臺灣幼兒教育肇始於日治時期，1897年第一所幼稚園出現於臺南；日治四十八年期間幼稚園、托兒所由無至希罕、至稍見普及。1945年臺灣光復，幼托機構逐漸普及，幼兒教育的內容、方式逐漸成為社會關注議題。「幼托整合」、「五歲幼兒入學免學費」政策是幼稚園發展一百一十四年以來，刻正進行中的臺灣幼兒教育發展的重大工程。本文指陳當代臺灣幼兒教育發展論述缺乏臺灣史觀點的缺失，並分析日治時期、光復初期的幼兒教育發展狀況論結臺灣人偏重知識的幼兒教育觀，以及幼稚園、托兒所師資名實不符的角色與地位。這些歷史的教訓值得「幼托整合」、「五歲幼兒入學免學費」政策借鑑，避免政策與社會脫節，不能奏效。

Abstract Early childhood education in Taiwan started in the Japanese Colonial Period, with its first kindergarten in Tainan in 1897. Kindergartens and nursery schools gradually grew in number during the colonial period, and became popular after the restoration of Taiwan in 1945. Its content and methods of early childhood education began to attract social concern, and consequently policies of“kindergarten and nursery school integration＂and“free preschool education for the 5-year-olds＂become hot issues in Taiwan now. This study discuss the lack of a historical perspective in the discussion of contemporary early childhood education in Taiwan. It also offers review of the context of early childhood education in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period and the period immediately afterward. The findings indicate that too much stress was laid on young children's academic knowledge and the preschool teachers and caregivers had inadequate qualifi cation requirements. These historical lessons should be considered for consideration in the making of future policy.