Friedrich Fröbel, or Froebel, is best known as the pioneer of the "kindergarten system." Radical in his day, he highlighted the significance of play, theorizing that it is the elementary engagement with the world that provides understanding. Strongly influenced by Pestolazzi, Froebel's ideas blossomed out of a kindness and desire to teach children by enhancing their natural tendencies, and focusing on their developmental stage as opposed to the traditional methods of the day which treated young children as small adults.
             Born in 1782, Friedrich Froebel was the youngest of several brothers. His mother's passing at the very tender age of nine months ". . . influenced the whole environment and development of my being: I consider that my mother's death decided more or less the external circumstances of my whole life" (Froebel 3). Froebel was basically raised by his older brothers because his father, a pastor, well known in his own right, was focused on the development of his parish while the servants charged with Froebel's education were largely unavailable to him. Of course his father's faith, as well as his work in botanicals, permeated the home and Froebel grew up with a strong sense of religion, spirituality, and its connection with Nature, which would later influence his work in education.
             After the death of one of his elder brothers, Froebel became commissioned with this brother's young sons. Heavily influenced by Pestalozzian philosophies, Froebel spent a fair amount of time observing these boys and their interaction with the world through play. Fascinated with the auto-didactic nature of this play, Froebel began to develop teaching methods of his own based on his observations and his personal views of the interconnectedness, or "Universal Harmony" of creatures with God and with nature. These methods were aimed at providing a warm environment that encouraged "the ...