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Johann Pestalozzi
Established what is considered to the first school to teach preschool age children. -
Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel
Invented kindergarten and he believed children needed to be in an
environment with a teacher to guide them to make sure they were
taking in appropriate information. -
Margarethe Schurz
Started the first kindergarten in the United States. Schurz used the German language in her kindergarten, probably because kindergarten originated in the German language. -
Elizabeth Peabody
Responsible for the first kindergarten in the United States that used the English language. -
Maria Montessori
Montessori paved the way for the importance of children learning about things that they are interested in. She respected children and saw that they must be respected in order to be taught. She also believed that children learn by using their senses and being hands on in their learning techniques. -
Sputnik
Sputnik went into space, it prompted the United States to offer a better education to its children in the subjects of math, science, technology, and engineering. This brought about the National Defense Education Act that introduced the federal government in setting goals for educating kids in America. -
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
Created to help low income families to get educations. It benefits schools in buying new and better materials and updating facilities. It also created school lunch programs to help kids get a meal for the day. -
San Francisco
Becomes the first large city to require developers to set aside space of funds for child care space. -
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act was created to sustain the ESEA. It makes it so schools are accountable for their teaching efforts. To be funded, schools have to test and be adequate in their progress. Many oppose this act, saying that it focuses too much on standardized testing. -
President Obama
Called on Congress to expand access to high-quality preschool to every child in America, called The Preschool for All initiative.