Early childhood education



Early childhood education covers the education of a child from the period from birth to five years of age.

What is Early Childhood Education?
Early Childhood spans the human life from infancy to Age 8 and can take place naturally while being watched and with parents/others. But “early childhood education and care” or “early care and education” often act as interchangeable terms with early childhood education. It emphasizes the focus of academically, socially, emotionally, and physically preparing a child during this age range and the focus of protecting and caring for the child in the absence of his/her primary care giver.

Child development
There are different developmental domains of children which all relate to each other:
 * Physical development - Concerning the physical growth and the development of both gross(eg. walking) and fine motor(eg. arm movement) 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 react.
 * 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.

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 nurturing, 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.

Theory & Curriculum
A wide array of educational philosophies circulate through the field. Older professionals adhere more to a behaviorist theory as developed through B. F. Skinner, John B. Watson, and Edward Thorndike. Others hold to the more unstructured maturationist theory popularized by Jacques Rousseau Currently early childhood teacher education programs teach a mix of theories dominated by the constructivism (learning theory) theory as put forth by Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky.

Each philosophy forms the undergirding theory behind its own selection of school curriculum used throughout the world. Behaviorist ideas dominant direct instruction methods (like DISTAR). Constructivist ideas dominate curriculums like High/Scope and Montessori. A mix of maturationist and constructionist ideas supply the base theory for the Reggio Emilia approach.

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.

Providers
Providers of early childhood education go by many names:
 * early childhood programs,
 * child development programs,
 * children’s centers or day cares,
 * preschools,
 * kindergartens,

Early Childhood Educational Professional
The teachers of early childhood education often hold the titles of early childhood professional, early childhood teacher, early childhood educator, early childhood practitioner, early childhood provider, or early childhood caregiver
 * 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
 * Early interventionists
 * Speech pathologists
 * Play therapists
 * Psychometrist
 * Councillor
 * Inclusion consultant
 * Social worker
 * Behavioural specialist
 * Integration facilitator
 * Guidance councillor
 * Nanny

Childcare in the United States
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.

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).