tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51693920660239894352024-02-07T18:38:36.793-08:00Early Childhood EducationEarly Childhood Education Center and All About Childhood EducationsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359752085426660984noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-71248309942640741852016-05-12T04:26:00.000-07:002016-05-12T04:26:08.593-07:00Inside Hillary Clinton’s Latest Push to Improve Early Childhood Education: Home Visits<div style="text-align: justify;">
As presidential candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders continue to suck up oxygen with promises for revolution, strategies to promote high-quality K-12 schools have received little attention on the campaign trail. (Do we sound like a broken record yet?)</div>
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But during a campaign stop in Kentucky on Tuesday, leading Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton announced a big plan to help America’s youngest learners — continuing her commitment to early childhood education and to making sure the neediest children don’t start school far behind their more-advantaged peers.</div>
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Ahead of Kentucky’s May 17 Democratic primary, Clinton announced a plan to double down on a home visitation program for low-income families, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Initiative. Under the widely praised program, interested pregnant women and new parents receive regular, planned home visits from nurses and social workers with a goal to improve maternal and child health, prevent child abuse, encourage positive parenting practices, and better prepare at-risk children for school.</div>
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Clinton said she hopes to extend the program to more than 2 million parents and children in the next decade.</div>
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Implemented in 2010 through a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the federal home visiting program has bipartisan support and is backed by decades of research showing home visits improve child and family outcomes. It was the first national push to expand home visiting, with the federal government investing $1.5 billion in the program’s first five years.</div>
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A report by Mathematica Policy Research, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, showed home visits can reduce the need for remedial education and increase family self-sufficiency.</div>
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This is Clinton’s latest effort to tie her education policy positions to those of President Obama. In February, as she worked to harness votes from the African-American community, Clinton proposed a plan to dismantle the “school-to-prison pipeline,” empower black entrepreneurs, and create jobs for black youth — all positions that mirror the sitting president.</div>
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Although Clinton has largely been quiet about her plans for America’s K-12 education system, she’s long been an advocate for early childhood education — including promoting universal preschool. During her visit Tuesday to a Kentucky social services center that provides subsidized child care, Clinton went deeper by proposing a pay raise for child-care workers, and tax credits and other subsidies that would free families from having to pay more than 10 percent of their income on child care.</div>
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During her time as the first lady of Arkansas, she also championed the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), a similar home visiting program that has been shown to boost test scores, attendance, and academic self-esteem in young children, and increase parental involvement in education.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359752085426660984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-12889087598642653912016-05-12T04:23:00.001-07:002016-05-12T04:23:05.850-07:00Green urges more private sector support for early childhood education<div style="text-align: justify;">
MINISTER of state in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Floyd Green is encouraging</div>
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more private sector entities to become actively involved in early childhood education.</div>
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“We want more companies and NGOs to adopt our institutions. Go in and find out what are their fundamental needs and help them to meet them,” he urged.</div>
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The state minister was speaking at the launch of the Sagicor Foundation 2016 Adopt-A-School Programme, held Tuesday at the Courtleigh Hotel and Suites, in New Kingston.</div>
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The programme aims to assist needy early childhood institutions with financial, infrastructural development, and other types of support.</div>
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Green commended Sagicor for its commitment to improving the early childhood education sector.</div>
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“I hope that this will help to foster a culture of service and giving back that we need in Jamaica. I am very happy that Sagicor Foundation has chosen to focus on early childhood institutions, because that is where it starts,” he said.</div>
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The state minister emphasised the need for infrastructural development of these institutions and appealed to corporate entities to get involved in improving the educational experience of the children.</div>
