The most important milestones in early childhood education

By giftchioma

  • Education of Man

    Education of Man, by Froebel, describes the first system of kindergarten education as a “child’s garden,” with activities known as “gifts from God.”

  • First kindergarten in Germany

    Froebel opens the first kindergarten in Blankenburg, Germany.

  • First kindergarten in the United States

    Margarethe Schurz opens the first kindergarten in the United States.

  • Infant school in England

    Robert Owen sets up an infant school in New Lanark, England, as an instrument of social reform for children of parent workers in his mills.

  • First black nursery school in Washington, D.C.

    Dorothy Howard establishes the first black nursery school in Washington, D.C., and operates it for over 50 years.

  • Lois Meeks Stolz

    Lois Meeks Stolz is named the first president of the National Association for Nursery Education (later to become NAEYC), and joins the Teachers College (Columbia University) faculty to start the laboratory school and Child Development Institute. Stolz later becomes the director of the Kaiser Child Service Centers during World War II.

  • United States National Committee of the World Organization

    The United States National Committee of the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (USNC OMEP) is founded to promote theeducation of children internationally; it begins to consult with UNICEF and UNESCO with the United Nations. It starts publishing a journal, the International Journal of Early Childhood, in 1969. Bloom’s taxonomy is published in 1948.

  • Developmentally Appropriate Practices

    NAEYC publishes a report entitled Developmentally Appropriate Practices, which outlines what is meant by “quality” work with young children from infancy through age 8.

  • ADA

    The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is passed by Congress, requiring programs of all sizes to care for and accommodate the needs of children with disabilities whenever they are reasonably able to do so.

  • First American Summit on ECE

    The first American Summit on Early Childhood Education is convened in Washington, D.C., by President Barack Obama.