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…

Early childhood professional organizations in Canada and the United States have evolved since leaders of the Kindergarten Department of the National Educational Association (NEA) met in Toronto in 1891. This meeting led to the creation of the International Kindergarten Union (IKU), now known as the Association for Childhood Education International…

Certain economic theories can help explain the rise to prominence of parent participation preschools in the 1950s and help to make predictions about their future. Specifically, the long-wave cycle of economic behavior and its explanation of social systems and innovations can be useful. One popular approach is that of the Soviet economist Nikolai…

Fathers' roles in cooperative nursery schools have changed considerably since the 1920s. In the 1920s, American families had a strict father-mother role differentiation. These stereotyped sex roles broke down somewhat in the 1930s and 1940s due to the Depression and World War II, but they returned in the 1950s. A more egalitarian approach to…

This paper traces the interface between preschool and elementary school as reflected by public funding during the first 200 years of American education. The paper also covers reasons for changes in entrance age and in funding and indicates the relevance of these changes for current issues in early childhood education. Sections address: (1) the…