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“No government can completely fund the needs of our educational system and as such, we must depend on strong corporate support and individuals in general to strengthen our systems, to take an interest in education,” he urged.</div>
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This year, the programme will focus on 10 early childhood institutions. It is</div>
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anticipated that 1,000 students will be impacted by the programme.</div>
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The schools are Plantation Heights, Salmon, Kemps Hill, Sandy Park and Clarion Basic; Fyffes Pen and Dunrobin Early Childhood Institutions; Campden Early Childhood Development Centre; and Allman Town and Central Branch Infant Schools.</div>
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For his part, president and chief executive officer of Sagicor Group Jamaica, Richard Byles, said that each school participating in this year’s programme will receive a water tank. He added that the Sagicor health van will be visiting each school to conduct visual, hearing and blood sugar screenings of the children.</div>
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“This Adopt-A-School Programme is very important to us and we have had a lot of success with it in the past, and we want to make it even more successful in the future,” he said.</div>
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The first set of activities is slated to begin on Labour Day, May 23, with the Sagicor team participating in projects across the island.</div>
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The programme will also be launched in western Jamaica today at the Hilton Hotel and Spa, in St James.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359752085426660984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-51336539685436656932013-11-26T20:11:00.000-08:002013-11-26T20:11:12.409-08:00Early Childhood Collab<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Early Childhood Collab</b> - Last week 26 people gathered around three long tables in the second floor library at Oak Park and River Forest High School for the first joint meeting of the three public boards that are funding the Collaboration for Early Childhood Care and Education, the Oak Park based organization that is working to improve early childhood education, especially for at risk children.<br /><br />The Collaboration is funded primarily by Oak Park Elementary School District 97, OPRF District 200 and the Village of Oak Park. Those three bodies signed an intergovernmental agreement earlier this year to contribute six figure amounts each to the Collaboration for the next five years.<br /><br />The boards of all three taxing bodies are required to have one annual meeting with the Collaboration's board to review progress and see what they are getting for their money.</div>
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"It was a positive meeting and they seem to feel good about the progress
that we've made," said Carolyn Newberry Schwartz, the executive
director of the Collaboration. "The jurisdictions are engaged, they did
meet, they're monitoring our progress and implementing the plan."<br /><br />Newbery Schwartz is a past board member and president of the District 97 school board.<br /><br />The
Collaboration is about to shift into high gear. In October it inked an
agree with the Parenthesis Family Center to have Parenthesis staff
members conducts home visits under a Parents as Teachers program to
provide support and education to parents of young children.<br /><br />And
this month the Collaboration signed a five year $400,000 data collection
and analysis contract with the Chapin Hall Center for Children, a Hyde
Park based policy research center that focuses on children.</div>
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<br />"I don't think you could find a partner better aligned with the Collaboration," said Debbie McCann the chairperson the of the Collaboration's Measurement and Evaluation Committee.<br /><br />Newberry Schwartz said that data collection and analysis are vital.<br /><br />"We'll be collecting data so that we can really monitor how well services are being used, how well they're interacting with each other, the different services and systems and we'll begin to be able to gather up information to determine whether it's making a difference for the children," Newberry Schwartz said.<br /><br />Good data is currently lacking McCann said.<br /><br />"We don't even know how many children are in the community," McCann said.<br /><br />The home visiting program conducted by Parenthesis is scheduled to begin in February.<br /><br />"February is a big month," Newberry Schwartz said. "That's when the home visiting should be starting as well as other program components such as parent information and support.<br /><br />"We are not a direct service provider," Newberry Schwartz said. "The only direct service we do is that we go into child care centers for vision and hearing screening. We're about building capacity."<br /><br />Members of the government boards seemed pleased by the progress that the Collaboration has made towards getting started.<br /><br />"I feel very good about the investment we've made," said Adam Salzman, an Oak Park village board member. "It seems to me like we're headed in the right direction."<br /><br />John Phelan, the president of the OPRF District 200 Board of Education also had kind words for the Collaboration.<br /><br />"The dedication is obvious and palpable and I'm glad the resources are there," Phelan said.<br /><br />Anan Abu-Taleb, president of the Village of Oak Park, asked a question that was perhaps on everybody's mind.<br /><br />"I'm curious about what success would look like a year from now," said Abu-Taleb. He also asked whether the Collaboration has approached the River Forest Elementary District 90 about getting that district to participate and contribute funding.<br /><br />"We are planning to approach District 90," Newberry Schwartz replied. "We have not formally done so yet."<br /><br />"I think we can establish effective working relationships with them," Newberry Schwartz said.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-48463852164512317072013-11-26T20:01:00.002-08:002013-11-26T20:01:43.287-08:00Preschoolers celebrate<div style="text-align: justify;">
