Among the many changes on the way in Washington come January, none is more eagerly awaited in circles like ours than a renewed emphasis on early childhood education. It’s a topic that is not only near and dear to our hearts; but as early child educators well know—it’s one that makes demonstrably good economic sense.
That said, it’s no foregone conclusion that all will be sunshine and roses from here on out. As with most federal efforts, the devil will be in the details. We’d like to hear from you, our readers and users, as to what the most important elements of a newly strengthened federal early childhood initiative should be. To get an online discussion rolling; here are just a few items we’d like to see:
- A re-emphasis on play as the way young children learn best; this lets those pre-literacy and early mathematical skills emerge naturally, and it focuses attention on each child’s development and progress, not the mastery of “facts.”
- A common sense approach to assessment & reporting—one that is useful and capable of appropriate implementation by caregivers, teachers and programs.
- An emphasis on teacher compensation, training and retention—one that recognizes that 30% teacher turnover does not make for effective instruction.
We’ll stop there, because we’re much more interested in hearing your thoughts and dreams. If you had more money to work with and you could “change the system,” what would early childhood education look like?
We hope you’ll join the conversation!
Read “Obama Pledge Stirs Hope in Early Education” to learn more details online at:
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