“Gift and Occupations” Kindergarten Workbook by Jean Alice Tait Over

Datecirca 1911

Credit LineGift of Jonathan Over, Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, 2019.

Object number2019.011.001

Label TextJean Alice Tait Over (née Gow?) was born in Montreal Quebec on 17th November 1909. Her parents lived in Smith Falls Ontario where they were married 8th April 1907. Jean was their first of six children (3 girls, 3 boys). They moved to London Ontario circa 1911, where her brother, John, was the next to be born. With the additions of Doris Margaret and Willian [sic] Neil they then returned to Blairgowrie Scotland circa 1916. Initially they lived in a hamlet called The Muirton of Ardblair Perthshire. Jean was educated and spent her formative years in the City of Perth Scotland. Later she worked in St Andrews and met James Henry Over who was in the RAF at Leuchars Airbase near St Andrews. They married in 1930 and had 3 children. Jean died in July 1987. This workbook is an example of an “Occupations” workbook, as used in the “Gifts and Occupations” model of early childhood education developed by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), the German founder of the kindergarten concept. Children used activities like sewing, drawing, weaving, paper cutting, and paper folding (all represented in this workbook) to develop skills and creativity. Froebel believed that these activities grounded children in the world around them and provided them with a solid foundation for later schooling. Ontario schools incorporated Froebel’s methods into the kindergarten curriculum by the early 1900s. This workbook includes a variety of “Occupations.” all done by a child in London.

NameWorkbook