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Few people today question the importance of kindergarten or its role in the K-12 educational continuum. That is due in large part to the efforts of one woman, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804-1894), an early leader of the kindergarten movement in the United States.
For most of her life, Peabody took an active role in promoting education. As a young teacher in the 1820s and 1830s, she pioneered new methods of teaching. In 1860, she opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States, and for the next three decades she was an untiring advocate for kindergarten. Peabody wrote many influential articles and books about teaching and served as an inspiration to generations of educators (Edwards 2002). Renowned during her own lifetime, Peabody is less well known today. Yet there is much that we owe to her, and much we can learn from her.
From childhood, Peabody was driven to learn. As a female, Peabody could not attend high school or college. Instead, she educated herself by reading widely. At age 12, she taught herself Hebrew. At 16, she paid ateenaged Ralph Waldo Emerson to teach her Greek. At 22, she wrote to the famous English poet William Wordsworth to suggest he write a book for children. To her surprise, Wordsworth responded, beginning a correspondence that lasted several years (Marshall 2005). Throughout her life, Peabody continued to reach out to those whose ideas interested her.
Early teaching career
Since her father was unable to support his family, Peabody followed in her mother's footsteps and became a teacher, opening her first school in her home in Lancaster, Massachusetts, when she was 16. Her pupils included her sisters Mary and Sophia, her brother Nat, and the daughters of neighboring families.
Peabody left home at 18 to earn more money for her family. For the next decade, she taught at and managed schools for girls in and around Boston. Her approach to teaching was characterized by devotion to all aspects of her students' development. In an age when schools relied heavily on memorization and drill, Peabody encouraged children to bring in their favorite texts to read aloud, taught math using manipulatives, created spelling and grammar games, engaged children in physical activity, and conversed with them...