What kind of sound does a “menurkey” make?<br /><br />“Gobble, gobble — like a regular turkey. But it has a menorah with candles to light up the feathers!” said Lily Taylor, 4, a preschool student in the Early Childhood Education Program at the Shaw Jewish Community Center in Akron.<br /><br />The novel turkey-shaped menorah is just one example of creations inspired by the convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah this year. Thursday is the first time in 125 years that the first full day of Hanukkah and the holiday that marks the Pilgrims’ 1621 first harvest have overlapped. It will be nearly 78,000 years before it happens again.</div>
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On Tuesday, Lily and her classmates gathered to celebrate their
“Thanksgivukkah” feast. They sang songs, played with dreidels, created
menurkeys and ate foods associated with both holidays: corn bread,
potato latkes, green beans, applesauce, pumpkin pudding, caramel corn,
sweet potatoes, sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts) and fruit.<br /><br />Most
of the children wore their festive, handmade headdresses. They included
turkeys with feathers and bands decorated with Native American language
symbols.<br /><br />“This was a great opportunity to help the students
understand more about the traditions of both holidays and incorporate a
history lesson as well,” said Pat Delagrange, an early childhood
education teacher. “We have done a lot of comparisons, explaining both
holidays are very festive, about being thankful and about religious
freedom. Much like the Jews under [Greek King] Antiochus, the Pilgrims
were also a religious minority deprived of the right to worship God as
they saw fit.”</div>
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Hanukkah, which means dedication, begins at sundown today. It commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian-Greek army and the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago. By lighting candles for eight nights, Jews celebrate the rededication of the Holy Temple and the miracle of a small amount of the oil lasting for eight days.<br /><br />Both holidays are also marked by family time — something many of the children at the feast eagerly await.<br /><br />For Brodie Singer, Thanksgiving Day will be a time to visit family in Tennessee. Although the road trip will take some time, he said that it will be fun.<br /><br />“I get to take a nap in the car and we’re going to go to McDonald’s,” said Brodie, 4. “We have to pack toys to play with and we get to see all the family and eat turkey and jelly doughnuts for dessert.”<br /><br />Carly Morrison, 5, is also expecting to have a lively day with her extended family. Their menu also will include the traditional turkey as the centerpiece.<br /><br />When asked if her day would include watching a football game on television, she quickly answered, “No! But my dad will. We’ll watch the parade together. It’s cool,” Carly said.<br /><br />Meredith Lowry and Sue Brady, two of the early childhood education teachers, said they hope the children will remember participating in the feast and, at some point, realize that they took part in a once-in-a-lifetime experience.<br /><br />“They may not fully understand it now, but this will never happen again in our lifetimes,” Brady said. “This Thanksgivukkah has really been a unique opportunity to make connections between American values and Jewish history.”</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-80313391167030437762013-10-12T08:29:00.003-07:002013-10-12T08:29:42.410-07:00Hillary Clinton Champions In Early Childhood Education<div style="text-align: justify;">
An Education Week headline reads: "Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton Makes Early-Childhood Education Campaign Centerpiece"<br /><br />Okay, fine, we don't really have a crystal ball here at Politics K-12. And it's an open question whether the former first-lady-turned-senator-turned-secretary-of-state is even running for president. (Plus, you know, we've still got three years of the Obama administration left.) But it's hard to deny that since leaving the Obama administration, Clinton has turned back to a longheld interest of hers: early-childhood education.</div>
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The latest effort? Back in June, the Clinton Foundation (a.k.a. the
"Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation") announced it was
collaborating with Next Generation, a nonpartisan strategic policy and
communications organization, to launch "Too Small to Fail," a new
initiative to improve the health and well-being of children ages zero to
five. Too Small to Fail is headed up by Ann O'Leary, a former Clinton
White House aide and Clinton legislative director—and the wife of
Goodwin Liu, a judge who has some pretty interesting education policy
ties of his own.<br />
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Hillary Clinton recently wrote an op-ed for Too Small to Fail's website.
