Time Line

A Historical Perspective
on Early Childhood Education

Dr. Reutzel
EL ED 6230
by Nancy Ruth Bittner
 Early Beginnings
The
Peloponnesian Aristotle
War Recognized the need for
Marked the beginning differences in teaching
of education. the young.

431 BC 470-399 BC 384-322 BC

Socrates
Originated the
study of formal
logic.
 Beginnings - The Reformation
Martin Luther
Education for all. A
range of subjects
including music and art.

1490-1650 1483-1546 1592-1670

Erasmus John Comenius
Humans can be self Designed the first illustrated
determinate. children’s text and wrote a
first parenting book.
 Beginnings - The Reformation
John Locke
Emphasized natural
Jean Rousseau
education Wrote, Emile, about a child
-tabula rosa - a child is an reared and taught apart
empty slate. from other children.
Childhood is a unique
experience.
1632-1704 1647 1762
Old Deluder
Satan Act
A religious act in Mass.
Learning to read kept
children from evil.
 Beginnings - The Reformation
Noah Webster
Standardized spelling for
American English -
The Blueback Speller.

1746-1827 1783 1782-1852

Johann Pestalozzi
Fredrich Froebel
Must raise and teach Education should produce a
children in a naturalistic pure, faithful, and holy life.
way. The Father of Kindergarten.
 Beginnings - Materials
Mother
Goose Tales
Poems and stories
transcribed by
Charles Perot.

1590- 1700 1647 Late 1600's

The Hornbook The New

An early primer.
England Primer
A religious primer for
teaching reading to children.
 Modern Education - 1850-1950
Margarethe
Harris and Blow
Schurz
Opened the first Opened the first public
Kindergarten in Watertown, Kindergarten.
WI with 6 children.

1856 1860 1873

Elizabeth Peabody
Opened the first English
speaking Kindergarten with
30 children in Boston.

Blow
 Modern Education - 1850-1950
Women’s Pavilion
First Training
School
for Kindergarten
teachers at the Oshkosh
Normal School,
Philadelphia.

1876 1880 1902

Ruth Burritt Maria Montessori
She taught the model
Opened Casa dei Bambini, a
Kindergarten featured in
school for disadvantaged
in the Women’s Pavilion
children using methods for
at the Philadelphia
developing the whole child.
Centennial Exposition.
 Modern Education - 1850-1950
John Dewey Susan Blow
Founded the ADewey
School@ with the idea
& Patty Hill
that children learn best Trained Kindergarten teachers
by doing. at Columbia Teachers’ college
in a 14 week course.

1859-1952 1884 & 1892 1900

Teachers’ Unions
The Elementary Kindergarten
Nursery Educators (EKNE) and
International Kindergarten
Union formed to unite early
childhood educators.
 Modern Education - 1850-1950
Arnold Gessell
Formed the Child Guidance
Clinic at Yale. Stated that
children grow intrinsically in
an automatic unfolding.

1920 1925
G. Stanley Hall
A child psychologist who
developed the Recapitulation
Theory. It says that children pass
through stages that the whole
human race has passed through
and in the same order.
 Reading Readiness
Gray & Horn
Stated that reading
gains might be greater
if not taught until
second grade.

1927 1929 1931

Mary Reed Morphett &
Her dissertation stated that Washburne
1 in 8 students were not Through an influential
making progress and that study, set the age 6.5 as
perhaps reading instruction the optimal age when
should be delayed. children should begin
reading instruction.
 Reading Readiness
Willard Olsen
Readiness determined by an
organismic age figured by physical
measures like head circumference
and loosing baby teeth.

1949
1953
Robert Havinghurst
Coins the term
ATeaching Moment@ implying
appropriate and inappropriate
times for instruction.
 Reading Readiness
Furter & Wachs
Interpreted Piaget’s theories to
say that early reading
instruction has adverse effects
on cognitive growth.

1974 1978

Hook
A psychologist quoted as
saying that early reading may
adversely effect the left side
of the brain.
Piaget
 Emergent Literacy- Research & Change
Arthur Gates Dolores Durkin
Challenges readiness theories
Studied children who read
in a study examining the
early. Found that exposure
validity of mental age. Found
and access to print
that the quality of instruction
contributed to early reading.
influences learning.

1937 1959 1966

Jerome Bruner
Believed that any child could
be taught effectively at any age
and stage of development.
 Emergent Literacy - Research & Change
M. Clay Y. Goodman
Children’s scribbles, Found that many
drawings, random letters young children already
and invented spellings are knew certain things
early forms of writing. necessary for reading.

1975 1981 1984

Lev Vygotsky
Believes mental functions are
acquired through social
relationships and that
children learn by internalizing
the world around them.
Emergent Literacy - Research & Change
Whole Language
Is defined as a philosophy of language
development and instructional practices
embedded within text. Use of real
literature and writing
in context is emphasized.
-Bergon (1990)

1987 1990
N. Hall
Becoming literate is a
continuous
developmental process.
 Recent Research
Balanced Approach
Teachers must have a strong
knowledge of multiple methods for
teaching reading and put them into
practice based on their students=
needs. (IRA Position Statement)

1993 1999
Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness instruction
in Preschool and Kindergarten
strengthens reading achievement
and is a precursor to phonics.
(Byrne & Fielding-Barnsley, 1993)
 Recent Research
National Reading Panel Report
Teaching Children To Read

-Presents the most effective

approaches for teaching children to
read based on scientific research.

2000

Phonemic Awareness Fluency

Phonics Instruction Vocabulary Development
Guided Oral Reading Computer Technology
Comprehension Strategies Teacher Training
 References
Morrow, L. M. (2001). Literacy development in the early years: helping
children read and write (4th ed). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon,
A Pearson Education Company.
Reutzel, R. (2002). Utah State University, EL ED 6230, In class notes.
Yahoo Gallery (2002). Corbis.com pictures retrieved June 25, 2002
from the World Wide Web: http://www.yahoogallery.com