History of Early Childhood Education

By chowell0611

  • Early 1800s

    In the early 1800s, a European mother started the idea of teaching out side of their homes. During the American revolution, "infant schools" were set up in churches, factories and homes to care for children while parents had to work.

  • 1848

    Wisconsin created committees that were dedicated to free education for children ages four through twenty. Wisconsin was the first state to start early education program and the program was mostly aimed for low income to no income families. Other states quickly followed the lead of this movement.

  • 1873

    Wisconsin then started the first four year old kindergarten program. As time went on, other states followed Wisconsin's lead and preschools, day cares and nursery programs began appearing all over the states. This was a big movement in the early childhood education history.

  • Early 1900s

    Maria Montessori visited the United States to share her unique style of teaching. The main focus is to always be aware to the child and follow the child in the direction they chose to go when learning. The Montessori Method is practiced within many preschools around the country today. Her belief is that all children are born with the ability to learn and should be free to explore their environments to promote learning.

  • 1926

    The National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC) was established. This program was dedicated to improving the over all well being of all young children birth to 8 years of age. Its focus is the quality of education and developmental service of young children. To this day, NAEYC, is constantly continuing to improve the early childhood education field.

  • 1960

    Education theorists Siegried Engelmann & Wesley Becker came up with the concept of direct instruction. The goal is for children to be directed through their development. This includes fast paced learning, active involvement between teachers and children and positive reinforcement of corrected mistakes.

  • 1965

    The first "head Start" program was founded through the United States Department of Health & Human Services. This program started out as a program for low-income families to attend over the summer months to be ready for kindergarten. Over time, Head Start became a well respected preschool aged program available in many different communities and with families of all abilities and backgrounds.