Early childhood education

Definition

Early childhood education consists of activities and/or experiences that are intended to effect developmental changes in children prior to their entry into elementary school.

Description

Early childhood education (ECE) programs include any type of educational program that serves children in the preschool years and is designed to improve later school performance. In the second half of the twentieth century, the early education system in the United States grew substantially. This trend allowed the majority of American children to have access to some form of early childhood education.

There are several types of programs that represent early childhood education. They are also known by a variety of names, including preschool and pre-kindergarten (pre-K). One of the first early childhood education initiatives in the United States was the Head Start program, started in 1965. Head Start is a federal government education initiative that has provided children from low-income families free access to early education. It targets children of low socioeconomic status or those who qualify in some at-risk category. Head Start programs are funded by the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

Many early childhood education programs operate under the auspices of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Under Title I, local educational agencies apply to state agencies for approval of their program, and when approved, the programs are then funded with federal money. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 encourages the use of Title I, Part A funds for preschool programs, recognizing the importance of preparing children for entering school with the language, cognitive, and early reading skills that help them meet later academic challenges. In the school year of 2001–2002 approximately 300,000 children benefiting from Title I services were enrolled in preschool.

Other early childhood education programs may be run by private for-profit companies, churches, or as part of a private school curriculum. These programs are normally tuition-based.

Since the early 1990s, many states have developed options for children from middle- and upper-income families for receiving free preschool education. Georgia introduced the first statewide universal pre-K program, offering free early childhood education to all four-year-old children. New York and Oklahoma have also developed universal pre-K programs, and Florida voters have approved a constitutional amendment for a free pre-school program to be available for all four-year-olds by 2005.

Nearly three-fourths of young children in the United States are involved in some sort of early childhood education. Some groups of children have higher rates of participation in early childhood education programs than others. Children living in low-income households are less likely to be enrolled in ECE than those children in families living above the poverty line. Black and white children enroll in these programs in higher numbers than Hispanic American children. Children with better-educated mothers are more likely than other children to participate.

Benefits of Early Childhood Education

Early childhood education can produce significant gains in children's learning and development. High quality early childhood education assists many at-risk children in avoiding poor outcomes, such as dropping out of school. Although the benefits seem to cross all economic and social lines, the most significant gains are almost always noted among children from families with the lowest income levels and the least amount of formal education. However, whether these benefits are long lasting is disputed. Some studies focused on the IQ score gains of disadvantaged children in Head Start programs, but these gains seemed to be short-term. However, studies also indicate that ECE produces persistent gains on achievement test scores, along with fewer occurrences of being held back a grade and being placed in special education programs. Other long-term benefits include decreased crime and delinquency rates and increased high school graduation. One extensive study found that people who participated in ECE were less likely to be on welfare as adults compared to those who had not received any early childhood education.

All programs in early childhood education are not equally effective in promoting the learning and development of young children. Long-term benefits are usually seen only in high-quality early childhood education programs. A significant problem with early childhood education is that most programs available cannot be considered high quality. In addition, the most effective ones are unaffordable for most American families. The overall effectiveness of an early childhood program is dependent upon several factors: quality staff, an appropriate environment, proper grouping practices, consistent scheduling, and parental involvement. According to the U.S. Department of Education, some additional characteristics of a high-quality early education program are as follows:

• Children have a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment, with the supervision and guidance of competent, caring adults.
• Teachers plan a balanced schedule in which the children do not feel rushed or fatigued.
• The school provides nutritious meals and snacks.
• The program includes a strong foundation in language development, early literacy, and early math.
• The program contains a clear statement of goals and philosophy that is comprehensive and addresses all areas of child development.
• The program engages children in purposeful learning activities and play, instructed by teachers who work from lesson and activity plans.
• Balance exists between individual, small-group, and large-group activities.
• Teachers frequently check children's progress.
• The staff regularly communicate with parents and caregivers so that caregivers are active participants in their children's education.
• Preschools that operate for a full day on a year-round basis, thus providing children with two years of pre-school, achieve better results than those that offer less intense services.

