QUALITY PROGRAMS FOR ALL CHILDREN

It is the mission of the early childhood field to provide developmentally appropriate practices which promotes a child’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development in order to support the desire to become life-long learners.  These practices also place a focus on the importance of family and community involvement in the early childhood years and beyond so the children can reach their full potential as productive members of our society. 

In a prior assignment I reflected on current influences on the early childhood field.  What I found was, but not limited to, one of the most important aspects of working in the early childhood field is keeping apprised of the current influences as well as current research in order to perform our jobs to the best of our abilities.  Once armed with this information, we need to apply it to our programs.  Finding the right balance in the curriculum, especially with children of mixed ages for my child care program, is probably one of the biggest challenges I face.  Three resources were summarized in this prior assignment, but I feel they are relevant to the blog assignment for this week as well.

Early Childhood Development (ECD)

Although childhood is the most rapid period of development in an individual’s life, children develop at their own pace.  With this in mind it is important to factor in what is the best way to assist in their physical, cognitive, and social/emotional growth.  This is where our investment in the early childhood comes into play.

The benefits for the children last a life time if we, as early childhood educators, fully invest in well-conceived ECD programs.  Research has shown that participation in well-conceived ECD programs results in children who are more competent socially/emotionally, show higher verbal/intellectual development in their early childhood compared to those children who were not enrolled in a high quality pre-school/childcare program.  A high quality program needs to include, but is not limited to, areas which focus on the children’s physical, social/emotional, cognitive, nutritional, and health needs (web.worldbank.org).  These needs need to be reassessed as the children grow or, as in my case, new children enroll in my program. 

Children’s Emotional development is Built into the Architecture of the Brains

The growing amount of scientific evidence is showing those who work in the early childhood field the importance of emotional development as a critical aspect of the development of overall brain architecture (developingchild.harvard.edu).

Children rapidly develop their abilities to experience, express emotions, and learn to cope with and manage a variety of feelings right from their birth.  These developments occur simultaneously as other, more visible skills (e.g. gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, and language).  The development of an individual’s social competence which is developed in the first five years of development is linked to how an individual develops into adulthood, thus becoming an important foundation which needs to be focused on right from birth.  If this critical aspect is neglected or ignored the consequences later in life will more than likely not be positive in nature.

Bev Bos Blog

Bev Bos and her focus on play as a learning tool was brought to my attention when I first started my educational journey into the early childhood field.  Her blog is a great source of information on the importance of this method of teaching children and is full of resources that I have found very useful over the years I have owned/operated my home daycare.

The above-mentioned articles have reminded me of the importance of the whole package that is needed for children to thrive and grow.  I am also reminded of the importance of making sure the parents of the children in my care are fully included in the day-to-day goals I set for my program as well as the long-term goals for the children’s development.  I am at the point in my professional/personal life that my focus now can fully be on my goals and what I would like to accomplish.  Keeping up with current issues and re-assessing my program plays a large part in creating and maintaining a high quality program for the children in my care.

This being said, my hope for the future is that public opinion continues to gain more momentum in a positive direction towards the importance of the impact of each of the early childhood educational strands, systems, policies, and advocacy.  A positive beginning to life means a positive foundation for future development, health and general well-being throughout a child’s life.  Regular care by other individuals other than the child’s parents has become more of the norm for children prior to school entry.  Part of this is a result of the increased need for two-parent incomes (Doherty et al., 2006).  By creating and implementing high-quality and effective early childhood programs, policies, and child care programs, children will have a solid foundation for a productive future (developingchild.harvard.edu, 2008).

A child’s daily experience plays a large role in the social, emotional, linguistic and cognitive development.  Children who are enrolled in child care will benefit from attending a high-quality program which focuses on a combination of nurturing relationships, a focus on the children’s health and safety, and offering a developmentally-appropriate program focused on the developmental needs (social, emotional, linguistic and cognitive) of the children in attendance (i.e. providing stimulating activities and experiences) (Doherty et al., 2006).

From an economic perspective, the higher the quality of program, the more positive the lasting impacts will be in the future (Galinsky, 2006).  Effective early childhood programs generate benefits to society that far exceed program costs (deveopingchild.harvard.edu, 2008).  According to Olson (2005), economic analyses show that for every dollar that is invested in high-quality programs the return to society can be anywhere between three to seventeen dollars (Olson, 2005).  High-quality also help children have better school readiness skills, yield benefits such as higher graduation rates, fewer school dropouts, less need for special education, and less crime (Olson, 2005).

References

Bev Bos Blog : … It's the Very Best Thing I Do! (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2011, from http://www.bevbos.com/blog/

Doherty, G., Forer, B., Lero, D. S., Goelman, H., & LaGrange, A. (2006). Predictors of quality in family child care. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21(3), 296-312. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2006.07.006

Galinsky, E. (2006). The economic benefits of high quality preschool: What makes the difference? Retrieved from http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/ced.pdf

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2004, Winter). Children's emotional development is built into the architecture of their brains (Working Paper No. 2). Waltham, MA: Author. Available from Center on the Developing Child, Harvard    University website http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/library/reports_and_working_papers/working_papers/wp2/

Olson, L. (2005). Early childhood education: Investing in quality makes sense. Research Points, 3(2).

The World Bank. (2010). Early childhood development. Retrieved June 9, 2011, from
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTCY/0,,contentMDK:20246241~menuPK:4697089~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:396445,00.html