How did Grace Owen and Margaret McMillan connect preschool education with children’s health?

In Great Britain, Grace Owen and Margaret McMillan were pioneers who fundamentally linked preschool education to children’s health and physical development. They viewed the nursery school not merely as an educational setting, but as a vital environment for fostering health, which they considered a necessary prerequisite for all other forms of development.1

Their approach emphasized the following connections:

• Extension of the Home: Both educators believed that nursery schools should function as an extension of the home environment.1
• Physical Development: They prioritized health and physical well-being as the foundation for a child's growth.1
• Socialization through Play: Owen advocated for nursery schools within housing developments where children of various ages could interact in a group resembling a large family, using play to facilitate socialization.1
• Professional Standards: McMillan emphasized the necessity of specialized care, outlining a three-year training course for teachers to ensure that only trained personnel worked with children aged three to six.1

Through their respective training centers in Manchester and Deptford, they supplied nursery teachers who influenced early childhood practices across the British Commonwealth and the United States.1