In high-quality preschool programs, observers should see children working on the following:

• learning the letters of the alphabet
• learning to hear the individual sounds in words
• learning new words and how to use them
• learning early writing skills
• learning about written language by looking at books and by listening to stories
• becoming familiar with math and science

Because of the potential benefits to children, some people support the idea of government-sponsored universal early childhood education programs. Those who support this movement do so for the following reasons:

• The private and social costs of failing children early in their lives can be high. The lifetime social costs associated with one high school dropout may be as high as $350,000. Even modest improvements may justify the costs of ECE.
• Some studies show that for every dollar invested in quality ECE citizens save about $7 or more on investment later on.
• There is a potential for less reliance on welfare and other social services. Government receives more tax revenue because there are more taxpaying adults.
• People should rethink the value of early childhood education because of increasing needs for a more highly educated workforce in the twenty-first century.
• Early intervention may prevent intergenerational poverty.

Opponents of universal government early childhood education give the following reasons for objecting to it:

• Evidence indicates that the positive effects from the fairly expensive and intensive pre-K programs tend to be short-term.
• The public schools are already fraught with problems, and providing a downward extension to three- and four-year-olds is ill conceived.
• Some studies show that premature schooling may potentially slow or reduce a child's overall development by reducing valuable play time.
• Additional studies show that quality early education could as of 2004 cost more than $5,800 per year. The government would be taxing many people who may not wish to pay for preschool for another family's children.

In spite of the controversies, demographic trends in the early 2000s indicate that early childhood education has become, and will continue to be, an important aspect of the U.S. educational system.

Parental Concerns

Parents are often understandably concerned about the quality of the early childhood education programs available to them. By taking the time to investigate several schools, most parents find a program with which they and their child are comfortable.

Resources

Periodicals

Barnett, W. Steven, and Jason T. Hustedt. "Preschool: The Most Important Grade." Educational Leadership 60 (April 2003): 7, 54–57.

Pascopella, Angela. "Universal Early Education: Point/Counterpoint." District Administration (August 2004): 28–31.

Web Sites

"Enrollment in Early Childhood Education Programs." National Center for Education Statistics, 2002. Available online at (accessed January 5, 2005).

[Article by: Deanna M. Swartout-Corbeil, RN]

This entry consists of the following articles:

• Overview of Early Childhood Education
• Early Childhood Education: Preparation of Teachers
• Early Childhood Education: International Context

Early childhood education regards education in early childhood, one of the most vulnerable stages in life. According to the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), it spans the human life from birth to age eight.

Contents 1 Similar terms 2 Developmental domains 3 Benefits of Early Childhood Education 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Similar terms

Early childhood education often focuses on children learning through play.^[1][2]

The terms preschool education and kindergarten emphasise education around the ages of 3-6 years. The terms "early childhood learning," "early care," and "early education" are comparable with early childhood education. The terms Day care and Childcare do not embrace the educational aspects.

Researchers in the field and early childhood educators both view the parents as an integral part of the early childhood education process^[3]. Early childhood education takes many forms depending on the beliefs of the educator or parent.

Much of the first two years of life are spent in the creation of a child's first "sense of self" or the building of a first identity.^{[citation needed]} This is a crucial part of children's makeup—how they first see themselves, how they think they should function, how they expect others to function in relation to them.^{[citation needed]} For this reason, early care must ensure that in addition to employing carefully selected and trained caretakers, program policy must emphasize links with family, home culture, and home language, meaning caregivers must uniquely care for each child using Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Individually Appropriate Practice and Culturally Appropriate Practice. Care should support families rather than be a substitute for them.^{[citation needed]}

If a young child doesn't receive sufficient nurturing, nutrition, parental/caregiver interaction, and stimulus during this crucial period, the child may be left with a developmental deficit that hampers his or her success in preschool, kindergarten, and beyond.

Worst-case scenarios such as those found in Russian and Romanian orphanages demonstrate how the lack of proper social interaction and development of attachment affect the developing child.^[4] Children must receive attention and affection from their caregivers to develop in a healthy manner.

