The Importance of Early Childhood Education and What it looks Like in America

Playtime and Academics in Kindergarten Kindergarten, the most exciting educational time for anyone’s life. Every child’s dream of finally going to school and having time to play with children they just met. But now a days is playtime still considered a learning way for kindergarteners? Lea Winerman, writer of “Playtime in Peril,” explains how psychologists and educators have found research that young children in New York and Los Angeles spend less time on playtime when they are in kindergarten. Kindergarteners have been having way less playtime than twenty years ago, they barely have time to learn while playing.

Early childhood is a time of curiosity, a time for play, and a time of rapid development. Every child is unique and deserving of an early childhood education that facilitates academic, social, and developmental growth through a variety of enjoyable experiences. Differentiated instruction adapts content, products and processes to meet the diverse learning needs and preferences of students (Thousand, Villa, & Nevin, 2007). Friedrich Froebel, the creator of Kindergarten, believed that children grow and learn as they play (Bruno, 2009). Play-based instruction not only enables young learners to have fun, but it also encourages interactive and cooperative learning, passion for discovery, and a foundation for later learning experiences

Early Childhood Education illustrates the teaching and care of children in other environments outside of the home. Early childhood centers on the development of all children no matter their gender, race, abilities, or ethnic orientation and gives knowledge of early childhood learning process, which entails values, culture, desires of parents for their children, and especially a child’s need for knowledgeable functionality in society.

Health promotion is very important to early childhood education to improve the well-being of children and parents’ health and behaviours. “It is important for early childhood educators to recognized their essential role as health promotors” (Pimento & Kernested 2015, P. 4). There are 12 social determinants in daily life for childhood programs, however I have identified that social support networks are most important determinants of health. Likewise, educators and families are both mutually directly and indirectly supporting children to improve their healthy development and education (Pimento & Kernested, 2015, P.34). In early childhood, educators have very important role in daycare which is communication. That means, that we need to communicate with family (parent, grandparent), children and coworkers to share the daily basic tasks and any other ideas or information for improving environments and supports. It is especially important that we support mothers who have very limited knowledge about their first-born baby, such as lack of information about breastfeeding, sleeping routine, formula ratios, nutrition, healthy eating habits, or any parental skills. Not only that, we can also help parents to get benefits and support from the government such as financial support, subsidized daycare, and community information resources on healthy nutrition food.

“Early roots of play as a best practice for early learning was documented by Plato, a Greek philosopher, who insisted that play is considered a natural activity of childhood.”(Ingrid Crowther, 2011, Pg. 2) Early Childhood Education is a term that refers to educational programs that are devoted to children from birth to the age of eight. “Children of this age learn by exploring and investigating; therefore, their environment should support and encourage this process.”(Rebecca Isbell and Betty Exelby, 2001, Pg. 11) Early childhood environments should be attractive and exciting. These environments should allow children to work and play using proper resources, materials, and tools.

Statement of Issue: Many minority children and children from low-income families enter kindergarten without the academic skills they need to succeed. Math and reading abilities at kindergarten entry are powerful predictors of later school success. Research shows kids who start school already behind are unlikely to ever get caught up to standards. Hispanic and African American children are anywhere from 7 to 12 months behind in reading and 9 to 10 months behind on math when they enter kindergarten. Access remains extremely low to high-quality early education do to a couple of problems. First, rates of access to early education vary widely as a function of children’s socioeconomic backgrounds. Secondly, the quality of most early education programs is not high enough to substantially improve academic readiness. Considering the tremendous potential for high-quality preschool to improve children’s outcomes, this policy brief will consider how a universal publicly funded pre-kindergarten program in the United States could decrease both disparities in access to early learning and achievement gaps at kindergarten entry.

Educators can facilitate the children with different materials and environments in the classrooms that are in the early learning centres. The children need to develop their minds cognitively. “Children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world” (Berk 2007). Children are needing to develop their abilities through their play experiences, and also through their play experiences, they can develop appropriately. Early childhood education plays a large part in a child's early development.

