Early childhood education (ECE) is an important aspect in the development and education of young minds as this will make them ready for future learning experience that they are yet to take as they venture and grow into becoming mature individuals. Early childhood education has evolved and changed drastically for years since it was first formulated.  The evolution of the concept on ECE transformed the views of educators as well as parents regarding the importance of the providing stimulating as well as exciting opportunities for children to learn. More importantly, exceptional ECE is deemed beneficial for children at a very young age as this prepares them to venture on the next steps in learning.

Early Childhood Education history at a glance

In history, the concept of ECE is believed to have started from a European mother that practiced educating her children outside their home in the year 1800’s. During the industrial revolution, the concept on ECE was brought to America and the concept was integrated in ‘infant schools’ that were then set up by churches, private homes as well as factories to care for the children when their parent are working and busy in making a living. In 1848, constitutional amendments were then made for the purpose of the creation of committees that are tasked to see through the establishment of free education for children with the age of four to twenty. In 1873, the first known four year old kindergarten program was initiated.

As time progresses, more and more states are actually embracing the concept on early childhood education. Preschools, nursery programs as well as day care centers were established catering to the provision of early childhood education to the entire nation. It was in 1926 when the National Association for the Education of Young Children or NAEYC was created and started. This organization is dedicated in the refining the well-being of young children. Moreover, the organization also focuses more on the quality of early childhood education as well as developmental needs that are offered to children aged zero to eight.

The Goal of Early Childhood Education

Basically, the primary goal of early childhood education would be to introduce literacy to literacy to young children. The concept of early childhood education is also for developing children to become readers, introducing them to the concept of mathematics and develop their mathematical skills as well as offering concrete and simple concepts that will help them comprehend the basic concepts.

In order to achieve the goal, it is important the right methods and techniques are used to make sure that the children will only get the best early childhood education that can help them with better understanding and grasping of simple concepts that can take them through the next steps of learning. Moreover, early childhood education will also serve as a foundation for children as they trek higher towards the developmental milestones. When a good early childhood education foundation is set up, you can be sure that the children will grow to be knowledgeable and civilized citizens of the country and as they develop and take part in their roles as leaders of the next generation.

Early Childhood Education strategies and methods

The concept of early childhood education has several education and teaching theories and no ECE theory works for all cases. Since we are dealing with different children and different learning capacities, early childhood education must be individualized and must cater to the varying needs of the children. However, there are several ECE theories and teaching strategies that are adapted in many preschools and day care centers today that are deemed fruitful in nurturing young children, providing exception early childhood education as well as provision of good results.

Here are some of the known early childhood education strategies and methods:

• The Montessori Method – This early childhood education method is based from the belief that every child has a potential and that they should be permitted to explore freely and paly within their environment. The main focus of this method is for the educator to be attentive to the child and let the child lead the way on how they choose to go about learning.

• Reggio Emilia Approach – This type of early childhood education approach focuses on the environment where the opportunities for education are offered and it is believed that this is an important aspect in the child’s development. Moreover, the environment is often considered as the third teacher. With this approach, it is established that the community and the educators believe that the child is interested in learning through inner motivation that will eventually yield educated as well as productive adults in the future.

• Play-Based Learning – The concept of this type early childhood education approach is playing to learn. It is believed that children learn best when they are allowed to learn through their play. It is suggested that educators should let the children lead themselves through discovery as well as problem solving with minimal supervision as much as possible.

• Direct Instruction – This is another early childhood education teaching concept that is based on the concept of children being directed through their development by means of teachers leading the activities that are geared towards specific learning results. This early childhood education concept also includes fast paced learning activities, active involvement between the child and the educator as well as positive reinforcement provided often while mistakes are corrected.

These are some of the many ECE that are used today to enhance and help develop the ways on how children are educated and developed. Every concept has positive and negative points.  Moreover, there is no concept that can be considered effective of all. Because of this, individualized assessment of a child’s learning needs must be done so that the right ECE concept can be formulated and initiated. Regardless of the type of ECE concept used, it is important to remember that the ECE is important in developing and educating children and providing them stimulating activities that will lead them to explore and learn the basic concepts.

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