The letter goes over well-trodden territory, explaining that kids from
disadvantaged families begin school already behind their more advantaged
peers:<br />
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We know that children build their vocabulary by listening to and
interacting with their parents and caregivers. But millions of American
parents, especially those struggling to make ends meet or without strong
support networks, end up talking and reading to their babies much less
frequently than in more affluent families. Many parents just don't have
time, between multiple jobs and significant economic pressures, or don't
realize how important this really is.</div>
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<br />Studies have found that by age four, children in middle and upper class families hear 15 million more words than children in working-class families, and 30 million more words than children in families on welfare. This disparity in hearing words from parents and caregivers translates directly into a disparity in learning words. And that puts our children born with the fewest advantages even further behind. Among those born in 2001, only 48 percent of poor children started school ready to learn, compared to 75 percent of children from middle-income families.<br /><br />The letter doesn't lay out any earth-shattering policy initiatives—instead it focuses on more-targeted, practical solutions. Too Small to Fail will start a public outreach campaign to help parents become more aware of what Clinton calls "the word gap" and push businesses to allow parents to work more flexible schedules. She doesn't explicitly endorse President Barack Obama's early-childhood expansion plan. Nice analysis of the letter from the Huffington Post's Joy Resmovits.<br /><br />Early-childhood education isn't a new area of interest for Clinton. Early in her career, she worked at the Children's Defense Fund, which advocates for early-childhood education (among other policies). During her 2008 bid for the White House, Clinton's education platform also put an emphasis on the littlest learners. (She spoke about it when she addressed the National Education Association way back in July of 2007, for instance.)<br /><br />So what's happening on Obama's early-childhood education plan? Of course, Obama has his own multi-year, multi-billion proposal to expand prekindergarten, as well as programs for younger children (such as expanded home-visiting). But that seems unlikely to go anywhere in a Congress bent on trimming spending.<br /><br />Still, the plan continues to have its champions: Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate education committee, announced at the Committee for Education Funding's annual gala that expanding preschool is his top priority during his final term in Congress, and that he'll be introducing a bill based on the president's proposal soon. Just a few weeks ago, Harkin told me he was still looking for a GOP lawmaker to co-sponsor the legislation—which could be tough sledding if it truly is similar to the president's plan. </div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-22819090649171014162013-10-04T09:07:00.001-07:002013-10-04T09:07:27.242-07:00Chicago and Paris to be Partners in Education<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Educations News</b> - This week, six CPS principals joined their academic counterparts from Paris in signing a Memorandum of Understanding – a pledge to actively encourage the study and appreciation of language, art and culture by students and staff from both France and the United States.<br /><br />The signings were witnessed by CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Francois Weil, Superintendent of the Academie de Paris. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the French Delegation traveled to two of its new partner schools – the Chicago School for the Arts and Marie Curie High School. Other partnering schools include Murray Language Academy, Alcott College Prep, Whitney Young High School, and Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.</div>
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<br />“This was a very important day for CPS and the public schools of Paris,” said Mark Armendarez, principal at Lincoln Elementary. “It’s a chance for our students to learn from each other, and an opportunity for educators to instill a sense of global responsibility in our children.”<br /><br />Located in Lincoln Park, Abraham Lincoln Elementary serves a population where nine percent of the student body has French as its first language.<br /><br />“All students in grades K-8 study French,” said Armendarez, who hopes that the partnership between Chicago and Paris will open the door for the exchange of ideas and pedagogies. “We have two French programs, one of which is specifically geared toward our native French speakers, who hale not only from France, but from Belgium, Haiti, and numerous other countries.”<br /><br />The primary goal of this partnership is to create a tangible appreciation for global citizenship. Students from Chicago and Paris will learn to study language, art and culture not in a vacuum, but with practical applications in mind. They will use digital tools like Skype and e-mail, and will form international teams to create and present projects, all in the hope of gaining an international perspective and improving their skills as global thinkers.<br /><br />“This educational and cultural partnership will facilitate challenging learning opportunities, an appreciation of diversity and a broadened multicultural worldview,” said CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett. “It is an honor for us to host our colleagues from the Academie de Paris this week, as this collaboration affords us a valuable opportunity to share ideas and best practices for a 21st Century education that prepares our students for success in school and in life.” </div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-59487835176643844352013-10-04T08:59:00.002-07:002013-10-04T08:59:44.787-07:00Early Childhood Teachers & Childcare Workers Needed<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Early Childhood Teachers Informations</b><br />
