How to spot quality early childhood education
Early childhood matters. That fact is gaining recognition nationwide, especially after the $4.2 billion boost from the stimulus act.
We talked to Cornelia Grumman, director of the First Five Years Fund. A former reporter, she told us what to look for in good quality early childhood education. I thought parents could use this information too.
What you want to see:
Attentive, engaged staff:
- Teachers with four-year degrees and specific training in early childhood education.
- No more than 8 infants and toddlers and no more than 20 preschoolers in a classroom. Teacher to child ratio even lower: 1:3 for infants and 1:20 preschoolers.
- Teachers who crouch to eye-level to speak to children and who hold, cuddle, show affection and speak directly to infant and toddlers.
- Families and teachers exchanging information about the child’s progress.
A safe, healthy and child-friendly environment
- A room well-equipped with sufficient materials and toys.
- Classrooms in which materials and activities are placed at eye level for children.
- Materials and toys accessible to children in an orderly display.
- Centers that encourage safe, outdoor playtime.
- Frequent hand-washing by children and adults.
- Visitors welcome with appropriate parental consent.
Stimulating activities and appropriately structured routines
- Children who are engaged in their activities
- Children offered breakfast and lunch and a time to nap
- Children participating with teachers and each other in individual, small-group and large-groups activities.
- Children receiving a variety of stimuli in their daily routine using indoor and outdoor spaces (think age-appropriate science, math, art, music, movement, dramatic play, literacy).
- Preschoolers who are allowed to play independently.
What you don’t want to see:
Inattentive, overwhelmed or unengaged staff.
- Unengaged teachers sitting on the side of the classroom, not participating.
- Shouting, swearing, and other displays of hostile discipline.
- Infants and toddlers crying without being attended to.
An unsafe, unhealthy or un-stimulating environment.
- Small, cramped centers or homes without designated approporiate spaces for different ages.
- A center or home that smells of urine, has visible safety risks, or is unclean.
- Frequent use of television or video to occupy children.
- Children easily distracted or frightened by strangers.
Activities and routines that are too chaotic or inflexible.
- Children wandering aimlessly, left unsupervised or displaying unchecked aggression.
- Children restrained in car seats or high chairs at times other than a meal time
- Children spending a lot of time waiting around for turns.
- Children expected to sit at desks, perform highly structured tasks, or other forms of age-appropriate expectations.
Cornelia also talked about brain research, quality rating systems, Obama policy and new increased requirements on early childhood – including bachelor’s degrees for early childhood teachers. More on this later.
1 Comment
You’re so right about this being helpful to parents. Most children receive their early childhood education at home.
I think most of us have both good and bad memories of early childhood. If you are a parent, I’ll bet you can remember times when you were a very good parent or a so-so parent, and a few times when you were not a good parent at all.
I had education and was a good student. I learned a lot about English, Latin, History, Government, Spanish, Art, Music and Algebra and other subjects, but not one thing about being a parent.
Fortunately, a lot of women’s magazines then had helpful articles on the subject. Today, of course, the Internet is available to many, as are libraries.
I hope this article will be read by many parents. Maybe some will see themselves and think about how they could become better in their roles as their children’s first teachers.