Teaching & Learning in 2021 - Early Childhood Education

Introduction

Do you remember doing these activities as a kid?

- Playing outside with friends

- Creating crafts

- Singing the ABC song

- Stacking blocks

Many of us can agree that some of our best memories were formed in our childhood. While some of us may have been watched over by a family member or close friend during our early years of life, many of us attended some form of an Early Childhood Education program, such as a daycare.

Learning Targets

Within this section, the reader should be able to...

1. Define what Early Childhood Education is

2. Explain why Early Childhood Education Programs are important

3. Discuss the importance of parent involvement within Early childhood education

What is Early Childhood Education?

Early Childhood Education can be defined as the early developmental years of children’s lives, from birth to about age eight. However, many can also consider it to be from birth to six-years old; Age six is regarded as the kindergarten age. Nowadays, there are many different types of Early Childhood Education programs. Nevertheless, they all strive to accomplish the same goal. This goal consists of providing a safe and nurturing environment that allows kids to play, learn, explore and discover (Goodwin University, 2019). A numerous amount of people believe that this is the time in which children are developing basic and impactful skills (McCoy, 2018). According to Virginia’s Milestones of Early Childhood Development (2013), these skills can be broken down into six categories. These categories include social and emotional development, approaches to learning, language and literacy development, cognition and general knowledge, fine arts and physical development and health. These are essential skills that carry into adulthood.

(CAPSS CT Assoc. of Public School Superintendents, 2013)

Why are Early Childhood Education programs so important?

Although Early childhood education programs seem to have great impacts on a child’s development, some researchers do believe that Early childhood education can have negative impacts on children. They have concluded that these negative impacts affect mainly children who come from higher-income homes. For example, children who come from such higher-income homes, socio-emotional skills can be influenced due to changes in parent-child relationships, as well as exposure to high intense and stressful environments (Ansari, 2018). Nevertheless, more research has been proven to have great influences on children’s development. For example, children who are enrolled in Early childhood educational programs have been proven to display a greater level of school readiness when transitioning into higher education. Also, these children are more likely to have successful lives once they have completed their school careers. as these children who grew up in Early childhood education programs are more likely to graduate from high school and land well-paying careers in the future (Swick, 2009).

Why should parents be involved when it comes to their child’s development?

(education, 2008)

Parent involvement can be very crucial to the development of young children. It is also beneficial in terms of carrying out educational practices used at school, at home. This can also be valuable in reserve, as parents are quite knowledgeable on their kid(s) and can speak with teachers on practices they use at home, as it is important to remember that parents are children's first teacher. However, one main issue within parent involvement is lack of communication through teacher and parent (Hughes, 2000). Sometimes, language barriers can be an issue with lack of communication. Yet, high quality and effective early childhood programs can also help to improve with parent literacy and language as well (Swick, 2009). In relations to linguistic differences, according to Education Digest, encouragement for parent involvement from Latino parents in particular and being aware of new trends within the Early Childhood education field is highly encouraged simply because voting for government officials who value cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic differences can have great impacts on these families. (Rivera, 2008).

Conclusion

As a former pre-school teacher of four-years and using the information I have researched, I have found that Early Childhood education is essential to the developmental of young children. I have witnessed students who are enrolled in an Early Childhood education center at the beginning of the school year knowing very limited skills and even within a month start to display great developmental changes. It is important to understand that Early Childhood education programs are the backbone to a child’s education and can greatly impact their success in higher education. Everyone should learn and become aware of these great impacts these programs have not only on children, but parents, teachers and other professionals. As stated, before from Goodwin University, these programs strive to create a safe and nurturing environment that allows kids to play, learn, explore and discover (Goodwin University, 2019).

Questions

References

Ansari, A. (2018, October). The persistence of preschool effects from early childhood through adolescence. Journal of educational psychology. Retrieved September 27, 2021

CAPSS CT Assoc. of Public School Superintendents. (2013). The importance of early childhood education. Youtube. Retrieved October 27, 2021.

Education, V. D. of. (2008). Early childhood. VDOE :: Early Childhood. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.doe.virginia.gov/early-childhood/index.shtml.

Hughes, P., & Mac Naughton, G. (2000). Consensus, dissensus or community: The politics of parent involvement in early childhood education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 1(3), 241-258.

McCoy, D. C., Waldman, M., Team, C. F., & Fink, G. (2018). Measuring early childhood development at a global scale: evidence from the Caregiver- Reported early development instruments. Early childhood research quarterly, 45, 58-68.

Office of Early Childhood Development. (2013). Milestones Revised - Virginia Department of Social Services. Milestones of Child Development. Retrieved October 29, 2021.

Rivera, M. (2008). The importance of quality early childhood education. The Education Digest, 74(3), 61.

Swick, K. J. (2009). Promoting school and life success through early childhood family literacy. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(5), 403-406.

What is early childhood education?: Goodwin College. Goodwin University. (2019, July 18). Retrieved September 27, 2021.