He was received into the home of the pastor, his uncle Hoffman, whose mother-in-law, who kept the house, treated him in the most cordial manner, and helped him to conquer the diffidence acquired during the solitude of the first years of his childhood.  This excellent woman first made him familiar with the maternal feminine solicitude, closer observation of which afterwards led him, as well as Pestalozzi, to a reform of the system of educating youth.

In his sixteenth year he went to a forester for instruction, but did not remain long.  Meantime he had gained some mathematical knowledge, and devoted himself to surveying.  By this and similar work he earned a living, until, at the end of seven years, he went to Frankfort-on-the-Main to learn the rudiments of building.  There Fate brought him into contact with the pedagogue Gruner, a follower of Pestalozzi’s method, and this experienced man, after their first conversation, exclaimed:  “You must become a schoolmaster!”

I have often noticed in life that a word at the right time and place has sufficed to give the destiny of a human being a different turn, and the remark of the Frankfort educator fell into Froebel’s soul like a spark.  He now saw his real profession clearly and distinctly before him.

The restless years of wandering, during which, unloved and scarcely heeded, he had been thrust from one place to another, had awakened in his warm heart a longing to keep others from the same fate.  He, who had been guided by no kind hand and felt miserable and at variance with himself, had long been ceaselessly troubled by the problem of how the young human plant could be trained to harmony with itself and to sturdy industry.  Gruner showed him that others were already devoting their best powers to solve it, and offered him an opportunity to try his ability in his model school.

Froebel joyfully accepted this offer, cast aside every other thought, and, with the enthusiasm peculiar to him, threw himself into the new calling in a manner which led Gruner to praise the “fire and life” he understood how to awaken in his pupils.  He also left it to Froebel to arrange the plan of instruction which the Frankfort Senate wanted for the “model school,” and succeeded in keeping him two years in his institution.

When a certain Frau von Holzhausen was looking for a man who would have the ability to lead her spoiled sons into the right path, and Froebel had been recommended, he separated from Gruner and performed his task with rare fidelity and a skill bordering upon genius.  The children, who were physically puny, recovered under his care, and the grateful mother made him their private tutor from 1807 till 1810.  He chose Verdun, where Pestalozzi was then living, as his place of residence, and made himself thoroughly familiar with his method of education.  As a whole, he could agree with him; but, as has already been mentioned, in some respects he went further than the Swiss reformer.