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1483
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a promoter of the teaching of reading in schools. He pushed for universal education. The importance of reading readiness in early childhood education can be partially attributed to him. Luther emphasized that it is only through education that we discover our gifts and our calling, our individual vocation. -
John Amos Comenius
Comenius is considered the Father of Modern Education. Comenius revolutionized education in three ways: school systems, educational theories, and educational methods. -
John Locke
John Locke was known as one of the most influential thinkers. Locke penned the famous term of “blank slate”, also known as tabula rasa, which postulated that it is how children start out and the environment fills their metaphorical “slate”. He believed that children are molded and shaped by their experiences in life. He pushed that morals were very important to teach a child and did not believe in traits inherited. -
Freidrich Froebel
Froebel believed that children learn through play. He emphasized the importance of observation and developing programs and activities based on the child’s skill level and readiness. Froebel formalized the early childhood setting as well as founded the first kindergarten.Through engaging with the world, understanding unfolds. Hence the significance of play – it is both a creative activity and through it children become aware of their place in the world. -
Susan Blow - Kindergarten
Susan Blow was a United States educator who opened the first successful public Kindergarten in the United States. She was known as the "Mother of the Kindergarten." She funded her entire kindergarten program for the first year and within three years every school in St. Louis had a Kindergarten. -
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori founded the Montessori school system which is being used in over 22,000 schools in at least 110 countries worldwide. She opened the first Montessori school—the Casa dei Bambini, or Children’s House—in Rome on January 6, 1907. She believed children learn best through their senses first and then their intellect. -
Jean Piaget
Piaget established a theory of learning (theory of cognitive development) where children’s development is broken down into 4 distinct stages (sensory motor, preoperational, concrete operation, and formal operation). Piaget theorized that children learn through direct and active interaction with the environment. He also discovered that children build new knowledge upon previous knowledge as well as adapt information as new information is learned. -
Lev Vygotsky
Vygotsky proposed a socio-cultural position for the development of children. He believed that social interaction provides a medium for cognitive, social and linguistic development in children. He also believed that children learn through scaffolding their skills; this meant a more capable member of the community/society would assist the child in completing tasks that were within or just above the child’s capability, which is also known as zone of proximal development. -
David Weikart - Perry Preschool Project
Weikart founder of HighScope, drew from the theories of Piaget, Dewey and Vygotsky, focused on the child’s intellectual maturation. The landmark study that earned HighScope validity was the Perry Preschool Project (1962). A randomized controlled study of 123 children of similar skill level entering the study, split into two groups, one received HighScope instruction while the control group continued the traditional process. Results indicated an increase in academic success, academic adherence. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
This act was created in 1965 to help children from low income families receive a proper education. It benefits schools by providing funds to buy new/better material and update their facilities. It also created school lunch programs to help children have a healthy meal for the day.
