Early Childhood Education
Early childhood education, or ECE, focuses on the learning of children from birth through the age of 8. It revolves around the ideas of child care and education taking place simultaneously, and children learning through play.
According to ECE philosophy, parents and caregivers can use activities and play to help children derive the maxim learning from their activities, as well as prepare for future learning. Another goal of ECE is for children to develop their self-identity, learning about themselves, their world, and their relationship to others. ECE has five components: social, physical, intellectual, creative, and emotional development.
ECE Studies
There have also been many studies of preschool ECE programs for children of low-income families that could not otherwise afford preschool. The studies show short term benefits of substantial IQ and achievement gains, plus improvements in self-esteem, social behavior, and motivation in the children who attend these programs compared to a control group.
Studies have additionally shown that low-income preschool ECE programs produce long-term positive effects in the children that attend them. These include intellectual benefits like greater achievement throughout the school years, increased grade retention and high school graduation, and a lower chance of needing special education. Major long term social benefits were also found. One study, the Perry Preschool Study, found that low-income ECE program participants had fewer arrests, greater financial success, and more positive social relationships as adults than non-participants. The female participants also had fewer births out of wedlock and were more likely to be married.
The same study analyzed the costs to taxpayers of ECE preschool programs for low-income families and weighed them against the benefits. Thanks to less demand for special education and welfare assistance, lower costs related to crime and imprisonment, and increased tax revenue resulting from higher wages, the programs were determined to provide taxpayers an incredible return on investment of more than $7.00 on the dollar.
The Debate
Despite this encouraging research, early childhood education has also been the subject of much debate. Indeed, the benefit of early childhood education seems to depend directly on the setting and quality of its implementation as it relates to the economic status of the children that attend them.
According to additional studies, while middle and upper class families are the most likely to send their children to preschools that they pay for themselves, these children are actually the least likely to benefit significantly from preschool. Intelligent and imaginative parents, family members, and even private caregivers are likely capable of providing very young children ECE equal or superior to what they can get at preschool. They are also capable of providing a child with more individual attention, and responding to a child?s unique personalities and needs. In current discussions of mandating preschool attendance, many argue that the decision of when and how a child receives ECE must rest with that child?s family, and that preschool is not ideal for all children.
Indeed, it may be best for young children to spend most of their first few years at home, with family members their primary caregivers, before heading off to carefully picked ECE programs or even kindergarten. However, not all families can afford to take care of their children at home.
The Future
While most people agree that providing young children with ECE is essential, the debate on the implementation of ECE continues. Issues of family economics, the rights of parents, and what exactly constitutes good ECE are central to the debate. Continued research into what kinds of ECE are most effective, as well as continued discussion among families, educators, and governments, will shape the design and function of ECE programs in the future.
