An Early Education Solution: Improving K-12 Education The more unequal the United States’ education system will grow, the more our poverty line will struggle. Most people believe that hiring tutors or staying long hours after school will help, but little do they realize that all of that can be avoided if every child is given the opportunity to an inexpensive early education. An implemented universal early education program would contribute to a rise in grades, keep families connected, and hope for a better future. If all children were to attend early education, than every child would be starting at the same level and it is so crucial to a child to be at the same level as the rest his/her classmates. Having all children be at the level they are required to be at leads less room for a timid child in classroom. For example, if you have a classroom and a quarter of the children attended an early education program then they will most likely be more advanced than the other children. In that case, the children without the early education might feel inadequate and feel discriminated most the time because the other children will be at a higher level than they would be. For this reason, the federal government had to create the No Child Left Behind Reform. Lane Kenworthy mentioned in his book, Social Democratic America, that the No Child Left Behind reform is useful, but it is by any means not making schools better. The reform does not benefit all children; back to the classroom with one quarter of the children that attended an early education program, those children within the one-quarter will be stuck at the rest of the class’s level. Those one-quarter children will not be able to move forward until the other students catc... ... middle of paper ... ...em unreasonable, but if we think about how much our government spends on programs designed for the educational problem, it would be substantially saving money. Consider this, we have many problems within the school system such as children getting held back, adolescents not having the desire to graduate high school, and dropouts. An early educational program would adjust these problems and give children the incentive to carry on with their education. Children are the future of our country’s economy; the government and United States citizens absolutely need to be investing more into child education. Having only a high school diploma is not good enough anymore; jobs are now requiring a college degree. Providing an early education program throughout the Untied States is the most useful thing our country can to in order to secure improvement throughout K-12 schools.
The United States faces serious problems that effective early education can help alleviate, most notable high rates of school failure, dropout, crime, and delinquency, as well as far too many youth who are not well prepared for the workforce. From 35 – 45 percent of American children are poorly prepared to succeed in school at kindergarten entry (Barnett & Frede, 2010, p. 22). Children begin learning the day they are born and brain development is vital in their early years. Children gain most of their initial pre-academic skills up to age six; during these crucial years of development it is said that the majority of a child’s brain is developed. So with this said, the area of focus for this research project is to describe the effects of the Early Learning
Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said:“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” Mr. Roosevelt was indicating that education is key to ensuring a positive future for our country. Years have passed since his presidency, and many can argue that America’s educational system has improved, but that still remains to be seen. While it is true that education has gotten more focus in recent years, as highlighted by the “No Child Left Behind Act,” it does not mean that the system is fully developed enough to aid all of America’s children. Now, the average American is just that: average. Children generally receive B’s and C’s, average grades, in school if they are lucky enough to be in a good school system. Literacy rates are lower than they seem, and not enough people are properly motivated to do well in school. Forms of entertainment and parental influence, which also play a large role in the development of children into successful, productive adults, are not where they should be with respects to education. Much more needs to be done to improve the educational system of the entire country. Preschool should be made mandatory to help individuals reach their full potential and achieve what only a minority of today’s society is currently capable of.
Education is now more important than it has ever been. Because it is the law that every child receives an education, most people believe that all children are getting an equal education. But, that is not the truth; low-income children are receiving poorer quality education than middle-class children. These children also experience racial inequality, and they live in an unbreakable low-income cycle, all of which are things that have an effect of the quality of education a child is receiving. As stated by Brooks and Duncan (1997), "How does the relative lack of income influence children 's day-to-day lives? It is through inadequate nutrition; fewer learning experiences; instability of residence; lower quality of schools;
While it may grant access to millions of children, this will only hurt them and our economy more due to insufficient funding of these schools. The children will get low quality education that will end up widening the Education Gap at the Top that Friedman addresses instead of closing it. UP will extinguish Friedman’s idea of CQ+PQ>IQ, by taking advantage of the children and shaping their minds the way they seem fit instead of allowing children to shape it themselves. Along with this, the new preschools will be created more as a drilling form of education, rather than a nourishing one. Sending children to school to be put under constant pressure of tests and cognitive learning that they are not yet mature enough for will have longer lasting effects on them than the actual schooling will. Alan Blinder was quoted in the World is Flat by saying, “How we educate our children may prove to be more important than how much we educate them” (Friedman 309). Universal preschool is focusing more on the numbers rather than the quality of education, going against Thomas L. Friedman’s ideas of how to save our economy. UP is only going to hurt America, dragging us down instead of helping us get back
1 in 10 children suffer from child maltreatment. 1 in 16 children suffer from sexual abuse. Nearly 1 in 10 children are witnesses to family violence. The youngest children are the most vulnerable to maltreatment. Over 25% of abused children are under the age of three while over 45% of abused children are under the age of five. Number of children in the United States who died because of abuse or neglect yearly: 1,593.
