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Peabody

Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804-1894) was an American educator and writer who opened the first English language kindergarten in the United States in 1860 in Boston, Massachusetts. She was inspired by the German educator Friedrich Froebel and his ideas about nurturing children's development through play and nature. Peabody advocated for kindergarten to be included in public school systems. By 1880, there were over 400 kindergartens established across 30 U.S. states. Peabody played a pivotal role in establishing early childhood education in the United States.

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142 views2 pages

Peabody

Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804-1894) was an American educator and writer who opened the first English language kindergarten in the United States in 1860 in Boston, Massachusetts. She was inspired by the German educator Friedrich Froebel and his ideas about nurturing children's development through play and nature. Peabody advocated for kindergarten to be included in public school systems. By 1880, there were over 400 kindergartens established across 30 U.S. states. Peabody played a pivotal role in establishing early childhood education in the United States.

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Elizabeth Palmer Peabody

(1804-1894)
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody was born on May 16, 1804 in Billerica, Massachusetts. She
was an American educator and writer. She wrote many articles and books about teaching and was
an inspiration to educators everywhere. She opened the first English language kindergarten in the
United States.At age 12, she taught herself Hebrew. At 16, she began to learn Greek from Ralph
Waldo Emerson. At the age of 22, she began corresponding with the famous poet William
Wordsworth about writing a children's book.
Elizabeth Peabody followed in her mother's footsteps and became a teacher. She opened
her first school in Lancaster, Massachusetts at the age of 16. She left home at the age of 18
feeling as though she needed to do something bigger. During the next decade, Peabody taught
and managed schools all throughout Boston, Massachusetts.
In a time when education was all about drilling and memorization, she encouraged games
and physical activity in the child's learning experience. Elizabeth did all these things and worked
closely with her sister, Mary. She introduced Mary to a close friend named Horace Mann, an
educational reformer and promoter of public schooling. Mary and Horace later got married.
Elizabeth Peabody was a part of the transcendentalism movement. She and others
believed in the unity of nature and moral law. They believe young children had a special
connection with nature. She participated in many movements for social reform including slavery
abolition. During all this, her main focus was always on the American Kindergarten movement.
Elizabeth Peabody learned about kindergarten from 1856 article on "Froebel's System of
Infant Gardens". Margarethe Schurz, A German political emigre and founder of the first
kindergarten in the US furthered her interest when she told her to look into the works of
Friedrich Froebel. Froebel started the first kindergarten in Germany in 1837. His focus was to
nurture children's moral and spiritual development through play and gardening.

Elizabeth Peabody went on to open the first English language kindergarten in Boston,
Massachusetts in 1860. At this school, she taught her students reading, writing, gardening,
tending to animals, and nature. Within the first year, Peabody's school had 30 kids in attendance
and two assistant teachers. Peabody believe the school was successful but that she must spread
the teaching further. She left her assistants in charge of the school and headed off to Europe.
She spoke at many kindergartens around Europe and return to the United States in 1868.
She was a serious advocate for kindergarten to be included in public schools. Boston added
kindergarten to the public school system in 1870 for a trial period. And by 1880, there were 400
kindergartens in 30 different states.
Today many people do not know the influence that Elizabeth Palmer Peabody has on
education. Thanks to Elizabeth Peabody Early Childhood Education is what it is today. She
passed away on January 3, 1894 in Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts knowing that she has changed
Education for the better. Her journey is a success story and a foundation for Early Childhood
educators around the world.

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