Forest kindergartens are a new idea in the United States but have been around in Germany, Norway, and other European countries for decades. Forest "kindergartens" are preschools for children ages 3-6 and focus on being outdoors and learning through interacting with nature. Instead of building with blocks or doing puzzles at a table…

Summarizes 40 years of Organisation Mondiale pour l'Education Prescolaire (O.M.E.P.) activities. (Author)

This report traces the history and contributions of California's cooperative nursery schools (co-ops) within the context of the national growth in preschools. From the late 1870s through the 1920s, Froebel's ideas regarding the education of young children were evident in early nursery schools. By the late 1920s, nursery schools generally followed…

Describes the conference on the history of preschool education held by the Standing International Conference for the History of Education in September 1982 in Budapest and the contribution of the author of the history of preschools in Denmark. (Author/CB)

Addresses classroom strategies and teacher variables that influence preschool mainstreaming. Theoretical and historical aspects of mainstreaming are discussed. Differences in philosophies regarding preschool mainstreaming continue to hamper unification of early childhood education programs and early childhood special education programs. (MDM)

Traces the career of Pauline Kermogard, a major figure in preschool education and children's advocacy in 19th- and early 20th-century France. Describes her strong personality; upbringing, education, and politics; appointment as Inspector General of Preschools; and her commitment to the radical transformation of these institutions to promote…

The vision screening program has a long and interesting history involving educators, pediatricians, optometrists, and ophthamologists. This historical review of vision screening in the schools includes a discussion of amblyopia and screening of preschool students. (Author/CB)

Dr. Maria Montessori's 1913 visit and lecture tour to the United SLates is described in detail with numerous citations from newspaper coverage of the event. The enthusiastic reception extended to the European physician and educator is reviewed, and her meetings, notably with Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Graham Bell, President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson,…

Examined is the development of special education for handicapped children in Greece from 1906, when the Home of the Blind was established in Athens, to 1981, when the new Law 1143 extended compulsory special education to all children of school age. (RM)

Recounts an interview with Professor Amita Verma. Highlights Professor Verma's contributions to practice, research, and policy in early childhood education and development at the national level in India. Suggests sources of information and the influence of various leaders on early childhood education and care in India. Indicates that concern about…

Thirty-five unpublished booklets on Montessori music education conceived by Maria Montessori and authored by her music consultant, Anna Maria Maccheroni, are discussed. They extend the brief portion devoted to music in Montessori publications and result in a comprehensive and distinctive music education program. (Author/IS)

This master's thesis gives an overview of education in India from ancient times to the present and presents data from brief visits to seven schools which provide early childhood education in the Union Territory of Delhi. The schools visited were either parochial, public, government corporation, or private schools. Data collection problems…

Seeks to explain why the kindergarten movement, in theory and in practice, found greater support in the United States than in Germany, the country of its origin. Concludes that this kindergarten case study shows the importance of comparative studies to our understanding of the relationship of women's status and feminist ideology to other aspects…

Examines the organization of a two-tiered system of day care and education for young children from an institutional perspective, focusing on the significance of gender. The article explores the formation and development of the institutional charters of schools and school-like programs and of day-care programs. (SM)

Early childhood education in Japan is reviewed, and education in kindergarten classrooms and day nurseries is described. Activities during a typical day at kindergarten and at day nursery are profiled. An overview of the history of preschool education begins with the time when kindergartens were places for the children of the rich and day…