High-quality education for a child

A child’s social, cognitive, physical, and emotional development must all be addressed in a high-quality education. Initially, policymakers focused on the education level of teachers rather than the actual factors of a quality education. However, according to a study conducted by Early and his colleagues, excellent education in early childhood is directly related to program accreditation, personnel, and teacher-to-pupil ratios, among other factors (Early et al., 2007). A school’s faculty is a vital component of providing pupils with a high-quality education. High-quality programs utilize only educated personnel and skilled administrators (Early et al., 2007). Additionally, the accreditation of the childhood education programs is another characteristic which is directly linked to the quality in the ECE (Early et al., 2007). The accredited ECE programs are those that have surpassed the minimum standards for licensing and have attained the voluntary standards according to the national childcare institutions.

Furthermore, there is also the ratio of the staff to a child as a characteristic (LoCasale et al., 2007). In a study, LoCasale et al. (2007) argued that the proportion of the pupils to the teachers should be as small as possible to enhance supervision and hence the quality outcome of the education. Program location is also another characteristic of the early childhood education programs (Bauchmüller, Gørtz and Rasmussen, 2014). In relation to the program location, the ECE should be located in an environment that allows a child to access extensive repertoire of learning choices and materials for learning. LoCasale et al. (2007) also emphasize that social as well as emotional growths are essential characteristics of the early childhood education. These features are what translate to the benefits of the program to the children at their early stages of growth.

The ECE offers a number of benefits to the children. The first benefit is the economic development of a child (Bartik, 2011). For example, at childhood level, the participations of the children become high and this improves their job skills as well as job attitudes when they grow old (Bartik, 2011). Furthermore, the quality of their labor supply to the job market shall have increased. As a result, there would be increased earnings due to better labor supply. However, these economic benefits become real in the long term, that is, they are only realized upon entrance in the job market. Another importance is that there is increased cognitive level of the children (Bauchmüller, Gørtz and Rasmussen, 2014). The academic reasoning of the child will increase for the child to have the ability to read and solve mathematical problems at early stages. Lastly, socialization of the child is also enhanced. The level of socialization will increase. For example, the child will learn how to socialize with other peers and at the same time maintain respect at the highest level and subsequently bridge the life experience between home and school.

Early intervention is a policy which has been enacted to help in the development and growth of the cognitive skills of children in future. Early intervention is in line with the successful intelligence theory (Sternberg and Grigorenko, 2007). The early intervention and so is the theory, supports the fact that teachers should help pupils capitalize on their strengths and correct their weaknesses at early stages (Nores and Barnett, 2010). It, therefore, means that teachers have to vary their styles of teaching that would encourage pupils to analyze, compare and evaluate problems at their early stages of learning. Additionally, there is the No Child Left Behind policy. The policy requires that pupils are tested in their reading abilities and mathematics while between the grades of 3 and 8. According to Sternberg and Grigorenko (2007), the theory of successful intelligence is used to explain how pupils can use their integrated abilities to attain success in reading and solving mathematical problems as required by the No Child Left Behind policy.

Early childhood education enhances social development of a child by providing opportunities to advance their social relationships with other young ones. Further, early childhood education fosters understanding among the children. Besides, the social skills they gain enable them not only to learn but also respect their boundaries as well as limits. Therefore, such social skills are essential for the improvement of resilient personality. Early childhood education also affects the physical advancement. For instance, the early childhood education program involves physical activities which are useful for the growth of motor skills. Children develop strong muscles through gaming and these activities are precursors to good handwriting development. At an early stage, the mastering ability of the child is greatly high. Early childhood education sparks a lot of curiosity. At this early stage, new ideas, concepts, opportunities and skills are introduced. Moreover, a child gets the chance to explore and experiment the surroundings along with the peers and this encourages the child to learn new things.

In conclusion, early childhood education is an opportunity for the child to have first-hand experiences. Consequently, this kind of teaching is useful because of the strong bond between the children and their parents. They also gain additional learning experiences which strongly affect their emotional, physical, social and cognitive developments. Therefore, children should be introduced to early education to increase necessary skills which will enable them perform at later stages.

References

Bartik, T. J. (2011). Investing in kids: Early childhood programs and local economic development. WE Upjohn Institute.

Bauchmüller, R., Gørtz, M., and Rasmussen, A. W. (2014). Long-run benefits from universal high-quality preschooling. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(4), pp.457-470.

Early, D. M., Maxwell, K. L., Burchinal, M., Alva, S., Bender, R. H., Bryant, D., and Henry, G. T. (2007). Teachers’ Education, Classroom Quality, and Young Children’s Academic Skills: Results From Seven Studies of Preschool Programs. Child Development, 78(2), pp.558-580.

LoCasale-Crouch, J., Konold, T., Pianta, R., Howes, C., Burchinal, M., Bryant, D., and Barbarin, O. (2007). Observed classroom quality profiles in state-funded pre-kindergarten programs and associations with teacher, program, and classroom characteristics. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 22, pp.3-17.

Nores, M., and Barnett, W. S. (2010). Benefits of early childhood interventions across the world: Investing in the very young. Economics of education review, 29(2), pp.271-282.

Sternberg, R. J., and Grigorenko, E. L. (2007). Teaching for Successful Intelligence: To Increase Student Learning and Achievement. Corwin Press.