Millie Almy (June 19, 1915 – August 16, 2001) was an American psychologist, known as the "''grandame''" of early childhood education. Almy was a leader in the field of early childhood education and psychology, and played a critical role in shaping the science of child development. Her research explored how young children understand complex subjects such as science, mathematics and literature. She is credited with popularising the theories of Jean Piaget in the early childhood education field.

Early life and education

Millie Corinne Almy was born in Clymer, New York, on June 19, 1915. She graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

in 1936, followed by an MA from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

in 1945. She received her PhD in 1948, also from Columbia University Teachers College.

Career

Almy worked in the field of early childhood education for more than forty years. She was on the faculty of Columbia University Teachers College for more than 20 years, as a professor of psychology and education. She joined the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, in 1971. Her publications included ''Young Children's Thinking'' and ''Ways of Studying Children''. Almy was among the first scholars to advocate for specialist training for teachers in early childhood education. Almy was an advocate for the importance and transformative power of play for children's cognitive, social and emotional development. She is credited as one of the first American scholars to bring Piagetian theory of cognitive development to the US discourse on early childhood education. Her writings argued that intelligence is not fixed at birth, but rather it emerges as it is nurtured. With each stage of development children can learn and acquire new abilities, which need to be exercised before moving on to more complex subjects in the next stage of development. Her work explained how children come to understand complex subjects through experience and visualisation. In 1950, Almy participated in the 1950

White House Conference on Children and Youth The White House Conference on Children and Youth was a series of meetings hosted over 60 years by the President of the United States of America, and the first White House conference ever held. Under the leadership of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, ...

. In 1980 she was honoured as a distinguished alumna by Teachers College, Columbia University. Almy had a commitment to

day care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

, and worked in day nurseries in the 1930s and in the Lanham Act Child Care Centers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She helped to establish an Interdisciplinary Day Care Program at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1970s. Almy retired in 1980, and continued to conduct research, including as a Fulbright fellow in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, as a visiting professor at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

in Oakland, and as a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

at the Oakland Museum of California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almy, Millie 1915 births 2001 deaths Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty Early childhood education American women psychologists American educational psychologists American developmental psychologists 20th-century American psychologists