SEEFELDT, Carol 1935-2005

OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born May 3, 1935, in St. Louis, MO; died of liver cancer January 5, 2005, in Towson, MD. Educator and author. Seefeldt was widely recognized as an authority on early childhood education. She earned her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin in 1956, and then worked as a public school teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, St. Louis, Missouri, and Granite City, Illinois. Leaving teaching in 1960 to raise her children, she went back to school at the University of South Florida to complete a master's degree in 1968. While still working on this degree, she taught both kindergarteners and, at the University of South Florida, college students. She then transferred to Florida State University, where she continued to teach, was involved in the Head Start program, and studied for her Ph.D., which she completed in 1971. That year, she joined the University of Maryland faculty as a professor of human development and remained there until her 1999 retirement. Having experience as both a mother and a teacher, Seefeldt was an expert on elementary education. As such, she was sometimes known for taking controversial stances. For example, she felt that very young children should not be given homework; she also believed that home schooling was a bad trend in education because it prevented children from gaining important social experiences by interacting with their peers. In essence, Seefeldt emphasized that experience was often just as important as book learning. After retiring, Seefeldt accepted a visiting scholar post at Johns Hopkins University in 2002. She was the author of several important books in her field, including Continuing Issues in Early Childhood (1988), Early Childhood Education (1993), and Social Studies in the Preschool/Primary Child (2001). Among her last publications were Kindergarten: Fours and Fives Go to School (2002), written with Barbara Wasik, and How to Work with Standards in the Early Childhood Classroom (2005). From 2000 to 2003, she also released the popular teacher series "Active Experiences for Active Children."

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Washington Post, January 14, 2005, p. B7.

ONLINE

Gryphon House,http://www.gryphonhouse.com/ (March 9, 2005).