-
Period: to
Johann Amos Comenius
Johann Amos Comenius wrote Orbis Pictus which was the first children's picture book. He believed that children should be able to learn at their own pace, and learn by doing. He also had significant contributions to the social reform potential of education. -
Period: to
John Locke
John Locke believed that the main priorities to teaching a child were teaching them at a young age, teaching obedience and encouraging them to learn. He believed that parents had to be patient with their children. -
Head Start
Beginning in 1665, Head Start was created to provide support through educational, social, medical, dental, nutritional, and mental health services to low income families, specifically preschool children. Head Start was the first large program by the government, focused on children in poverty. -
Period: to
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau is best known for his book called "Emile" published in 1762, which is about raising a child to adulthood. He is a Swiss writer and philosopher and believes that children are naturally good. He also believes in an education that is flexible, easygoing, and reflects the children's interests. His ideas are still used in today's education, for example, "Freeplay" which is based on his belief that children have a natural goodness and can choose what they need to learn. -
Period: to
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Henrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss educator and integrated his teachings into the school curriculum. That included, caring for the child while educating them, integrated classes, and teaching basic and practical skills in schools. He also included sensory education and had both freedom and limits while teaching the children. -
Period: to
Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel
Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel is known as the Father of Kindergarten. The German word for kindergarten means children's garden. Froebel created kindergarten due to his unhappy childhood, he wanted to provide a safe, happy, and fun place for children under 6 years old. In 1837 in Blankenburg Germany Froebel opened the first Kindergarten. -
Robert Owen
Robert Owen opens a British Infant school in England as a help to social reform. The school was specifically for children with parents working in his mills and three of the main aspects included mixed age groupings, integrated day with different classes, and thinking over facts. -
Kindergarten
German was the first country to have kindergarten. Kindergarten has gone through many social changes throughout the years. At first it was for poor students and then it went to be led by churches. The kindergarten we know today is the first grade that students enter when they go to school to help them become more independent and prepared for the following grades. -
Period: to
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner had a theory that proposed "children are active agents of their own learning, and are driven by their innate curiosity and drive to grow and evolve." A Steiner setting became known for striving to lead by example and behave as role models to children. -
Period: to
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was the first female physician in Italy, she worked in Rome with the poor children and children with intellectual disabilities. She focused on observing children and learning exactly what they needed and what the best ways to learn were. She opened a preschool in 1907 and had many students. They provided two meals a day, medical attention and gave them a bath. Her observations greatly contributed to today's early childhood education. -
Period: to
A. S. Neill
Alexander Sutherland Neill was famous for in the free/natural school movement in the 20th century. He was the headmaster of Summerhill school and he wrote a book called "Summerhill". Neill believed strongly in freedom and in his school that was shown through the children governing themselves and working towards equal rights with adults. He believed that if children developed on their own, they can reach their full development capability. -
Media and Technology
Media and technology started growing in the 20th century and is still growing today. Since the beginning of the 20th century, media and technology has grown exponentially with different speed and influence. It has become common to have iphones, computers, ipads etc. in everyday life. It has taken over many people's lives and is used in schools and in the workplace. -
Period: to
Social Reform
Social reform in the early education world insures that schools will lead young children to social change and improvement. Montessori, Owen, the McMillans, Smith Hill, Eliot, and the Head Start and High/Scope are all examples of programs that worked for social reform. Social reform has gone through many stages since the late 1900s to today. -
Nursery Schools
Nursery schools are a place of care and emotional, physical and social aspects of a child. They are a place full of fun and growth. By the 1920s early childhood education reached a professional status in the United States. -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the first Soviet artificial earth satellite. This led to confusion in America about why we were not first in space. It caused upheaval in childhood education and schools started focusing on science, engineering and math to hopefully catch up with the Soviet technology. -
High Scope Curriculum
The High Scope Curriculum was based on giving children active learning that encouraged them to participate. This included direct hands-on experiences with people, activities and objects, assuring that the children's interests and choices were involved. It created a more healthy and fun environment for early childhood education. -
DAP
DAP stands for Developmentally appropriate practice. It started in the mid 1980s. DAP uses early education standard practices to enhance the growth of a whole child, for example, their age, their family, individual strengths. Early education teachers use DAP to support the learning and growth of children by using physical materials and going by what that child needs in whatever stage of development they are in. -
Standards
The education in the United States became focused on implementing state educational standards. Some starters of standards are the No Child Left Behind act (2001) and Common Core State Standards (2010) which called for standards in english and math. The educational standards for children include identification and monitoring of quality indicators and decision making. -
No Child Left Behind
The U.S Congress established the No Child Left Behind act in 2001 to improve the public primary and secondary schools in the United States to increase the student performance and school accountability.