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Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Pestalozzi stressed the idea of integrated curriculum that would develop the whole child. He believed in nature study but also teaching basic skills. He believed teaching children in groups and teachers were to guide in self-activities through intuition, exercise, and the senses. -
Childrens garden
Froebel opened the first kindergarten school in Germany. -
First Kindergarten in the US
Margarethe Schurz opened the first kindergarten in the US for German speaking children in Wisconsin. -
First english speaking Kindergarten in US
Elizabeth Peabody opened the first english speaking kindergarten in the US. -
John Dewey
Dewey changed the outlook on childhood and reformed the ways schools teach. Instead of boring lecture-recitation, he believed in encouraging children to experiment and letting the childs interest guide them through learning. He believed teachers should be engaged and not trainers. Child care centers changed from rows of desks to movable furniture. It was about having centers that focused on skills and interests of each child and group. -
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori opened a preschool, Casa di Bambini, which provided all day care for children 2-5 years old. The children received meals, baths, and medical attention. She observed the children playing and eventually designed her room around the children with small tables and chairs.Her space was a prepared environment for the children along with sequential materials that are readily available to them. The teachers job was to observe and guide. -
McMillan Sisters
The McMillan Sisters setup a clinic in Deptford to help children in a poor area but in a year their clinic became open-air nursery. They believed in fresh air, sleep, and bathing were important. The McMillan sisters coined the term "nursery school" which they referred to it as "nurture school" which refers to their method of daily inspections, outdoor programs, play, and healthy food. -
Laboratory schools
Laboratory schools were about gathering knowledge about the child's early years.The goal was to improve nursery schools and study child development. -
Patty Smith Hill
NANE (National Association for Nursery Education) was founded by Patty Smith Hill. It's now NAEYC. Patty believed in basing education on the nature and needs of the child. Climbing structures and other large motor materials were originated by her. -
Benjamin Spock
Book Baby and Child Care told parents how to care for their children. He believed that children can learn to direct themselves instead of constant discipline. He encouraged parents to childproof rather than use a playpen. -
Kaiser Child Care Center
The Kaiser Center was setup during WWII when many mothers had to work in war-related industries. The center was provided funds but had to be located at the front of the shipyards for the convenience of the mothers, they were to be industrial child care centers (not by public schools), and they were to be large. It ran 24 hours a day everyday and they provided hot meals for mothers to take home after their shift. The centers closed after the war. -
Head Start
The Head Start program was started to provide education, social, medical, dental, nutritional, and mental health to lower income children.
