Early Childhood Education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that deals with the education of children (both formally and informally) from birth to the age of eight. Traditionally, this corresponds to the third grade. Early Childhood Education is considered a crucial period in a child's development.
Early Childhood Education emerged as a field of study during the Enlightenment, particularly in European countries with high literacy rates. It continued to grow in the nineteenth century as universal primary education became the norm in the Western world. In recent years, early childhood education has become a common public policy issue, as municipal, state, and federal lawmakers debate funding for preschool and pre-K. Governing bodies are also debating the central focus of early childhood education, focusing on developmentally appropriate play versus a robust academic preparation curriculum in reading, writing, and math. The global priority given to early childhood education is further emphasized by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4. However, by 2023, "only 4 in 10 children aged 3 and 4 worldwide receive early childhood education." Furthermore, participation levels vary greatly across regions. "In Latin America and the Caribbean, approximately 2 in 3 children receive ECE, while in South Asia, approximately half of children and in sub-Saharan Africa, only 1 in 4 children receive ECE." Following the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the 1990s, all Latin American countries enacted laws in accordance with the provisions of this international convention, and the state assumed responsibility for the right to education for the youngest children.
ECE is also a professional designation obtained through post-secondary education programs. For example, in Ontario, Canada, the ECE (Early Childhood Educator) and RECE (Registered Early Childhood Educator) designations can only be used by registered members of the College of Early Childhood Educators, which is composed of accredited child care professionals and is responsible for the College's Standards of Practice.
Research shows that early childhood education has significant positive short-term and long-term effects on the children who attend it, and the costs are far outweighed by the benefits education programs bring to society.
According to the OECD, investing in high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a cost-effective way to significantly improve children's cognitive, social, and emotional development. Skills learned at an early age provide a foundation for later learning and maximize the impact of subsequent educational investments.
Theories of Child Development
The developmental interaction approach is based on the theories of Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, John Dewey, and Lucy Sprague Mitchell. This approach focuses on learning through discovery. Jean-Jacques Rousseau suggested that teachers should take advantage of each child's preferences to ensure that each child receives the information most important for their personal and individual development. The five developmental domains of childhood development include:
Physical: the way in which a child develops biological and physical functions, including eyesight and motor skills
Social: the way in which a child interacts with others Children develop an understanding of their responsibilities and rights as members of families and communities, as well as an ability to relate to and work with others.
Emotional: The way a child forms emotional connections and develops self-confidence. Emotional connections develop when children connect with other people and share feelings.
Language: The way a child communicates, including how they express their feelings and emotions to others and themselves. At 3 months of age, children make different sounds for different needs. By 6 months of age, they can recognize and imitate the basic sounds of spoken language. In the first 3 years, children need exposure to communication with others to learn language. "Normal" language development is measured by the rate of vocabulary acquisition.
Cognitive skills: The way a child organizes information. Cognitive skills include problem-solving, creativity, imagination, and memory. These reflect the way children understand the world. Piaget believed that children show major differences in their thinking patterns as they move through stages of cognitive development: the sensorimotor period, the pre-operational period, and the operational period.
To meet those developmental domains, a child has certain needs that must be met for learning to occur. Maslow's hierarchy of needs shows different levels of needs that must be met; the chart to the right illustrates these needs.
