Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1904-07-13

tered that statement had no thought
that some day his idea would be q
principle recognized thruOut the civil
ICED world as one demanding the
most serious attention.: and that it
would be dwelt on and enlarged upon
until it grew into an axiom upon
which was to be founded great sys
TEN Of education. We recognize still
better than he, that whatsoever tends
to influence the child will influence the
man into whom the child will eventu
ally grow; and that what's oever in
hue noes the development OF the man
is of greatest Importance, not only
in system Of education but in all
that pertains to the worlds progress.
The individual is the unit of our whole
social system and as the unit is, or
rather as the greater number of units
He, therefore, who has the power of
lettering and elevatipg the individual,
of giving him more complete training,
of making him more fit for the doing
Of his allotted work in life,-he is en-
titled to have his name written high
on the worlds roll of great men. The
list Of great names is long and H.
lustrious one, and is not limited to
class, or country or race. 1t is drawn
from over the whole world and covers
all ages and all times since the world
began. But from out this multitude
who in different lands and different
times have won fame in varying de-
grees, few stand out 80 distinct, so
far above the rest that they mark the
erss of the worlds progress. By them
we measure our growth: by them we
test our advance or decline. We no
longer judge them, but rather judge
ourselves by them, by the extent to
which we can appreciate and under
stand them. Some of these have been,
or are, great statesmen: others, great
warriors; etill others, great poets; and
others again great philosophers and
educators, whose lives have been de-
voted to the betterment OF mankind
thru the increase of the worlds knowl.
edge. Among the class of men who
have gained prominence by virtue of
their educational ideal, we find Fred
erick Froebel, the originator of the
Kindergarten; or as he has Outlines
been called, "the friend OF the moth
ers. ~
Froebel was born on the 2lst OF
April, 1892, in the village OF Ober-
weisbach, Germany. He spent the
first ten years of his life at home I'M.
der the instruction of his father, who
was Lutheran clergyman. The elder
Froebel was good man, but the
many cares of his Office prevented him
from giving his son the necessary At.
tention, both as teacher and father.
The boy was also neglected by his
stepmother, bee ause she had very little
interest in him, and was unable to
understand him. Fruebel, therefore,
receiving little attention from his
father, and no sympathies from his
stepmother, was left by himself to
while away the time as best he could.
This he did by walking about in the
forests surrounding his home, altho
he might have spent his time playing
with the other children of the village.
He had sad disposition however,
and always wanting to be alone had
no love for their c0mpanionship.
Their games did not appeal to him.
But to walk In the forests where there
was no one to disturb him, with his
own thoughts for companions, was
his greatest pleasure. These rambles
in the woods, together with the neglect
that he suffered In his youth, had
much to do in later life with his ideas
OF what education should include, and
with the eagerness he showed in pro.
noting the happiness of children.
The habits of introspection and self an.
.alysis that he formed at this period Of
bis life, remstned with him in late1
life and gave hirq clesr insight into