Elinor Goldschmied

Violet Elinor Goldschmied ( Sinnott; 15 December 1910 – 27 February 2009) was an English educationalist. Educated at the London School of Economics and qualified as a psychiatric social worker, she worked in an Italian state institution for illegitimate and abandoned children before moving to a home for single mothers in Milan, overseeing changes to the education of children and the training of staff, leading to a transformation of childcare in Italy. Goldschmied developed the concept of the "treasure basket" (TB) containing safe, multi-sensory household items in a low, open basket, for children able to sit and explore independently without physical adult intervention. The concept of "heuristic play" (HP) grew out of the TB as a means of autonomous play for babies under the age of two. Goldschmied also developed the “Key Person approach” (KPA) within non maternal childcare settings for establishing meaningful attachment relationships within nurseries. Provided by Wikipedia