Friedrich Froebel' s Legacy

In a society where parents a child's success or failure is measured against another child's achievements, are children pressured to perform rather than grow?

It happens from birth: A mother will comment, "Junior started rolling over in the hospital, hasn't your baby?" Immediately, the second mother feels protective, competitive and defensive. So it begins. We push our children to out perform others.

I'm not saying a healthy bit of competitiveness isn't healthy - but I am saying that by the time a child gets to school, parents have just about sucked all of the joy out of being a child!

We would all do well to accept the legacy of Friedrich Froebel and enjoy it! Froebel,the father of kindergarten gave birth to the idea of kindergarten out of the belief that children needed time - without the burden of academics or competition - to be children.

Even though it is sometimes undetectable to parents, a child learns best by playing. One of the biggest mistakes modern parents make is shuttling a child from ballet to swimming to gymnastics to enrich their lives!

We offer these activities out of guilt, and with both parents working, it is easier to throw material things at our children to assuage that guilt rather than take the time to interact with our children.

No child deserves to be without that which he craves so much - time with his mother and father. The next time you get the urge to buy something to make-up for not being there, buy some coloring books and crayons or some modeling clay and sit down with your child to talk about what is important in their lives!