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Elina
17 August, 2024
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Many families with young children might ask, “What is early childhood education?” Also, “How will an early childhood education prepare my child for success?” To fully comprehend the critical importance of early childhood education, we must first understand the differences in learning and development that exist in ‘early years’ aged children, as well as the significance of a well-rounded and comprehensive education programme during this time.
Early childhood refers to period between ones birth and 8 years of age, where a child’s brain is highly sensitive to the environment. Early childhood education (ECE) is also known as nursery education. It is also an important period in child development.
ECE emerged as a field of study during the enlightenment, especially in European countries with high literacy rates.
It developed in the nineteenth century, as a universal primary education became the norm in the western world. Early Childhood Education has now become a public policy issue.
Early Childhood education aims for a child’s holistic development. It focuses mainly on child’s emotional wellbeing, social and physical needs in order to build a solid fondation for lifelong learning.
Did you know that a lot of brain development actually happens before you even turn five year old? Early childhood education helps children learn and develop important skills like thinking, talking, and problem-solving, which they can use their whole lives.
When children go for early childhood education they learn how to follow routines, listen to their teachers, and get along with their mates. This helps and makes their life easier to adjust to school later.
Early childhood education isn’t always just about books and numbers; it’s also about making friends, sharing toys, and playing games that teach them important lessons about teamwork and kindness.
The main purpose of ECE is to help children develop for their future. It helps young children learn important things. Children are taught how to count, read, draw, colour and write. Additionally, they teach children how to share and play with other children. The early childhood education programme has mentors and coaches who can help children learn in fun ways like playing games and teaching music. ECE is a place where children begin to understand the world around them.
✔️ Early Childhood Education helps children develop skills and express themselves through art, music, and storytelling.
✔️ Early Childhood Education helps children build confidence and a positive attitude towards learning.
✔️ Prepares early to help children not only in school but in future careers.
The Abecedarian ProjectThe Abecedarian Project is a best known example of early childhood education. It was a well controlled scientific investigation evaluating the potential benefits of early childhood education for low-income children. Four cohorts of infants born between 1972 and 1977 were randomly assigned to either the early educational intervention or control groups. Children from low-income households got full-time, high-quality educational services in a childcare setting from infancy until age five. Each youngster received an individualised plan of educational activities. Educational activities included “games” that were built into the child’s daily routine. Mostly the activities aimed to enhance social, emotional, and cognitive skills, with a focus on language. Children’s progress was tracked throughout time by follow-up studies at age groups of 12, 15, 21, and 30. From here the findings among young adults show that the early childhood programme provided significant, long-term advantages. |
Pratham’s Early Childhood Education ProgrammePratham is one of India’s major non-governmental organisations. Founded in 1995 to provide education to children in Mumbai’s slums. Pratham’s Early Childhood Education programme mainly focuses on children’s holistic development and school readiness from the ages of 3-8 years of age. This can be done with the help of mothers, schoolteachers, and volunteers from the community. Pratham’s anganwadi support model takes a ‘teaching in, reaching out’ approach, with efforts made to engage children both within the institution (anganwadis) and outside of it – at home and in the community. Holistic development and preparation for school include four developmental domains, which are:
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Source: Pratham
When searching for an early childhood education programme that is right for your family, it is important to consider the goals of an ECE programme on two fronts: how an ECE programme is designed to meet a child’s developmental needs, and how the programme flows into the upper elementary years and beyond to cement and maintain early learning achievements.
The goals of an early childhood education programme can be split into four main development themes:
Considered “the cradle of social cohesion,”an early childhood education programme strives to support a child’s understanding of themselves as individuals who live in relationship to others. In addition to delivering what many parents consider foundational skills like sharing, using respectful language like, “please” and “thank you,” and contributing to shared efforts like cleaning up and following directions, early childhood education programmes have the potential to help children see themselves as leaders for a better future. An early childhood education programme that focuses on instilling the attitudes and values of equality, peace, and collaboration engenders in children the belief that they can make a positive difference in the lives of others.
Children learn important emotional skills in their early years, such as self-confidence, emotion regulation, self-expression, self-respect, and positive self-belief. These abilities are required for subsequent activities such as problem-solving and healthy risk-taking. Small class sizes and extensive teacher interaction help children learn these skills in an environment where they are known, cared for, and encouraged to practise them. Children are better prepared for increasingly complex social-emotional and academic challenges when they have a strong emotional foundation in which they understand their worth as friends, learners, and individuals, as well as confidence in themselves and their ability to express their ideas, emotions, and needs.
An early childhood education programme overlaps with a child’s development of gross and fine motor skills, physical coordination (hand-eye coordination, biking, running, etc.), and their understanding of healthy skills like hand-washing, regular exercise, and balanced eating.
An early childhood education programme should develop these skills through free and planned play, engaging activities like sensory tables, building, painting, playing instruments, etc., and coordinated games where children practice running, pulling, pushing, hopping, and working together while having fun!
While an early childhood education programme should have carefully researched goals for literacy and numeracy, the foundations of academic success are only one part of a child’s intellectual development during the early years.
A child must see themself as a capable learner, who can grapple with new topics that may seem tricky at first, and resist giving up when a topic or task becomes difficult. Here, a child’s intellectual development extends far beyond the classroom; supported by an early childhood education programme, students come to see the whole world as an opportunity for learning.
Early childhood programmes that promote a strong intellectual curiosity and lead children to a life of observing, wondering, questioning, and discovery. It often includes play-based learning or outdoor learning, and a focus on self-directed learning and responsive curriculum. These aspects of an early childhood education programme allow the classroom environment to engage with and incorporate a child’s interests into the learning journey.
Children who attend good early education programmes often do better in school later on. They’re more likely to graduate from high school and go on to college or get a good job.
When children have a good start in early education, they feel happier and more confident. They’re less likely to feel stressed or worried about school.
Early education programmes also help families by providing a safe place for children to learn while parents work. They offer support and guidance on parenting and child development.
Not Enough Programmes:- In some places, there aren’t enough early education programmes for every child who needs one. Governments and communities can work together to create more programmes and make them affordable for families.
Making Programmes Better:- We can also work on making early education programmes even better by training teachers well, providing good resources and materials, and listening to parents and kids about what they need.
Early learning outcomes are the abilities, behaviours, and knowledge that a child should show at each stage of his or her development. Head Start programmes use a framework to specify what early childhood age groups should know and do in five developmental areas from birth to five years old.
The outcomes and sub-outcomes cover a variety of areas which include identity, community, well-being, learning and communication. They are to be used when documenting children’s play and to be added to various experiences and activities on the curriculum plan to guide children’s learning.
The purpose of ECE is to provide children with strategies that help them develop the emotional, social, and cognitive skills needed to become lifelong learners.
