Early Childhood Education

Early childhood education is a broad term used to describe any type of educational program that
serves children in their preschool years, before they are old enough to enter kindergarten. Early
childhood education may consist of any number of activities and experiences designed to aid in
the cognitive and social development of preschoolers before they enter elementary school.
How and where early childhood education is provided can be very different from one state to the
next – or even from one school to the next within the same state. Preschool education programs
may be designed specifically for either three-, four-, or five-year olds, and they may be provided
in childcare and daycare or nursery school settings, as well as more conventional preschool or pre-
kindergarten classrooms. These programs may be housed in center-based, home-based, or public
school settings, and they may be offered part-day, full-day or even on a year-round schedule to
include summers. Early childhood education programs also differ in terms of funding and
sponsorship, and can be privately run, operated by a local school system, or operated through a
federally funded program like Head Start.
In terms of human development, the importance of early childhood education can’t be overstated.A
child’s early years are the foundation for his or her future development, providing a strong base
for lifelong learning and learning abilities, including cognitive and social development. Well-
established research continues to emphasize the importance of early childhood education as an
essential building block of a child’s future success.
There are three different views of the child. The most typical lenses through which early childhood
practitioners have viewed and continue to view, the child are :
 The empiricist lens – looking through this lens, the child is seen as an empty vessel
to be filled, or as a lump of clay to be moulded by adults into the desired shape.
This approach derives from the philosophy of John Locke (1632–1704)
 The nativist lens – this is the opposite of the empiricist approach. The nativist
practioner sees as the child as pre-progammed to unfold in certain directions. This
view is influenced by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
 The interactionist view – children are seen partly as empty vessels and partly as
pre-progammed. There is an interaction withim and between the two. Immanuel
Kant (1724–1804) originated this approach.
The family as the first educational environment is very important in shaping children's personality
patterns, because in the family the child is first acquainted with values and norms. Family is a
natural educational institution, because between parents as educators and educated children there
is a blood relationship. Family education provides basic knowledge and skills, religion, beliefs,
moral values, social norms and life views that students need to play a role in family and in society.
(Minister of Education and Culture, 0186/P/1984).
In building the character of the child, the family can take steps such as (1) evaluate yaur
perspective; (2) formulate a plan for devoloving character together, (3) begin to practice the basic
princiles of character building; (4) develop a procedure with practical step of action. (IACC: A
Devision of Character Training Institute, 2000)