Quotes About Early Childhood Education

"The best way to improve the American workforce in the 21st century is to invest in early childhood education, to ensure that even the most disadvantaged children have the opportunity to succeed along side their more advantaged peers"

~ James Heckman (Nobel Laureate in Economics)

"Early education is most certainly the next wave of educational reform...the U.S. is simply playing catch up with the rest of the industrialized world."

~Dr. Donna Shalala ( Former Secretary of Health and Human Services)

"Effective preschool raises achievement levels for all children, and it offers real hope for closing the school-readiness gap."

~ Jack O'Connell (CA State Superintendent of Education)

"Ensuring that children have positive experiences prior to entering school is likely to lead to better outcomes than remediation programs at a later age, and significant up-front costs can generate a strong return on investment."

~ Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University

"Children who participate in (high-quality Early Childhood Education) programs are more likely to have the necessary skills-such as abstract reasoning, problem solving and communication-to meet the demands of tomorrows workforce."

~Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America



What is Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Education?

“A child’s play is a child’s work."

I have often looked at ‘early tools’ in museums done by skillful cave dwellers. Today we still have difficulty replicating them.

In the Montessori, play is viewed a bit differently, but there is a history behind it-I am not so quick to judge methods to learning for children because we all learn in so many different ways in early childhood settings. I know I learned many thing in unconventional ways, and many things I never learned in school.
I am often concerned when I see children made to ‘big kid work’ before they are ready or even interested. Early Childhood theorists have stated there are no tools out there today that will make any child smarter despite their claims, yet those marketing tactics are still out there. The fact still remains that the natural way children learn is through their work/play. In early childhood education this means bonding with the child, allowing the child to take healthy risks, enjoy meaningful activities, gain confidence in their skills/abilities and setting the child up for success in social situations.
Children recognize when they do something well. They appreciate when others notice it as well.
As a little girl I received lots of encouragement for certain skills and intelligences I had and I pursued them. It proved to be quite lucrative for me in the long run.
I have always seen compliments and encouragement as verbal hugs…
What kind of verbal hugs do you get or give?