Decades of research proves partnerships between schools and families not only enhance children’s learning and achievement, it is also mutually beneficial to the families and educators. As an early childhood educator, my philosophy is rooted in establishing and maintaining a strong and effective partnership with families and communities that can help children and their families thrive. My approach focuses on effective communication between family and school, respect for diversity, and promoting learning at home.
If we had a tool that would improve our children's performance in school and social settings, lower the crime rate, lower teenage pregnancy, and save taxpayers' money, who wouldn't want to use it? Preschool is that tool, but few people pay attention to or care about preschool's potential benefits. For many parents, preschool is a valuable asset, providing their children with social play, fun, and an experience within a school-like setting. Children in preschool learn social skills like respect for authority, listening, and sharing; they also benefit from interaction with peers, which results in improved language and relational skills. Unfortunately, many parents simply cannot afford the expensive cost of private preschools, and there are few other options. Children are valuable as the future of the country, but the government has largely ignored them. Whether at the federal or state level, the government needs to create a free preschool available to all families.
A substantial amount of research considers how children develop and form attachments from a few months old, as this period can have huge implications later in their life. Children’s experience of attachment will provide them with a schema about how attachments form so it’s critical they have a positive childhood and form close bonds, especially with a primary caregiver. This essay will attempt to assess the impact early daycare has on children’s ability to form attachments and to what extent it affects a child’s development.
From the perspective I have at this stage in my journey in the early childhood education field, I would like to share what I have come to value and believe in regards to early learning and care by looking at my philosophy statement. To begin we will look at the statement and highlight three key features and find out why they are important to me, then we will see what they will look like in my practice, and lastly we will examine these ideas closely by looking at where they originated. By taking an in-depth look at my philosophy statement we will better understand the motivation behind my practice which I hope to continue to refine and refresh as I gain more knowledge and experience.
Children’s development, including their brain development, and the differences, both physically and emotionally that, children go through when transitioning into kindergarten. Reviews of different forms have evidence concluding that these programs have short, medium, and long-term benefits that suggest the effects are often greater for more disadvantaged children. “Some of the evidence from model research has produced exciting results in terms of improving educational attainment and earnings and reducing welfare dependency and crime.” (Currie, 2001). “To the point where cost-benefit analysis of these programs suggests they would eventually pay for themselves in terms of cost-savings to the government if it produced even a quarter of the long-term gains of model programs.” (Currie, 2001). This is one of the reasons the government has been pouring an abundance of money into these programs, in fact, Obama just recently announced a one billion dollar investment in early childhood education. “Obama said that less than one-third of 4-year-olds enrolled in preschool and blamed the high cost of these programs for essentially shutting off access to poorer infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. “ (Obama announces $1 billion investment, 2015, p. 1). “He said studies repeatedly show that children who are educated early in life are more likely to
...have health concerns as well. Perhaps an upgrade with some of the standards of the Perry Preschool Project would be a sound investment in the lives of children. This investment would serve to better achieve a reduction in crime and delinquency. This upgrade would be relatively simple since the current policy is similar to the Perry Project. Another very important reminder, and something that I became aware of through this project, is to always consider the individuals who will be impacted by this policy. The investment in their lives is extremely important because at the ages that early intervention deals with, they may not have anyone else to fight for them. The policy that is implemented should really have the best possible outcomes for children associated with it. Head Start and other early childhood interventions are important for the children that they impact.
Every child’s needs are different and if an Early Childhood Teacher can create a program which caters to every child in their class which can help the child learn and also to help them develop as learners then it is beneficial for everyone. Allowing the children to have access to the arts which can help stimulate their brains and help them learn and having access to the programs which can allow this will better the child’s future. Also creating a program which takes into account different cultures and communities in the classroom and using them to show the children how different countries work can be beneficial to them as they can see that not everyone is the
This source will be useful for illustrating the problem of placing children into Pre-K programs and for adapting recommendations from the article: include preschool in public education that is available to everyone or offer to pay for it on a sliding scale depending on the family’s income.
Since the beginning of time, fathers have had a profound effect on their child’s development. Over the years, the norm for traditional family dynamics of having a father figure in the household has changed drastically, and so did the roles of the parents. It is not as common as it used to be to have a father or father figure in the home. In this day and age, women are more likely to raise children on their own and gain independence without the male assistance due to various reasons. The most significant learning experience and development of a person’s life takes place in their earlier years when they were children. There are many advantages when there is a mother and father combined in a
Child care on campuses are staffed by highly trained teachers with classes that “educational enrichment and child care for children from infancy through preschool” (Douglas). Low-income children with this opportunity have a great amount of support and this offers a chance of them continuing to do well in school. These children often need early education to keep them from getting behind later on in school. This support can help to break the cycle of poverty because “children significantly benefit from quality early education, and that children of college graduates are in turn more likely to attend college” (Garcia). The children are less likely to grow up in poverty if their parents are able to finish college as their parents will be able to get a good paying job to continue to support their children’s