Today's early education owes a great deal to the Froebelian Philosophy. As cited in (A.Curtis 1998 2nd Edition) Froebel stated.
" At this age play is never trivial; it is serious and deeply significant . The focus of play at this age is the core of the whole future, since in them the entire person is developed and revealed in the most sensitive qualities of his mind -.
Rudolph Steiner an Austrian Philosopher and Theosophist opened his first school for the children of cigarette factory workers. Steiner was concerned primarily with the whole child'. As with Froebel, Steiner believed that the educational emphasis should be based on play, story telling, games and singing but most importantly the child's imagination. He thought that whilst telling a story to children, if a book was used it came between the narrator and the children. He liked the children to use their imagination to conjure their own images to the story. .
Steiner was anti-materialistic in his views to education, the child in his opinion should create from within He was not interested in the child's literacy at this stage of their development but in their imagination, tactile awareness and their understanding of shape, colour and interaction. He wanted to avoid the academic pressure, all children face today.
Maria Montessori was a doctor who worked with the socially and mentally handicapped children in Rome at the beginning of the 20th Century. The ideology of Montessori's work and methods, are more prevalent in the U.S.A, rather than here in Britain. She believed that three stages covered the area of growth which were:.
0-6, 6-12 and 12-18 years.
Her belief was that younger children need a different use of language to that of older children. Therefore, the adult must be aware that a young child requires a different approach to language. She realised every child was unique and was deeply aware and conscious of the world around them, the environment and society as a whole.
