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Fredrich Froebel
Fredrich Froebel viewed development as a "process of natural unfolding" and named his school Garden for Children. He is known as the "father of kindergarten." He focused on free play, singing and movement and believed learning occurs when the child is ready and on their own time frames. His view of free play was more structured than people would view today. He created "gifts," concrete materials that later influenced toy development and "occupations," which were planned experiences. -
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Susan Blow
Susan Blow was an advocate for expanding the kindergarten movement and fought to keep it in line with Froebel's vision. She helped found public kindergarten in 1873. An essential part of her strategy was teacher training and the proper use of Froebel's gifts and occupations. In 1892 she founded the International Kindergarten Union, which later became the Association for Childhood Education International. -
First Kindergarten in the United States
The first Kindergarten was in Wisconsin and was founded by Margarethe Schurz in 1856. Schurz studied with Froebel and started a German speaking school once she moved to the United States. -
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John Dewey
John Dewey developed the philosophy of progressive education. In 1893 he and his wife, Alice Chapman Dewey, founded the University of Chicago Laboratory School where they applied their philosophy of a humane approach to education. Dewey believed the purpose of education was to secure the effective functioning of a democratic society. His philosophy was expressed in My Pedagogic Creed. He also came up with the idea of integrated curriculum and developed child-centered curriculum. -
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Patty Smith Hill
Patty Smith Hill started a kindergarten where she encouraged creative play with Froebel’s “gifts”, which were originally not intended to be toys. She believed children learn through play. She was considered a “master” teacher and worked for the Teachers College in New York for 30 years focusing her work on the community school which served children from poor families. She was creator of “lumber like” wooden blocks which were big enough for children to build structures and play in. -
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Patty Smith Hill (continued)
She and her sister wrote songs for children to learn from including the Happy Birthday song. She also wrote poems and books to help children learn to read. She was the president of the International Kindergarten Union and in 1909 she produced one of the three reports that were originally intended to dispute topics of different perspectives on kindergarten practices, but after about 5 years differences couldn’t be made so three were written rather than one. -
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Patty Smith Hill (continued)
Hers became the vision of ECE practices we know today. In 1926 she formed the National Committee on Nursery Schools which eventually (1960’s) became the NAEYC. -
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Patty Smith Hill (continued)
I find Patty Smith Hill to be influential because her perspective became what we know today in ECE. I’m a big believer in learning through play so I like that she came up with creative ideas for teaching and learning through play. The ECE world would be very different without play. I also find her influential because she didn't let the conflicts that occurred due to her more liberal views stop her from expressing what she believed in. -
Public Kindergarten
The first public school kindergarten was founded by Susan Blow and William Harris in 1873 as a response to his concern of public school practices not beginning until age 7. They launched more than 50 kindergarten classrooms together. -
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Lucy Sprague Mitchell
Lucy Sprague Mitchell is considered a major link between Dewey's progressive education movement and the current NAEYC concept of high-quality, developmentally appropriate education. She had a progressive philosophy and followed research based practices. She launched the Bureau of Educational Experiments in 1916 for research and to teach teachers. The bureau moved and the name was changed to Bank Street College of Education. Her philosophy came to be called the Bank Street approach. -
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Lucy Sprague Mitchell (continued)
I find Lucy Sprague Mitchell to be influential because of how she believed in learning based on children’s experiences and followed research backed practices. It’s so important to allow children to experience and learn from the world around them. Without her influence, education today could possibly be different as she promoted the idea of experiences like field trips. -
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Lucy Sprague Mitchell (continued)
This approach was later called the Developmental-Interaction approach. It emphasizes that learning is based on children's experiences in their immediate environment, "here and now." In 1937 she created a writer's workshop at Bank Street for authors to gain more understanding of children's interests and development. The Bank Street approach was used as the model of the Head Start program which she lived to see. -
Bureau of Educational Experiments
Lucy Sprague Mitchell launched the Bureau of Educational Experiments (BEE) in 1916 as a place to do perform research and educate teachers. When the bureau moved the name was changed to Bank Street College of Education. -
National Committee on Nursery Schools
Patty Smith Hill grew concerned about the need for standards as well as unqualified people in leadership positions in nursery schools so she developed the National Committee on Nursery Schools, which became the National Association for Nursery Education (NANE). In the 1960's NANE was changed to The National Association for the Children of Young Children (NAEYC). -
Head Start
Head Start was founded in the mid 1960's. President Lyndon Johnson launched the war on poverty in a response for equal opportunity and from that came the Head Start Program. The Head Start program brings together the nursery school movement (which served the middle class) and the childcare movement (which served the working poor). The Bank Street model is the nursery school model for Head Start.