We are now recruiting. ECT's to join our team, in the inner west, Five
Dock and Annandale We require childcare educators across the board<br />
to join our team. ECT, Diploma Trained, Cert III as well as Casual Staff to join our team.<br />
Immediate start for the right candidates.</div>
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<br />Applicants fulfilling the following are encouraged to apply:<br /><br />2 x ECT<br />3 x Childcare educators (Diploma)<br />3 x Child Care Assistants (Certificate III)<br /><br />It is especially important that applicants have had experience working within child care settings<br /><br />Be experienced working in childcare centres<br />Hold a completed Certificate III, Diploma or ECT qualification (or be working towards one of these)<br />Have a car or easy access to public transport<br />Hold a current WC or willingness to obtain. (source:http://www.seek.com.au)</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-77200717637723340752013-09-22T22:59:00.001-07:002013-09-22T22:59:50.557-07:00Greater investment needed in early childhood education<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Business leaders, like those of Google, Facebook, Boeing, FedEx and some
of the hundreds of Montana companies who attended Sen. Max Baucus’
Montana Economic Development Summit in Butte know the importance of
having skilled, educated workers who can master complex tasks and spur
innovation.<br /><br />But to ensure that we have “Montana solutions for
Montana jobs” and a strong workforce tomorrow, we need to start teaching
children the skills to succeed from day one by making greater
investments in early childhood education.<br />
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<br />We must do more to make sure that children gain the knowledge and skills necessary to start life off on the right foot. I know firsthand through the efforts of many agencies and organizations that I have worked with across the state that investments in early childhood help cultivate the cognitive and character skills needed to thrive in the 21st century. Those who attend such programs also do better overall in high school, college and careers, and are much more likely to become the kind of skilled employees businesses want.<br /><br />Such investments could fuel our innovation economy, and yield big returns for Montana. Nobel-prize winning economist James Heckman has found that every dollar invested in high-quality early childhood programs for disadvantaged children returns 7-10 percent per child, per year through better outcomes in education, health, reduced social spending and lifelong productivity.<br /><br />Early childhood education is our opportunity to make investments into Montana’s future that will grow the economy without adding more debt.<br /><br />Congress is considering a plan to help states like ours invest in quality early childhood development from birth to age 5. Montana could receive $12.5 million in its first year of participating in such a plan, supporting proven programs in the state such as home visiting, early learning for infants and toddlers and high-quality preschool.<br /><br />Prioritizing investment in this plan is one of the best things Congress can do to improve outcomes for students, families and the economy.<br /><br />I urge Sen. Baucus, those who attended the summit and our broader community to further deliberate and express support for this Montana-focused economic solution.<br />
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-81782960918311681192013-09-22T22:56:00.000-07:002013-09-22T22:56:45.874-07:00Investments in Education<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
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James Heckman is one of the nation’s top economists studying human
development. Thirteen years ago, he shared the Nobel for economics. In
February, he stood before the annual meeting of the Nebraska Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, showed the assembled business executives a chart,
and demolished the United States’ entire approach to education.</div>
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<br />¶ The chart showed the results of cognitive tests that were first performed in the 1980s on several hundred low-birthweight 3-year-olds, who were then retested at ages 5, 8 and 18.<br /><br />¶ Children of mothers who had graduated from college scored much higher at age 3 than those whose mothers had dropped out of high school, proof of the advantage for young children of living in rich, stimulating environments.<br /><br />¶ More surprising is that the difference in cognitive performance was just as big at age 18 as it had been at age 3.<br /><br />¶ “The gap is there before kids walk into kindergarten,” Mr. Heckman told me. “School neither increases nor reduces it.”<br /><br />¶ If education is supposed to help redress inequities at birth and improve the lot of disadvantaged children as they grow up, it is not doing its job.<br /><br />¶ It is not an isolated finding. Another study by Mr. Heckman and Flavio Cunha of the University of Pennsylvania found that the gap in math abilities between rich and poor children was not much different at age 12 than it was at age 6.<br /><br />¶ The gap is enormous, one of the widest among the 65 countries taking part in the Program for International Student Achievement run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.<br /><br />¶ American students from prosperous backgrounds scored on average 110 points higher on reading tests than disadvantaged students, about the same disparity that exists between the average scores in the United States and Tunisia. It is perhaps the main reason income inequality in the United States is passed down the generations at a much higher rate than in most advanced nations.<br /><br />¶ That’s a scandal, considering how much the government spends on education: about 5.5 percent of the nation’s economic output in total, from preschool through college.