since 1907, for three years at the Frebel courses, they began to train kindergarten leaders and teachers of secondary schools (of both sexes); S. I. Shokhor-Trotsky was elected the chairman of the pedagogical council. At the courses on September 21, 1909, an initial four-year school was opened for children from low-income families.

Since 1877, the society began to organize free children's holidays, which have the task of delivering entertainment that is useful for the physical and mental development of children, and in the summer, equipping excursions in the vicinity of the city. Since 1896, in a children's summer colony opened at the initiative of N. A. Nechaev, the society has kept from 50 to 100 children in need of better health. In 1895, a school was opened for the training of nannies, in which girls from 14 years old (later from 12) were accepted, who graduated from the course of the city school ^[7] . In 1899, Paid Kindergarten was opened, which became an important source of income for society ^[8] .

The company arranged public lectures and readings on the issues of primary education, published a magazine in which it introduced the state of primary education in Russia and abroad. Since 1878, the company annually awarded prizes for the best stories for children of children (up to 7 years old) ^[9] , which were published at the expense of the company in five thousand copies; By 1901, up to 2,000 stories were submitted to the competition.

In 1907, a kindergarten, Fröbel courses, a nanny school and a paid kindergarten moved to a room in 12 Ertelyov Lane ; since 1914, they have a new address: Greek Avenue , 13.

In 1915, 121 full members were members of the Petrograd Fröbel Society.

Founded in Kiev in 1908, the Fröbel society began its activity by setting up the Fröbel Pedagogical Institute with three-year education for the training of educators, which “according to the founders is the highest special pedagogical school for theoretical and practical preparation for pedagogical activity, especially in the arena of preschool education” ^{[10 ]} . The pedagogical and psychological laboratories, supporting kindergartens and an orphanage for infants and children up to the age of three made up a single pedagogical whole with him.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Froebel societies in Russia ceased to exist. The Petrograd Fröbel courses were transformed into the Institute of Preschool Education, and the Kiev Fröbel Institute was transformed into the Institute of Public Education ^[11] .

• Fröbel Society - an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
• Frebel Society in St. Petersburg. // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Preschool education // Pedagogical Encyclopedia / ed. A. G. Kalashnikov with the participation of M. S. Epstein. - Moscow: "Education Worker", 1930. - T. 2.