High Quality Preschool: Article Analysis

Early childhood educators are expected to know more about the brain development of the child, in order for him to read and write, but on the other hand, for the educator to communicate in a better way. The educators have to keep in mind the aspect of life where the children has to interact with the immediate environment and and sensory awareness. Moreover, the children has to learn to take responsibilities of their actions therefore, the educators role has expanded as there is a more complex and diverse society.

As early childhood educators we all have our own philosophies and approaches to education. There are several types of early childhood programs. Each program has its own philosophies, methods, and program goals. Every early childhood educator is unique making each early childhood program experience special. Consistently, early childhood programs offer educational foundations that prepare young students for their educational futures. In this paper I will focus on comparing and contrasting two programs that stood out to me, Ridgeline Montessori and the Whitaker Head Start.

I choose to interview Mary from the Fresno City College child development center. Mary works with toddlers who are 2 years of age. While observing Mary with her students, I notice she was well organized and very attentive to her students, and they seem to respond very well to her. I also noticed that Mary has a lot of patients with her students and they love her. I also noticed while observing Mary, that she seems to deal each of the students differently according to what needs that need to be met and how each of the students learning is different. Mary is well organized and has a strategic schedule that she goes by.

The article Preschool is For Real by Julie Poppe is based on how we should create high quality preschool. It states that over the years funding for early childhood education has went up and enrollment has increased as well. Teachers today have a lot of responsibility when it comes to teaching preschool. They need to making learning fun and simple, but they also need to follow state guidelines and curriculum. With preschool becoming more popular, states are changing their curriculum. Many researchers have found that preschool is incredibly important to young children but only if the program is of high quality. Poor quality can actually have a negative effect on the children. They article outlines what it means to be a high quality preschool

There is increasing facts that kids get to learn a lot after going to preschool. They become to learn about alphabets, numbers, and shapes. In addition to this, they gain knowledge about how to socialize like sharing thoughts, foods & things, being friendly with other children and include in a group of children.

I really enjoyed reading your post and your experience working with a universal preschool. Universal preschools are “state-funded preschool programs” (Rock, 2015). These programs can be confused with Head Start Programs, however, the difference is one is state-funded while the other is federally-funded (Rock, 2015). I agree with you that this program is not a waste of money. I feel that a lot of other people have the same opinion. According to Bredekamp (2014, p. 5), “73% of voters in one poll said they supported funding to improve the quality of child care even if it meant paying higher taxes”.

President Obama claims that providing high-quality preschool for all four year olds in the United States will help save the government money over time and will help create more stable families with parents that can hold a job. Obama says in his State of the Union Address in 2013 that America must equip its citizens with the adequate job training and skills to be able to fill the job openings that the economy is creating. In order to do this, Obama suggests starting learning at the earliest age possible and providing a high-quality preschool program for every single child in America. He claims that this will benefit families on an individual level and society as a whole as more equipped, educated citizens are produced. Although Obama has high

The Stepping Stone Preschool based its philosophy on several core developmental theories. These theories help form the philosophy that will direct all of the center’s actions. According to Freeman, C. Decker and J. Decker (2013), “The program philosophy not only includes beliefs that guide the selection of curriculum, but it also should be the guide for all interactions within the organization…” Therefore, it is important that program philosophy be imbedded in developmental theory so that the philosophy promotes development in an appropriate and realistic manner. Theories shed light onto the way children learn and the optimal environment for learning to occur. They can be applied to all developmental domains, cognitive, social-emotional and physical. Theories have research and scholarly backing for they are created from research done on actual children. The Stepping Stone Preschool’s philosophy uses developmental theory to create its environment, epistemological and pedagogical beliefs and discipline.

The article (“Raising Children: A Character-based Approach To Residential Child Care",2014) disguises how the understanding of ethical behaviour is difficult to teach to a young child. We don't have the same perspective on life as the child and we don’t know what they go through in their everyday lives, so it's difficult to show them the importance of ethical behaviour. In order to grow well we must develop some of the following virtues wisdom,justice,courage, temperance (Barnes and Thomson,2002). He broke down virtues into two parts, virtues intellectual and virtues morals. Intellectual which can learnt by an educational background and morals which is learnt by some sort of experience, such as by a role model. Right reasoning, emotion,

As the article states, proponents of universal preschool often cite the fact that students readiness is increased as a result of attending preschool; which allows these students to be more efficient when participating in the elementary school curriculum. Equally as important, the article cites the importance of preschool when it comes to language and speech development especially for non- English speakers who benefit greatly from the learning that occurs in English as a second language. Above all, this article also taught me the importance of changing our teacher practices as the article writes, “Teachers and administrators planning for curriculum and instruction, need to rethink the traditional parameters of training because the children who will be in the workforce in the future are in today’s preschools (Lasser and Fite, 171).”This showed me that our curriculum should be designed to ensure that we are teaching these preschool students the skills that they need to compete in the 21st century. Furthermore, this article taught me the true importance of having universal preschool, and the benefits that this type of program has on all students and school

The historical roots of Early Childhood Education is important because it shows the development towards improving the lives of children. It helps shape today’s issues from learning from past events. Current issues influence what happens for children and teachers as medicine, education, and psychology help build early childhood teaching.

Though all of childhood is an exciting learning experience, the beginning of formal education whether a part-time nursery school program or a full day of kindergarten-is a momentous occasion. The best preparation is emotional in nature. The child who feels secure and loved and who has had experiences with developing positive relationships with adults and other children is well equipped to venture forth.

The education of the young mind is an important step in preparing the child for future learning experiences. The evolution of early childhood education has changed how adults and parents view the importance of offering stimulating and exciting opportunities to the very young. Early childhood Education offers the young child learning experiences that benefit them throughout their educational career. They soon embark on a whole new world of learning. These children are not only experiencing standard brain growth, but verbal and physical skills as well. Early childhood education teachers use a variation of techniques for instructing. They use lesson plans, worksheets, and even teacher resources for these young minds.

There are various significant practices which promote health and safety in early childhood centres to take in to account. This essay focuses on nutrition across the early years, providing a safe environment and identifying and responding to childhood illness and how teachers can encourage and promote these practices to the children.

It is a clear and worthy investment. The question lies in which preschool program is the most effective. Previous reviews of programs have focused on if they contributed to later success, but a few of them compared the programs on their effectiveness. A number of programs showed positive results continuing to the end of kindergarten and beyond, signifying that the preschool involvement had impacts aside from early exposure to academic content. (Johns Hopkins University, 37). Also, several programs had effects on oral language skills, which are emphasized in most preschools.