Figure 1.--Here we see an English nursery school. The children look to be about 3-4 years old. Unfortunately there is no accompanying information, just a large white border print with no information on the back. We do not even know when it was taken. The 1930s is our best guess. The classroom and equipment look rather old to us. But the way the children are dresed looks more like the early-50s. Note there are four boys wearing smocks, two floral print smocks and two dark smocks. One boy wears a romper suit. We are not sure if this was a council (municipal) nursery or a private fee-paying nursery. Based on how the chidren are dressed and the size of the class, it may have been a private nursery school. The dealer suggested the 1920s, but a British reader reports that the playroom equipment looks to date from the 1920s-30s, but of course that does nmean that the photograph was taken then. He also suspectes that it was a private nursery school.

We are not entirely sure what the difference between the dame schools and early nursery schools were. We think that they were actual institutions involving individuals with some professional training while dame schools were individual efforts conducted in homes. The Industrial Revolution began (mid-18th century). And by the early 19th century substantial number of English people were working in factories including mothers with young children. We first see English nursery schools for younger pre-school children (early-19th century). They reflected the impact of the Industrial Revolution which was based on mechanization of textiles. One source claims that the first nursery school it was a school opened, but does not identify it (1812). The first identified nursery school was established by Robert Owen in New Lanark in Scotland 1816). Owen owned a cotton mill and funded the school to provide early learning and child care for his employees' families. Owen fervently believed in healthy, pleasant working conditions for his workers. conditions and a life of interesting activities. Samuel Wilderspin founded the first nursery school in London (1819). Wilderspin's system offered organized play and served as he blueprint for nursery schools across England. These schools were for the younger children of cotton mill workers. The first nursery schools were privately operated. There were not yet state primary schools, let alone nursery school. The Industrial Revolution created a need for nursery schools. As people moved from the country side into the city, mothers many cases began to work outside the home. This created a need for childcare facilities. Factory workers in the growing industrial cities faced a new situation in which families and friends were often not available. Often parents were forced to lock the younger children up when they left for work. Tragic incidents were inevitable. Children died as a result. Fires were deadly. But even if the children were not physically injured had to endure traumatic reactions. The rich could afford hired help. Middle-class others did not work. The 19th century was an era of a range of social reform, beginning most prominently with the Abolitionist movement, but also the problems that accompanied the industrial revolution. And a few determined women in British tows and cities took on this problem. They began creating places for the young children. Often they did not have much money. They might rent spaces, in some cases just a nondescript room. Sometimes a house. In some cases a hospital made space available. These facilities came to be called 'day nurseries'. The nursery was a place in the home that the children slept at night. These facilities took care of the children during the day, thus the term day nursery. This was an entirely new concept. Here we see an unidentified nursery school about 1870 (figure 1). Unfortunately there is no accompanying information. Marie Hilton opened a crèche in London's Stepney Causeway for the children of working mothers (1871). At the time England was just beginning to create a state primary school system. Verona Doris Lester founded Children's House (1923). The children could attend for 2 shilings/24 pence (about $28 in 2024 U.S. dollars) per week. Only about a third of the mothers, however, could actually pay. Local councils had begun founding nursery school. At the end of World War I, Parliament passed an Education Act (1918). It promoted state funding for more nursery schools. The expansion of the state education system and the welfare system has changed the purpose of nursery schools. There aretoday far fewer families orking-class families on the verge of abject familes, but we have a lot of middle-class families beliveing that it is importan for ther children to be prepared academically when they begin school.

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Created: 6:51 PM 11/3/2024
Last updated: 9:47 AM 11/4/2024