What Does It Mean to Be an Early Childhood Professional?

I apologize for the lack of education on the severity of early childhood education. From birth to age 8 are crucial years in children’s lives. What happens to a home lacking a solid foundation? Eventually it will fall? Education is no different if children lack a solid educational foundation they will be behind.

Early childhood education teaches and prepares children for their future. Children are taught how to do day-to-day activities. From birth to one-year-old, children are working on and improving their cognitive development, motor skills, emotional development, and social development. From birth to one year of age, children need to be working on and improving their cognitive development, motor skills, emotional development, and social development. The growth of children’s way of thinking and interacting with their environment is known as Cognitive development. A child’s cognitive development affects their motor development. An example being a baby trying to grip a ball. Play is a form of research. Young infants’ research exploring the world around them. Pretend play develops children’s social skills by first trying it out with their imaginary friend (Laureate Education, 2015). Children can develop their motor skills by playing a simple game such as peek-a-boo to improve their movement. Educators working with toddlers from the age of one to three potty train children and continue to help children develop their social skills. During this time, teachers also teach children to start writing their name, identify colors, numbers, and the alphabet. Children age four and up start perfecting their knowledge of all the previous things they have been taught. Early childhood education is imperative to children up to eight years old. The things that children are taught in this short span will prepare them for the life ahead of them.

During the early childhood years, teachers teach students the foundations of reading and math. We explore science by learning about weather and how it changes, living and nonliving things, and forces and motion. We also drill letter and sound recognition through our fundations program in my county. I encourage you to research the benefits of early childhood education. According to The Word Bank, Research has shown that children who are enrolled in excellent preschool programs, have a tendency to be more successful throughout their educational experience and are more competent emotionally and socially than those who do not attend high-quality programs. A study with Perry Preschool also found that students who attended their program ended up earning a higher income and were more likely to graduate from high school compared to the students who did not participate in a preschool program, and had committed significantly fewer crimes by age 40 (Schweinhart, et al. 2005). 

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (2015c). A conversation about child development [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Pianta, R. (2007). Preschool Is School, Sometimes: Making Early Childhood Education Matter. Education Next, 7(1), 44-49. Retrieved from ERIC database.

Schweinhart, L. J., Montie, J., Xiang, Z., Barnett, W. S., Belfield, C. R., & Nores, M. (2005). Lifetime effects: The HighScope Perry Preschool study through age 40. (Monographs of the HighScope Educational Research Foundation, 14). Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press.

The World Bank. (2010). Early childhood development. Retrieved February 4, 2016, from
http://www.worldbank.org/