On February 12th, 2012, in his State of the Union address, President Obama discussed the long-term benefits a universal preschool would have on today’s society. “In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children…studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind.” (Obama) Unfortunately, an overwhelming number of children, from low-poverty areas, are unable to access high-quality early childhood programs for their preschool aged children. Consequently,

Recent studies on early childhood education have shown that children who have access to quality pre-kindergarten education tend to have higher educational attainment than those who do not have the opportunity. While the literature is by no means uniform on this, the bulk of current evidence suggests that such policies will likely be helpful, especially for students in low - income and minority school districts. Only time will tell, of course, if such programs can help to make inroads into the seemly intractable achievement gaps, but based on current evidence, it is a policy worth

Head Start and Early Head Start provides families with a free preschool program for children birth to 4 years old. This is housed at Glenside School with certified teachers and staff. Your child’s education is important to prepare him or her socially and academically for kindergarten.

“Early childhood education and care” is an umbrella term, which describes a plethora of disparate, categorical, and idiosyncratic educational and child care programs available to young children. In California, this term encompasses Head Start, state preschool, transitional kindergarten, family day care, private preschool, daycare, quality improvement programs, local community programs, relative child care, and childcare provided by friends and neighbors. The following subcategory describes each program model including eligibility requirements, funding, and oversight and regulation.

The program, currently delivered by about 1,700 local organizations – public and private, non-profit and for-profit – provides preschoolers with comprehensive services, such as education and health screenings, with the goal of building their skills across five school readiness domains: language and literacy, cognition and general knowledge, approaches to learning, physical development and health, and social and emotional development. Head Start encourages the role of parents (both mothers and fathers) as their child's first and most important teachers. Programs build relationships with families that support positive parent-child relationships, family well-being, and connections to peers and community. Early Head Start, also managed by the federal Office of Head Start, is directed toward children up to the age of three and their parents. While the program is federally funded and managed, local agencies make decisions regarding service delivery based on the specific needs of their communities; for example, some may opt to include home-based services for families in their programs. Most states have multiple Head Start programs providing services for

Universal preschool is an initiative being discussed and the United States government has been trying to allocate money to put this practice into place in states across the country. It would give access to quality preschool education to all families for free or a very low cost. Because of its free or low cost, it would be extremely beneficial for those families who are at risk or in the lower class. These families generally cannot afford to send their

Early Childhood Education (ECE) is also nursery education and is a branch of education theory which relates to the teaching of young children (formally and informally) up until the age of about eight. Infant/ toddler education, a subset of early childhood education, denotes the education of children from birth to age two. The history of early childhood care and education refers to the development of care and education of children between zero and eight years old throughout history. Early childhood education has a global scope, and caring for and educating young children has always been an integral part of human societies. Arrangements of fulfilling these societal roles have evolved over time and remain varied across cultures, often reflecting family and community structures as well as the social and economic roles of women and men. Historically, such arrangements have largely been informal, involving family, household and community members. Early childhood education is a board term used to describe any type of educational program that serves children in their preschool years, before they are old enough to enter kindergarten. Early childhood education may consist of any number of activities and experiences designed to aid in the cognitive and social development of preschoolers before they enter elementary school. How and where early childhood education is provided can be very different from one state to the next or even from one school to the next within the same

As society progresses, becomes more competitive and fast paced it is important to prepare the coming generations so that they are not left behind. While initial cognitive learning and development begin at home with caregivers as teachers, there comes a point where parental instruction need to be supplemented. Preschool is an informal yet structured social and academic program for children before they begin formal education. Numerous studies conducted over the past few decades have shown that with preschool exposure, children are more adept when they begin primary school. Children who attended preschool were found to be more academically prepared, had better language skills, and better overall behavior than those who did not attend. Long term,