ECE Timeline Ch. 1

  • 1778 BCE

    Jean-Jaques Rousseau

    He believed that kids were naturally good and education should nurture their interests instead of restraining them. He argued that children learned better through firsthand experiences, concrete experiences, and that their thinking develops in different stages than adults so they should they should teach them based on that way.
  • Johann Amos Comenius

    She published a picture book for children made for guiding the teachers in the senses and study of nature. She believed that children should learn on a timetable and then should learn at their own pace.
  • John Locke

    John Locke was known to be the founder of modern educational philosophy. He thought of the concept of “tabula rasa” which is the belief that a baby is a “clean state”. He believed that trying to teach children with playful activities is more effective. This practice was taken more seriously when Jean-Jacques Rousseau started using it in the 18th century. This learning style is still used today because it shows the “acceptance of individual differences in giving children reasons”.
  • Kindergarten

    German was the first country to have kindergarten. Kindergarten has gone through many social changes throughout the years. At first it was for poor students and then it went to be led by churches. The kindergarten we know today is the first grade that students enter when they go to school to help them become more independent and prepared for the following grades.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel

    He believed early childhood education should be fun and focused on playing, self activity and childrens natural development. He created kindergarten for kids, emphasized trained and caring teachers and facilitators and introduced educational toys as "gifts" to help kids.
  • Robert Owen

    He established labor practices like stopped the employment of children under 10 years old. He started an infant school for children 3-10 based on guidance rather than punishment. His practices were kept alive when the Infant School Society of 1885 was incorporated in American Kindergartens.
  • Social Reform

    The idea that teaching children while their young can lead to positive social change and improvement. Lots of early childhood programs and educators focused on improving childrens health , physical well-being as a way to improve society overall
  • Rudolf Steiner

    He established a school named Waldorf Education which was as his system influenced mainstream education in Europe, still felt in North America. He believes that childhood is an important phase of life and the environment should plan to carefully protect a child's development. The job of a teacher is similar to a mother, to allow the child's innate self-motivation.
  • Maria Montessori

    Maria had very innovative methods in childhood education such as designing specific materials, classrooms, and a teaching approach that helped early childhood development. She promoted self-correcting, and a teaching based on observation to build trust with a child.
  • Sputnik

    It was a Soviet Satellite that was the first successful space exploration. This put the Americans into a spiral and motivated us to shift gears and encourage more engineering, math, and science education to catch up with the soviets.
  • Nursery Schools

    They help childrens development in all ways. They were primarily for children from middle and upper class familys but until the 60's they were mostly for poor familys.
  • Head Start

    It was an organization made to support children from low-income families by providing education, health, and family services which helped millions of children and promoted social equity.
  • Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

    he believed in the ideas that the focus of the curriculum should be on the development of the senses. He believed that practical skills should also be integrated into the curriculum.
  • A. S Neill

    He was a big advocate for free child-centered education and believed that children are naturally good and capable of self-direction. At his school children led themselves and shared the same rights as adults.
  • DAP

    DAP stands for Developmentally Appropriate Practices. DAP considers a child’s age, individual characteristics, family, and culture when determining activities or programs. DAP is also dynamic which allows variations and requires evaluation and revision.
  • Media and Technology

    As technology and social media is growing we are more pulled to pushing children into adulthood too quickly. Technology can be good for a childs development but in moderation at times. We should be appreciating a childs childhood as it is and shouldn't be rushing it with technology of sorts.
  • Highscope

    Focusing on how poverty affects childrens development and focus attention on cognative aspects of learning. The curriculum of Highscope identifies key experiences that relate to development and include education for all developmental domain.
  • Leave No Child Behind

    It is a law passed in the US stating that federal programs have to improve their public school performance. All public schools have a minister, a standardized test annually with an annual report card, recording their progress.
  • Standard

    The Early Learning Program Accreditation establishes recommended policies and standards that include a 4-step process.