<br /><br />¶ And it suggests that the angry, worried debate over how to improve the nation’s mediocre education — pitting the teachers’ unions and the advocates of more money for public schools against the champions of school vouchers and standardized tests — is missing the most important part: infants and toddlers.<br /><br />¶ Research by Mr. Heckman and others confirms that investment in the early education of disadvantaged children pays extremely high returns down the road. It improves not only their cognitive abilities but also crucial behavioral traits like sociability, motivation and self-esteem.<br /><br />¶ Studies that have followed children through their adult lives confirm enormous payoffs for these investments, whether measured in improved success in college, higher income or even lower incarceration rates.<br /><br />¶ The costs of not making these investments are also clear. Julia Isaacs, an expert in child policy at the Urban Institute in Washington, finds that more than half of poor 5-year-olds don’t have the math, reading or behavioral skills needed to profitably start kindergarten. If children keep arriving in school with these deficits, no amount of money or teacher evaluations may be enough to improve their lot later in life.<br /><br />¶ Much attention has focused lately on access to higher education.<br /><br />¶ A typical worker with a bachelor’s degree earns 80 percent more than a high school graduate. That’s a premium of more than $500 a week, a not insubstantial incentive to stay in school. It is bigger than ever before. Yet the growth of college graduation rates has slowed for women and completely stalled for men.<br /><br />¶ The Economic Report of the President released last month bemoaned how the nation’s college completion rate had tumbled down the international rankings, where it now sits in 14th place among O.E.C.D. countries.<br /><br />¶ The report restated the president’s vow to increase the number of college graduates by 50 percent by 2020, and laid out how the federal government has spent billions in grants and tax breaks to help ease the effects of rising tuition and fees. Last year the government spent almost $40 billion on Pell grants, more than twice as much as when President Obama came to office.<br /><br />¶ Mr. Heckman’s chart suggests that by the time most 5-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds reach college age, Pell grants are going to do them little good.<br /><br />¶ “Augmenting family income or reducing college tuition at the stage of the life cycle when a child goes to college does not go far in compensating for low levels of previous investment,” Mr. Heckman and Mr. Cunha wrote.<br /><br />¶ Mr. Heckman and Mr. Cunha estimated that raising high school graduation rates of the most disadvantaged children to 64 percent from 41 percent would cost 35 to 50 percent more if the assistance arrived in their teens rather than before they turned 6.<br /><br />¶ Erick Hanushek, an expert on the economics of education at Stanford, put it more directly: “We are subsidizing the wrong people and the wrong way.”<br /><br />¶ To its credit, the Obama administration understands the importance of early investments in children. The president has glowingly cited Mr. Heckman’s research. In his State of the Union address, the president called for universal preschool education.<br /><br />¶ “Study after study shows that the earlier a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road,” Mr. Obama said at a speech in Decatur, Ga., in February.<br /><br />¶ But the fresh attention has not translated into money or a shift in priorities. Public spending on higher education is more than three times as large as spending on preschool, according to O.E.C.D. data from 2009. A study by Ms. Isaacs found that in 2008 federal and state governments spent somewhat more than $10,000 per child in kindergarten through 12th grade. By contrast, 3- to 5-year-olds got less than $5,000 for their education and care. Children under 3 got $300.<br /><br />¶ Mr. Heckman’s proposals are not without critics. They argue that his conclusions about the stupendous returns to early education are mostly based on a limited number of expensive experiments in the 1960s and 1970s that provided rich early education and care to limited numbers of disadvantaged children. They were much more intensive endeavors than universal preschool. It may be overoptimistic to assume these programs could be ratcheted up effectively to a national scale at a reasonable cost.<br /><br />¶ Yet the critique appears overly harsh in light of the meager improvements bought by the nation’s investments in education today. A study by Mr. Hanushek found that scores in math tests improved only marginally from 1970 to 2000, even after spending per pupil doubled. Scores in reading and science declined.<br /><br />¶ “Early education is an essential piece if we are going to have a better education system,” Barbara Bowman, an expert on early childhood education in Chicago who has advised the Education Department. “We’re inching in that direction.”<br /><br />¶ Education is always portrayed in the American narrative as the great leveler.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-55592866475166868072013-09-15T22:00:00.001-07:002013-09-15T22:00:15.585-07:00Early childhood education for at-risk kids<div style="text-align: justify;">
In many ways, we do education backwards in this country. We skimp and
shortchange the poor children who need education the most, while at the
same we lavish public moneys on those who need it least. Take, for
instance, this article about the outrageous practice of taxpayer
subsidies for the legacy admits of rich alumni of elite colleges.<br /><br />In
this context, advocacy for educational programs that alleviate, rather
than exacerbate, inequality is particularly welcome. That’s why I
especially appreciated today’s New York Times’ Opinionator blog, in
which economist James Heckman writes a great op-ed about the dramatic
impact of early childhood education in the lives of poor children.
