In the 1920s the question of kindergartens was actively discussed in Finnish teachers' journals. The concern was with social and educational demands that kindergartens and lower elementary schools should be combined in the public educational system. Elisabeth Alander (1859-1940), the grand pioneer of the Finnish kindergarten pedagogy, opposed the demands and the education policy debate ceased. In the debate of early childhood education the event named above is referred to as "the favourable moment which passed by". The assumption has been that the unifying and standardisation of pedagogical institutions and practices is inevitable, in spite of temporary setbacks. This paper investigates Elisabeth Alander's educational policy and pedagogical practice, arguing that it is methodologically essential to analyse the course of the events of the 1920s also as the years when kindergarten pedagogy was at risk.