\This work of Froebel admits us into his philosophy, and shows us the
fundamental principles upon which he based the kindergarten system. His
great word is inner connection. There must be an inner connection
between the pupil\s mind and the objects which he studies, and this
shall determine what to study. There must be an inner connection in
those objects among themselves which determines their succession and the
order in which they are to be taken up in the course of instruction.
Finally, there is an inner connection within the soul that unites the
faculties of feeling, perception, phantasy, thought, and volition, and
determines the law of their unfolding. Inner connection is in fact the
law of development, the principle of evolution, and Froebel is the
Educational Reformer who has done more than all the rest to make valid
in education what the Germans call the \ developing method.\ [...]
This book is a reprint of the original, initially published in 1903.