Heckman, as you may know, is a Nobel Prize winning economist from the
University of Chicago. He’s a typical University of Chicago economist in
that yes, he’s a free market true believer type. But he’s been studying
pre-K programs for poor kids for years, and he supports them for
conservative reasons: because they are economically rational. Early
childhood education for at-risk kids is one of those (relatively) rare
government programs that the free market types like because it produces
not just equity, but also efficiency.</div>
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The cognitive skills prized by the American educational establishment
and measured by achievement tests are only part of what is required for
success in life. Character skills are equally important determinants of
wages, education, health and many other significant aspects of
flourishing lives. Self-control, openness, the ability to engage with
others, to plan and to persist — these are the attributes that get
people in the door and on the job, and lead to productive lives.
Cognitive and character skills work together as dynamic complements;
they are inseparable. Skills beget skills. More motivated children learn
more. Those who are more informed usually make wiser decisions.</div>
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<br />Here’s how the early education programs work. Contrary to what you might think, they didn’t necessarily produce lasting gains in I.Q.’s. But they do teach character and cognitive skills of the sort that I.Q. tests don’t measure. As Heckman argues, these skills are crucial to success in life:<br /><br />By the time they enter kindergarten, though, most children from disadvantaged backgrounds already lag far behind in those areas, and they never catch up. That is why pre-K for poor kids is one of the most powerful tools we have in the fight against economic inequality:<br /><br /> High-quality early childhood programs are great economic and social equalizers — they supplement the family lives of disadvantaged children by teaching consistent parenting and by giving children the mentoring, encouragement and support available to functioning middle-class families. Children in these programs develop foundational skills on par with those of more affluent children and create a stronger family structure for themselves. Caring parents and early stimulation are essential ingredients of successful early childhood environments.<br /><br />Heckman discusses two of the best-known studies, which show that at-risk children who participated in early education programs had dramatically better life outcomes, including higher educational attainment, more employment, and even better health.<br /><br />Now, the more Scrooge-like conservatives tend to have a series of stock objections to these programs. One thing they say is that these programs, in Heckman’s words, “cannot be replicated and scaled up.” But actually, as Heckman notes, school districts across the country are doing just that. Even more bogus is the idea that early childhood education costs too much money. Yes, these programs don’t come cheap. But they truly are one of the best public investments we as a society could make. The rate of return is phenomenal:<br /><br /> The economic rate of return from Perry is in the range of 6 percent to 10 percent per year per dollar invested, based on greater productivity and savings in expenditures on remediation, criminal justice and social dependency. This compares favorably to the estimated 6.9 percent annual rate of return of the United States stock market from the end of World War II to the 2008 meltdown. And yes, these estimates account for the costs of raising taxes and any resulting loss of economic activity.<br /><br />Some complications are worth noting here, which Heckman didn’t get into in the piece. He studied the impact of early childhood education on poor children. If we instituted a pre-K program that was universal and not just for poor kids, it wouldn’t be quite so productive as a social investment, because the kids enrolling in the program would be better off to begin with, so they wouldn’t benefit from it quite as much. In addition, he specifies that “high-quality” programs have these results; cheaper, less intensive programs — which no doubt will be the kind many governments will be tempted to implement — probably would not be as effective. Finally, if early childhood ed programs were instituted, conservatives like Heckman would probably want to muck around with vouchers, school “choice,” and other market nostrums — even though more evidence keeps piling in demonstrating that those programs don’t work.<br /><br />Finally, early childhood education programs effectively double as child care programs for working families, and working women in particular. Since child care is one of the great unfinished projects of the feminist revolution, this is yet another reason why early childhood education should be strongly supported.<br /><br />A decade or so ago, I naively believed that early childhood education was one issue which the left and at least a fair portion of the right in this country could agree on. Social justice lefty types would like the equity, corporate bottom-line types would like the efficiency, and we could all hold hands and feel good about ourselves for getting these types of programs passed, right? Wrong.