Margaret McMillan

1. Margaret McMillan – Play as
Sensory Learning
Courtney Thorneycroft

2. Margaret McMillan - Theory
 McMillan believed that children learn best through first-hand experiences and
active learning is the most beneficial for them.
 She valued parents and their never ending influence they have on their
children’s learning.
 McMillan was an advocate of healthy eating and stressed the importance of
children eating balanced meals in order to be ready to learn.
 She also felt that children need to have access to a wide range of materials and
be able to explore them freely.
 Margaret and her sister Rachel McMillan's education philosophy drew on
Froebel's work and placed a great emphasis on the importance of the garden.
(Baker, B. Beith, K. Byers, E. Daly, M. Forbes, S. Griffin, S. Marshall, H, 2012)

3. Margaret McMillan – Theory into Practice
 In 1911 Margaret McMillan opened a small centre which included a night camp
aiming to improve the health of children. Girls between the ages of 6 and 14
were able to sleep in the churchyard and by 1914, the number of places
available had trebled and boys were being included.
 The beginnings of an open-air baby camp catering for 29 young children had
been set up and by 1917 the Rachel McMillan Nursery School had been set
established with 100 places for children.
 There was strong emphasis on outdoor play with the classrooms being called and
still called shelters. There was a large garden enabling children to widely
explore.
 In the nursery, children had no examinations to sit and no formal structure to
the day but had time to play, run free in open spaces, feel the sun and the wind
and explore nature.
(Pound, 2006)

4. Margaret McMillan – Theory into Practice
 The nursery school that Margaret McMillan developed in Deptford has large and
beautiful gardens with the shelters (classrooms) having balconies and windows
that fold back to make the rooms light and airy.
 The work of the McMillan's brought about the establishment of the school
medical service and the school meals service.
 The emphasis the McMillan’s put on the nursery school being an open-air
institution influenced how nurseries were built throughout the first half of the
twentieth century.
 Nurseries have routines of regular meals as well as sleep times and times for
children to run and play.
(Pound, 2006)

5. Bibliography
 Baker, B. Beith, K. Byers, E. Daly, M. Forbes, S. Griffin, S. Marshall, H (2012).
Children and Young People's Workforce. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Pg.324
 Pound, L (2006). How Children Learn.
London: Practical Pre-School Books. Pg. 23-24.