Some parents - especially mothers - think that Early Learning is a luxury that we can work on with our kids, so that it would feel nice showing off what our kids "know" that others don't. Well, that is not really what Early Learning Programs are all about !
Learning should be about the child, not about the adult keeping up with other people’s children or proving herself or himself as a perfect parent or caregiver.
Early Learning should help your child understand his or her experiences, not fill their heads with facts through “drill and kill.” And when children are actively involved in what they are learning in a hands-on way, they remember more.
Research on the development of young children, including their brain development, creates a great deal of interest in early learning, with many positive repercussions. Studies show that “real” learning doesn’t “wait” until children enter school. The early years are critically important learning years.
So again, what is Early Learning or Early Childhood Education are all about !
Early childhood education is the organized sequenced practice of educating at one of the most vulnerable stages in life. According to the NAEYC & UNESCO ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) Unit (National Association for the Education of Young Children), Early childhood is defined as the period from birth to 8 years old. A time of remarkable brain development, these years lay the foundation for subsequent learning.
Early childhood education often focuses on children learning through play.
The terms preschool education and kindergarten emphasize education around the ages of 3–6 years. The terms "early childhood learning," "early care," and "early education" are comparable with early childhood education.
Researchers in the field and early childhood educators both view the parents as an integral and inevitable part of the early childhood education process. WHY ? Because children learn through their important relationships(social learning); they learn when they feel good and are engaged and motivated in what they are learning (emotional learning); and they learn when they are making sense of their world (intellectual learning) ... So, no one would disagree that the security and warmth of being around one's own parents provides the best atmosphere for our kids' Early Learning.
Let me rephrase this again : No one should ask brave working moms to stay at home and provide "the atmosphere" for their kids learning ... all am saying is that parents (and that highly includes daddy too)should be an integral part of the early learnig. An hour or two with parents who have the right tools for their kids' right age bracket is better than a whole morning at the best knowledgeable and most professional daycare in town.
Much of the first two years of life are spent in the creation of a child's first "sense of self" or the building of a first identity. This is a crucial part of children's makeup—how they first see themselves, how they think they should function, how they expect others to function in relation to them. For this reason, early care must ensure that in addition to employing carefully selected and trained caretakers, program policy must emphasize links with family, home culture, and home language, meaning caregivers must uniquely care for each child using Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Individually Appropriate Practice and Culturally Appropriate Practice. Care should support families rather than be a substitute for them
Early childhood education takes many forms depending on the beliefs of the educator or parent.
Some of the most popular resources and programs are available at Character Stations and will be posted soon ! So, keep on following us !
Character Stations
No comments:
Post a Comment