Kindergarten or infant school originated in the 19th century. It is the outcome of the efforts of Robert Owen in great Brittain, J.H. Pestalozz in Switzerland and his pupil Friedrich Froebel in Germany and Maria Montessori in Italy.
Industrial Revolution brought many changes. In Great Britain it encouraged the provisions of infant schools. Many Factory Acts were introduced. They legally prevented small children from working. The adults had to work long hours at the factories. An industrialist by name Owen established the first infant school at new Lanark, Scotland in 1816.
Its sole purpose was taking care of Factory Workers children. The system lays emphasis on children's mental development by giving them considerable freedom. The later day infant schools included memory drill and moral training for the children. In 1836 the Home and Colonial School Society was founded to train teachers in the methods advanced by Pestalozz.
In 1837, Froebel opened a school in Blankenbarg for children's psychological training through play. He called it Kindergarten. He made efforts to convey the impression of an environment in which children grew freely like plants in a garden.
This system gained popularity among educationists and within 25 years after Froebels death. Such schools had been established in the leading cities of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Japan, Switzerland, United States and Great Britain. Soon other countries also adopted Kindergarten System.
