g."--Spencer's _Education_.

Froebel.

The balance of authority seems to be, on the whole, upon the side of
presenting color first to the young child, as we appeal to the
emotions at this age rather than to the intellect; and while the
senses revel in color, form follows more the law of use. Let us hear,
however, what the "great pioneer of child study" says upon this point.
Froebel says, as distinct and different as color and form may be in
themselves, they are to the young child indivisible, as inseparable as
body and life. Nay, the idea of color seems to come to the child, as
perhaps to mankind in general, through the forms; so, on the other
hand, the forms gain prominence and impressiveness by the colors.
Hence ideas of colors must at first be coupled with ideas of form, and
_vice versa_; color and form are in the beginning an undivided
unity.[11]

[11] "A person born blind, and suddenly enabled to see, would
at first have no conception of _in_ or _out_ (of eye), and
would be conscious of colors only, not of objects; when by
his sense of touch he became acquainted with objects, and had
time to associate mentally the objects he touched with the
colors he saw, then, and not till then, would he begin to see
objects."--Preyer's _Mind of the Child_, page 58.

"Color cannot be abstracted from that which gives it
vitality,--i. e., Form,--from which it cannot be abstracted
without rendering the color flat and meaningless." (Geo. L.
Schreiber.)

The color and form of the ball being indissolubly blended in the
child's eyes, we can scarcely teach them separately at first. We may,
however, consider each by itself, in order to present the subject more
clearly.

FORM.

To teach form in an interesting manner, to make it plain to the child
without giving him any terms, but rather coaxing him by ingenuity to
formulate his own knowledge, is a difficult thing to do, and should
not be attempted at all with very young children. It seems
unnecessary to say that Froebel did not intend the ball should be made
a medium of object lessons for babies, although this distorted view of
his idea seems to have entered the minds of some critics.

The child, when old enough to enter a kindergarten, will generally
know round objects, and be somewhat familiar with the ball already in
his home plays. We should let him roll and grasp it in his tiny
fingers, till gradually, in comparison with othe