A Better Understanding Of Child Education
Early child education was once a major part of public schooling, and is now a smaller but more recognized branch. Early childhood education has three main objectives – preparing the child for kindergarten, promoting social and cognitive development in the child, and preparing the child for the transition into the school system. Early childhood education includes a wide range of approaches, ranging from books, videos, games, preschool settings to family counseling and home visitation. The most recent is a comprehensive curriculum based on international standards.
Early childhood education traces its history to the enlightenment. Early childhood education is now a major branch of psychology theory that focuses on the education of children at birth right up to their seventh birthday. Previously, this was probably well equivalent to first grade. ECE emerged as an area of research during the enlightenment, especially in European countries with high reading levels and high parental expectations. It is today a subject which attracts researchers from all over the world, because of its interdisciplinary nature and its potential to yield significant social and educational results.
A speciality of early childhood education is the face program, developed especially for mothers who are highly educated (high-school or college graduate), who have qualifications in child development and who live in high-poverty areas. The face program is targeted at mothers who want to educate their children from conception to their sixth birthday without having to go through a traditional preschool. It has been shown to yield significant results for children in low-income families. One of the key advantages of the face program is that it can be tailored to fit the family’s needs. In addition, ECD is itself an interdisciplinary discipline, with a strong cross-cultural perspective.
The other main area of specialization within the field of early childhood education is known as the whole child approach. The whole child approach was developed to aid children’s intellectual, emotional and social development. It draws upon many different educational theories, most of which have been developed using studies of children as young as one-year-old. The main aim of the whole child approach is to provide a holistic education, encompassing both social and intellectual aspects.
In the approach taken by the whole child approach, different learning environments are identified and considered, including the home environment, the school environment, and family settings. These learning environments are then matched to various requirements, such as the child’s developmental stage and the student’s preferences. Research has shown that children learn best when the learning environment is appropriate to them and to their interests. Therefore, appropriate teaching resources, inclusive of effective communication, social-emotional learning opportunities and adequate stimulation, are used.
In recent years, new directions for developing curriculum have come into being. Academic attention is given to reading, writing, speaking and spelling, all of which are essential elements of an academic curriculum. In the past, these subjects were given more importance than they are today. But, with the growth of technological and economic developments, academic thinking has started to move towards technology-based approaches, rather than away from it. In order to encourage a deeper learning process, it is important that teachers use quality teaching resources, such as guided reading and music instruction. Teachers also need to encourage students to seek knowledge outside the classroom and to be open to non-traditional learning opportunities such as music and art classes.
The other major area of child development is in its emotional and social-emotional development. Children need the assurance that their bodies, minds and spirits are strong and healthy, and so they learn about self-esteem, confidence and motivation through their families and communities. Emotional and social skills are also taught to children at an early age, through family, community and school activities. The emotional and social-emotional development of children is affected by a variety of factors, including the home, community and school environments. For example, children living in poverty may be subjected to violence in their home and at school, which can result in negative behaviour patterns and a lack of self-confidence.
However, there is growing concern that many teachers have lost sight of this important cause for the whole child. This is because many teachers want to emphasise different areas of teaching, using different instructional methods and subject materials, such as phonics and language arts instruction. But, as we know, the teaching process involves much more than the teaching tools. It takes place within the family, with parents and teachers supporting each other and helping the child grow. All of these efforts need to support deeper learning and a wider range of educational opportunities for kids.
