Early Childhood
Education Historical
Timeline
Hannah Mills
Colonial America The First Kindergarten
1700 - 1800 1900 - 2000
1600 - 1700 1800 - 1900
Hands-On Learning Progressive &
Developmental
Colonial America 1600 - 1700
How Society Viewed Children Educational Practices
● No value of Childhood ● Dame Schools
○ Children were treated like small ○ Schools run by women and mostly
adults as soon as they could walk taught the Bible
○ Children were needed to help run ● The Bible
the farm ○ Children were to learn how to read
the Bible by their fathers
Colonial America 1600 - 1700
Societal Influences Key People
● Religion ● John Amos Comenius
○ The Bible guided life at this time ○ Eastern European Religious Leader
● Value of the Bible who Advocated for…
○ Children’s education, moral, and ■ Universal Education
character were to be built around ■ Nature to promote children’s
the Bible growth
■ Hands on learning
■ Mothers as educators
■ Academics not being
introduced too early
● John Locke
○ Doctor and Philosopher who
Advocated for…
■ Hands-on experiential learning
■ Formal education
■ Parents as educators
■ Teaching literacy at 1-2 years old
Hands-On Learning 1700 - 1800
How Society Viewed Children Educational Practices
● Learners & Growers ● Authentic experiences
○ All children are capable of learning ○ Children were best educated in rural
and growing settings where experiences could
○ Children are active learners and be authentic
explorers ● Play
● No Strict Academic Instruction ○ There was a huge emphasis on play
○ Didn’t force children into strict in education at the time. There was
academic instruction also an emphasis on manipulative
materials and concrete objects
Hands-On Learning 1700 - 1800
Societal Influences Key People
● Own Interests ● Jean-Jacques Rousseau
○ Children should be allowed to ○ French Philosopher who Advocated
follow their own interests rather for…
than ones directed by adults ■ Allowing children to learn
through experiences
■ Lengthened childhood
■ Protecting children from
corruption
■ Male tutors to educate children
- mothers were not capable
● Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
○ Swiss Educator who Advocated for…
■ Families living in poverty
■ Natural experiences are best
■ Holistic approach to teaching
children
The First Kindergarten 1800 - 1900
How Society Viewed Children Educational Practices
● Nurture & Growth ● Day Nurseries
○ Children could be looked at as a ○ Provide safe care when working
“garden” that needed nurturing and class mothers had to work
growth from teachers ● Play Based Philosophy
○ Play based philosophy becomes
much more prominent as children
learn best from hands on activities
The First Kindergarten 1800 - 1900
Societal Influences Key People
● Working Mothers ● Friedrich Froebel
○ More mothers were going off to ○ Father of the First Kindergarten
■ Wanted to build formal system of
work rather than staying home to education for young children to
care for children help uplift society
■ Wanted children to love learning
■ Real-life experiences for learning
■ Teachers and parents are
supportive players
● Elizabeth Palmer Peabody
○ American Educator
■ Opposed teaching early academics
in place of hands-on learning
■ Individualized instruction - focused
on children’s interests, needs, and
abilities
■ Children needed careful instruction
to develop fully
Progressive & Developmental 1800 - 1900
How Society Viewed Children Educational Practices
● Development ● Observations
○ There was a large emphasis on the ○ Teachers were to use their own
importance of childhood observations to guide their practices
development
● Balance
○ Children were to love learning by
not spending too much time in the
classroom and getting outside to
play
Progressive & Developmental 1800 - 1900
Societal Influences Key People
● Scientific Approach ● G. Stanley Hall
○ First American to Receive Doctorate in
○ At this point, scientific approaches Psychology
were preferred to religious ■ Align educational curriculum with
influences of the Bible stages of development
■ Concerned about the amount of time
children were spending in the
classroom rather than outside
■ Concerned that schools were pushing
children ahead of their time
● John Dewey
○ American Education Scholar
■ Valued child’s psychological and social
dimensions
■ Children should experience with
authentic materials
■ Valued learning based on
problem-solving activities
■ Teacher should uncover child’s
interests, thoughts, and feelings and
plan lessons around them
