Timeline for Early Childhood

  • 1837

    The first kindergarten opened in Blankenburg Germany by Froebel.
  • 1856

    The first kindergarten opened in the United States by Margarethe Schurz.
  • 1927

    The first black nursery school was established in Washington D.C., by Dorothy Howard and it operated for over 50 years
  • 1954

    The "separate but equal law" was eliminated after the Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case ruled that all races should be in school together.
  • 1982

    The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) was established by Marion Wright Edelman. It was created to help on the behalf of children, particularly children of poverty and color..
  • 1990

    Congress passed The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It required programs of all sizes to care for and accommodate the needs of all people with disabilities whenever reasonably able.
  • 1993

    The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was created by President Bill Clinton to allow employees to have a leave of absence up to a year for medical or family reasons.
  • 2003

    Universal preschool is considered to be the next step in providing equal access to quality early educational experiences for all children under the age 5 years old.
  • 2013

    Head Start completed their initial plan to raise teacher education requirements by requiring at least one teacher in each classroom to have a bachelor's degree
  • 2014

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