This paper examines the early development of the social studies curriculum and the view of child-centered education. The contemporary social studies has roots in social efficiency and social welfare movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This spirits of the social studies were discovered in the report of the NEA 1916 Committee on Social Studies. In the early years of the social studies, the views of child-centered education were two basic principles; interdisciplinary approach as curriculum integration, reflective inquiry as teaching method and emphasis on an interaction between the member of classroom. This characteristics of the early social studies influence the contemporary social studies curriculum pattern and teacher\'s pedagogy.