Therese Focking

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Therese Antoinette Focking , pseudonym Aunt Therese (born June 8, 1828 in Danzig , † 1913 in Dresden ) was a German Froebel educator and children's book author.

Live and act

the mother and Kose songs edited by Focking
Page from Froebel's mother and kose songs

She spent most of her childhood and adolescence with her eleven siblings on her father's Georgenthal estate near Dirschau . A poor eyesight prevented her from taking up the profession of teacher. Focking continued his self-taught education. Especially the writings of Friedrich Froebel found her interest as well as his "foundation", the kindergarten. Although she had not completed training as a kindergarten teacher, she opened a Froebel kindergarten in Dirschau, which soon not only met with approval from parents, teachers and doctors, but also attracted the attention of important teachers. In 1877 she closed the kindergarten and moved to Leipzig. There she continued her education at the educational institution founded and managed by Henriette Goldschmidt . This was followed by a stay in Dresden with Bertha von Marenholtz-Bülow , who encouraged Focking to publish Froebel's mother and co-songs in an easier form that was more accessible to mothers. With her free adaptation of the mother and co-songs, with 58 illustrations by Fedor Flizner, she accepted Friedrich Fröbel's approach to give even the smallest child a certain amount of attention and to lead it playfully to new knowledge and activities . The mother is the main person in this educational process and must be instructed accordingly ... The instruction can only be successful if the mother is ready to put herself into Froebel's world of thought. Example of a children's poem written by Focking from the mother and co-songs :

“ The little ship.
...
The two hands are my boat
The table of the blue lake
My little vehicle arrives
I get in, goodbye!
My little ship sways to and fro,
I sail far into the blue sea
To and fro,
Wave ships across the sea!
And through the undulating waves
The little fish come drawn
I quickly throw my net into the sea
Oh dear little fish, come here!
they are coming
Swam.
But nobody wants to get into the net
They swim far into the sea
Swim there, swim here,
Swim, little fish through the sea! ”(Focking 1879, p. 37).

In addition, Focking published educational essays, mostly in school papers, housewife newspapers, in "Over Land and Sea" or The Upbringing of the Present. New episode etc. were published. Her books for children achieved high editions. The Froebel primer published in 1884, a read-write method based on Froebel principles, was received extremely critically by anti-Froebel experts and disavowed it as a "failed work". Disappointed by the harsh and unobjective criticism of her publication, the author moved to London for a while, where she worked as a private tutor in the home of a manufacturer. She subsequently refrained from further publications. After her return she wrote various smaller youth publications, some with a biographical background, for home, school and kindergarten.

Focking, who became more and more blind with increasing age, was unmarried all her life and spent her old age in the “women's home” in Lichterfelde.

Works (selection)

  • Froebel's Mutter- und Kose-Lieder, Leipzig 1879
  • Riddle book for kindergarten and home, Leipzig 1880
  • Our little ones, Leipzig 1880
  • The child in nature. Illustrative images for kindergartens, schools and homes, Berlin 1882
  • Froebel primer, Neubrandenburg 1884
  • The formation of the tone sense, in: Education of the present. New series 1883, No. 11, pp. 4-7.
  • On the question of music lessons, in: Education of the Present. New series 1883, No. 9, pp. 11-12.
  • About education in: Education of the present. New series 1884, No. 11, pp. 14-19.
  • A word for Froebel's means of employment, in: Das Land 1898/99, p. 186
  • The twins' birthday. A day out of children's life, Wesel a. Rh. 1891

literature

  • Focking, Therese . In: Sophie Pataky (Hrsg.): Lexicon of German women of the pen . Volume 1. Verlag Carl Pataky, Berlin 1898, p. 218 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • German Literature Lexicon . Volume 5, first part: Filek – Frank, Bern 1977, column 260
  • Christine Konrad: The "Mother and Koselieder" by Friedrich Wilhelm Fröbel. Investigation of the history of origin and impact Text tape. Würzburg 2006 (dissertation), pp. 148–154.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Konrad 2006, p. 148
personal data
SURNAME Focking, Therese
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Focking, Therese Antoinette (full name); Therese, aunt (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Froebel pedagogue and children's book author
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH Danzig
DATE OF DEATH 1913
Place of death Dresden