Developmental domains

Further information: Child Development

There are five different developmental domains of children which all relate to each other. They are easily referred to as the SPICE of life:^{[citation needed]}

• Social - Refers mostly to the ability to form attachments, play with others, co-operation and sharing, and being able to create lasting relationships with others.
• Physical - Development of Fine (small) and Gross (large) Motor Skills.
• Intellectual - The process of making sense of the world around them.
• Creative - The development of special abilities creating talents. Music, Art, Writing, Reading, and Singing are all ways for creative development to take place.
• Emotional - Development of self-awareness, self-confidence, and coping with feelings as well as understanding them.

Psychosocial According to Jean Piaget, there are four major stages of cognitive development:

1. Sensorimotor Stage. This stage occurs between the ages of birth and two years of age.Sensorimotor (infancy): During this stage, which includes six distinct substages, intelligence is demonstrated through motor activity with limited use of symbols, including language; the infant’s knowledge of the world is primarily based on physical interactions and experiences.
2. Preoperational Stage. The second stage occurs between the ages of two to seven years of age.During this stage,intelligence is increasingly demonstrated through the use of symbols; memory and imagination are developed as language use matures; thinking is nonlogical, nonreversible, and egocentric.
3. Concrete Operations Stage. Occurring between ages 7 and about 12 years. During this stage—characterized by conservation of number, length, liquid,mass, weight, area, volume—intelligence is increasingly demonstrated through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols relating to concrete objects; thinking is operational, reversible, and less egocentric.
4. Formal Operations Stage. The final stage of cognitive development (from age 12 and beyond)During this final stage, intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts; thinking is abstract, hypothetical, and early on, quite egocentric; it is commonly held that the majority of people never complete this stage.

• Emotional Development - Concerning children's increasing awareness and control of their feelings and how they react to these feelings in a given situation.
• Social Development - Concerning the children's identity, their relationships with others, and understanding their place within a social environment

Benefits of Early Childhood Education

Chicago’s publicly-funded Child-Parent Centers have served almost 100,000 3- and 4-year-olds since 1967. Researchers tracked 989 of those children and 550 similar children not in the program for 14 years. The children who did not participate were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18. This program also cut child abuse and neglect. In Ypsilanti, Michigan, 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families who were randomly assigned to a group that did not receive preschool who were five times more likely to have become chronic lawbreakers by age 27 than those who were assigned to the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation’s Perry Preschool program.^[5]

See also

• Preschool education
• Kindergarten
• Baby video
• Charles Eugene Beatty
• David P. Weikart
• Head Start
• Playcentre
• Compensatory Education

References

1. ^ Wenner, M. (2009). "The Serious Need for Play" - Free, imaginative play is crucial for normal social, emotional and cognitive development. It makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed, Scientific American.
2. ^ Gray, P. (2008-2009). "Social Play and the Genesis of Democracy", "The Value of Play I: The Definition of Play Provides Clues to Its Purposes", "The Value of Play II: How Play Promotes Reasoning in Children and Adults", "The Value of Play III: Children Use Play to Confront, not Avoid, Life’s Challenges and Even Life’s Horrors", "The Value of Play IV: Play is Nature’s Way of Teaching Us New Skills", "How to Ruin Children's Play: Supervise, Praise, Intervene", Psychology Today.
3. ^ Early Years Framework. Scottish Government. 2008. ISBN 978 0 7559 5942 6. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/257007/0076309.pdf#page=9. 
4. ^ Groark, Christina J., et al. (2008) Infant Mental Health Journal - Volume 29, Issue 4, Special section on Russian orphanages. Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.
5. ^ "Lifetime Effects: The HighScope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40". HighScope. 2005. http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=219. 

External links

• National Institute for Early Education Research
• Chicago Longitudinal Study
• Childhood Education Blog
• National Education Association's Position on Early Childhood Education
• National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC)
• Early Childhood Education Journal

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