Early Childhood Timeline

  • Johann Amos Comenius wrote the first picture book for children

    Johann Amos Comenius wrote the first picture book for children
  • Froebel opens the first kindergarten in Blankenburg, Germany

  • The Butler School at Hampton Institute is opened as a free school for black children, including kindergarten curriculum for five-year-olds.

  • First teacher-training program for kindergarteners, Oshkosh Normal School, Pennsylvania

  • First White House Conference on Children is held by Theodore Roosevelt, leading to the establishment of the Children’s Bureau in 1912.

  • First U.S Montessori school opens in New York City

  • Arnold Gesell establishes the Clinic of Child Development at Yale University and studies norms of child growth and behavior.

  • Loris Malguzzi starts a school in Reggio Emilia, Italy, emphasizing the child’s individual creative expression.

  • The U.S Congress passed bills that authorized both Head Start and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/Title 1

  • Accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) for programs serving young children was launched.