George Lawrence, age 13, of Hattiesburg, Miss., for his question:
WHEN DID THE FIRST NURSERY SCHOOL OPEN?
Many children between the ages of three and four attend nursery schools. The schools are wonderful places for small children to form important basic attitudes toward themselves, the people around them and the world in which they live.
Schools for very young children were first established in the late 1700s in Great Britain. Hundreds of factories opened at this time and large numbers of women were employed to work in them. Factory owners established special rooms and hired untrained supervisors to watch over the young children of the working mothers.
At first it was often older boys and girls who supervised the early nursery schools.
Early in the 1800s a man named Robert Owen, who was both a mill owner and a social reformer, became the first to see an urgent need to improve the schools. He set up the first regular teaching program for children in his factory.
But then schools such as Owen's remained rare until 1918 when World War I ended.
British law established the first public nursery schools that year, in 1918. Other European countries including Germany and France were quick to follow.
In the United States, nursery schools developed on a private or cooperative basis rather than with the public support. In 1918 there were only three nursery schools in the country, but the idea grew quickly. By 1927 there were 76 schools and the number increased to about 500 in 1931.
As part of the Work Progress Administration program, the federal government helped maintain nursery schools during the 1930s. By 1933, there were 2,398 such nursery schools in the country.
The federal government again supported nursery schools during World War II. Called child care centers, at the peak of the program more than 100,000 children attended.
Today there are about 4,000 nursery schools in the country. Most of these are private.
Among the largest groups of private nursery schools in the United States today are the cooperative schools which are owned and operated by parents. Some churches also have weekday nursery schools and a number of universities and colleges also operate them for educational research and practice teaching.
A small but growing number of nursery schools today care for handicapped children.
Most nursery schools and cooperative schools are operated during hours that meet working mothers' schedules. Many are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Most nursery schools today follow the principle that children from three to four can learn best through play. The youngsters spend a large part of 'their time playing with toys.
Nursery school teachers select toys and other equipment with great care. It is important for the toys to promote a youngster's growth and also stimulate his development as a creative, self reliant and imaginative person.