Emmi Pikler was a Hungarian paediatrician who developed a concept of early childhood education focusing on the movement development as well as the independent learning process of a child from day one.
She became interested in that during her work with the pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet. When her first child was born, she and her husband decided to allow her free movement and to patiently observe her gross motor development. When she then worked as a pediatrician in Budapest she adopted this approach of free movement and “letting the child be”. This was when she started giving talks and published some papers.
After the second world war she gave birth to two more children and decided not to reopen her pediatrics practice. Instead she worked in a campaign for orphans and neglected children. In 1946 she opened the orphanage “Lóczy” where all children were raised to her constantly developing approach.
more on her approach:
WHY PiKLER ?
UNDERSTANDiNG PiKLER
UNDiViDED ATTENTiON
PREPARED ENViRONMENT
FREE PLAY
MATERiALS
