Early Childhood

Early childhood is the area of education that I will concentrate on and also the one that I am most interested in. I have always been interested to the beginnings of a child’s education. I have also wondered if there are early signs showing whether or not a student will be a good student for the rest of their educational career. This concept of early childhood education has always intrigued me because it is the beginning of a structured school environment. Early childhood years are the best years to learn because children are receiving information at a very fast pace. People often refer to young children’s brains to be somewhat of a sponge, because they soak up lots of information. “The years before a child reaches kindergarten are among the most critical in his or her life to influence learning.” (Baxter, 2007)

“The philosophical foundations of early childhood education were provided by John Amos Comenius, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. Its curriculum and methodology were created by the likes of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Friedrich Froebel, Maria Montessori, and Rudolf Steiner. Most recently, it was scientifically grounded by the research and theories of Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, and Erik Erikson. While there are differences in the approaches of these progenitors of early childhood education, they are overshadowed by one common principle: that early childhood curriculum and practice must be adapted to the maturing needs, abilities, and interests of the child.” (Elkind, 1997) When my daughter was in Kindergarten we were told that they wanted to have her tested for the gifted program and that they feel she should be skipped to the first grade. My husband and I did not feel she was mature enough to advance to the next grade level even though her test scores said she would thrive. As Elkind said , maturity plays a major part in a child’s education. We felt if she was to be moved to a higher grade level with older kids then she may get lost when trying to relate to children who are a year older than which could make her grades suffer. One program that I do feel help[s early childhood education is The Head Start Program. “

In America, the Head Start Program, launched in the 1960s for low-income children, had an unintended consequence. Although it was very effective, the title gave parents the impression that education was a race, and that the earlier you start, the earlier and better you finish. Middle-income parents wanted their preschoolers to have a head start as well. This gave added emphasis to the importance of early childhood education as the answer to improving the educational system.” (Jackson, 2001) This program is to help give kids a head start with their education. This is a very good resource for parents who may not have an education themselves but they see the value in their kids having an education so they want to give them a push in the right direction. Unfortunately ,in