Early Childhood Education
What is Early Childhood Education?
Early Childhood Education (ECE) is the term frequently applied to the education of young children from birth through age 5. This is the age group commonly termed "preschool." Once a child enters kindergarten, he or she is in a well-regulated educational setting designed to teach and develop the child's potential. However, during the birth to 5 years, a child with working parents may spend time in various child care arrangements including unlicensed day care located in private homes, profit-based child care centers of varying quality, and high-quality preschools that emphasize child development.
Recent studies on infant brain development show most of a person's neurons are formed from ages 0-5. If a young child doesn't receive sufficient nuturing, nutrition, parental/caregiver interaction, and stimulus during the crucial ages of 0-5, the child may be left with a developmental deficit that hampers his or her success in kindergarten and beyond.
The first national goal focuses directly on the early childhood years: "By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn." We believe that from the time of birth, all children are ready to learn. However, what we do or don't do as individuals, educators, and collectively as society can impede a child's success in learning. For example, if we do not provide adequate health care and nutrition for our youngsters, those children entering the public schools will already be behind their healthier, properly fed peers. The current educational practices of testing children for kindergarten entry and placement, raising the entrance age to kindergarten, adding an extra "transitional" year between kindergarten and first grade, and retaining children in preschool, kindergarten, or first grade are attempts to obtain an older, more capable cohort of children at each grade level. These educational strategies suggest that current curriculum expectations do not match the developmental level of the children for whom the grade is intended. In effect, these strategies blame the victims, the children, rather than confronting the real problem--an inappropriate curriculum.
The focus of this program, therefore, is to address curriculum and assessment issues related to the education of young children and discuss ways schools can change to become ready for children. Information that follows has been excerpted from position statements and guidelines developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) for appropriately educating young children, ages 3 through 8.
Child development
There are different developmental domains of children:
Physical development - Concerning the physical growth and the development of both gross and fine motor control of the body.
Perception and sensory development - How a child functions using the senses and the ability to process the information gained.
Communication and language development - Using visual and sound stimuli, especially in the acquisition of language, also in the exchange of thoughts and feelings.
Cognitive development - Concerning how the individual thinks and responds.
Emotional Development - Concerning childrens increasing awareness and control of their feelings.
Social Development - Concerning the child's identity, their relationship with others, and understanding their place within a social environment.
Job Possibilities
Aide in the public school system
Author of children's books
Child care teachers
Children's art instructor
Children's librarian
Director of preschool or Head Start center
Family child care providers
Parenting Coach
Preschool teacher
Children's museum
Elementary School Teacher
Science Centres/Exploration and Discovery Museums
Special Needs Educator
Child care specialist
Child life Specialist
Childhood Education Specialist
Children's television broadcasting
ESL facilitator
Toy maker
Early interventionists
Speech pathologists
Play therapists
Psychometrist
Councillor
Inclusion consultant
Social worker
Behavioural specialist
Integration facilitator
Guidance councillor
Child care centers
Facilities that offer full-day children's programs are often called child care centers. The focus of most of these centers is to provide a safe and secure environment where children can gain the education and experience they will need to build a strong foundation for years to come. The care is designed to meet the child's basic nutrition, health, and safety needs. The curriculum emphasizes the whole child including his or her social, emotional, cognitive, and physical needs. Most child care centers open early in the morning (as early as 6:00am), and remain open until six or seven o'clock in the evening. Some centers provide care for children 24 hours per day. Most recently, there was an article in the Toronto Star that stated that daycares were offering evening/over night care for children with parents that work night shifts (the world is changing).
Education
The curriculum in a "Head Start" program is designed to meet the needs of each child. One goal is to build self-esteem that will lead to future success in school. Staff encourage self-confidence, curiosity, and self-discipline. A variety of learning experiences are designed to meet the children's needs in the various areas of development. Staff should work as a team to implement the new government issued curriculum and teach children, based on their interest and in a fun way. Parent involvement should be the heart of the program. Preschool children must be provided with early literacy, awareness and intervention in order to perform better during the later years. This will lead the to success once they enter schools,and put them on the right track by being well prepared with the right and appropriate equipments.
Pedagogy
The philosophy of early childhood education is child-centered education. Therefore, there is a focus on the importance of play. Play provides children with the opportunity to actively explore, manipulate, and interact with their environment. It encourages children to investigate, create, discover and motivate them to take risks and add to their understanding of the world. It challenges children to achieve new levels of understanding of events, people and the environment by interacting with concrete materials. Hands-on experiences create authentic experiences in which children begin to feel a sense of mastery over their world. This philosophy follows with Piaget's ideals that children should actively participate in their world and various environments, so as to ensure they are not 'passive' learners but 'little scientists' who are actively engaged.
Important Early Childhood Education Resources
NAEYC Publications are available from NAEYC, 1834 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20009-5786. Phone 1-800-424-2460 or 202-232-8777, Fax 202-328-1846.
Achievement Testing in the Early Grades: The Games Grown-Ups Play. (1989, C. Kamii, Ed.).
Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children. (1989, L. Derman-Sparks, and the A.B.C. Task Force).
Beyond Self-Esteem: The Development of the Self System. (1989, N. Curry, & C. Johnson).
The Case for Mixed-Aged Grouping in Early Childhood Education. (1989, L. G. Katz, D. Evangelou, & J. A. Hartman).
The Child's Construction of Knowledge: Piaget for Teaching Children. (1983, G. E. Forman, & D. Kuschner).
Contructivist Early Education: Overview and Comparison with Other Programs. (1990, R. DeVries, & L. Kohlberg).
Developmental Screening in Early Childhood: A Guide. (2005, rev. ed., S. J. Meisels & S. Atkins-Burnett; Washington, DC: NAEYC).
References
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