<br /><br />In the interim, a lot of things happened. For one, the right went completely cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs crazy. Republicans have made it abundantly clear that they despise poor people and think they are worthless losers. They will never do anything to help them and they resolutely refuse to collaborate productively with Democrats on anything at all. So I don’t think we can expect any support from them for these program.<br /><br />So, okay, maybe nothing will happen nationally on this issue. But surely some cities and blue states might pass something like it, right? Look at Bill De Blasio. He achieved his stunning come-from-behind victory in the NYC Democratic mayoral primary by promising he would fight inequality, and his plan to fund universal pre-K by taxing New Yorkers earning over half a million dollars a year was a big part of that.<br /><br />Not so fast. Digby caught this jaw-dropping interview with Howard Wolfson. Keep in mind that Wolfson is a pillar of the Democratic establishment:<br /><br /> MT: De Blasio wants to raise taxes on those making more than half a million dollars to pay for pre-K and after-school. Tell me exactly what’s wrong with that.<br /><br /> HW: We’re already the highest-taxed jurisdiction at the high end in the country.2 People who live here are already making a decision that says, “It’s more expensive for me to live here then anywhere else, and I’m willing to pay that price.” What changes that? You can raise the price, and people could decide it’s not worth it anymore. Or it could be because crime goes up or it becomes dirtier. Or both of those things could happen. A combination of things could really have an impact.<br /><br />Yes, as we see, it’s not just the Republicans who have gone completely cray cray. The one percenters, along with their loyal political fixers like Wolfson, have also completely lost it as well. Enacting early childhood education has programs turned out to be a far heavier lift than I ever dreamed it would be. Even in supposedly liberal New York, it sounds like the one percenters are ready to pitch a hissy fit rather than let the little urchins dine on their crumbs, so to speak.<br /><br />I wish the (probable) future mayor the best of luck in enacting his universal pre-K program. It sounds like he’s going to need it.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-29835142811887583842013-08-11T21:35:00.003-07:002013-08-11T21:35:54.081-07:00Childhood obesity sees decline in 19 states<div style="text-align: justify;">
After decades on the rise, obesity rates declined slightly among
low-income preschoolers in California and 18 other states and U.S.
territories between 2008 and 2011, according to a report released
Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<br /><br />The
percentage of low-income obese children ages 2 to 4 dipped from 17.3
percent to 16.8 percent in the state. That percentage was still well
above the 12 percent of preschoolers considered obese nationally.<br /><br />The
study is only the latest to signify that California is making some
progress in its efforts to combat childhood obesity, though that
progress is certainly slow.</div>
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<br />"It shows that obesity rates are perhaps going to level out," said Dr. Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. "It means that there's some progress, but there's still a lot of work we need to do."<br /><br />The report found that obesity rates fell by at least 1 percent in Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They dipped by a smaller amount in 13 other states. Three states experienced a slight increase in obesity rates, while 20 states and Puerto Rico stayed the same. Eight states were not included in the report.<br /><br />The decline in California was "small, but significant," said Ashleigh May, a CDC epidemiologist and lead author of the study. That significance comes from the fact that the numbers are not increasing.<br /><br />Also notable is that the demographic studied, low-income children, are at a heightened risk for obesity compared with other population groups.<br /><br />In California, other recent studies have shown that childhood obesity rates are headed slowly in the right direction. A UC Davis study released in February 2012 that looked at state childhood obesity rates between 2003 and 2011 found that while rates were still on the rise, that rate of increase had declined.<br /><br />A 2011 study by UCLA and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy found that the percentage of overweight and obese children in the state had declined by 1.1 percent from 2005 to 2010. That study found that the Bay Area fell below the statewide average, though its rates of overweight and obese children had actually increased.<br /><br />The CDC attributed the declines noted in the latest report in part to state and local efforts against childhood obesity. The California Department of Health funds obesity prevention programs throughout the state. Measures have also been taken to increase the quality of food in schools.<br /><br />In the Bay Area, several health care institutions, including Children's Hospital Oakland, offer weight-management programs for children. In the hospital's Healthy Hearts program, doctors, nutritionists and psychologists work with kids, teens and their parents on everything from increasing exercise and activity to portion control.<br /><br />"Early prevention is the best route to preventing obesity," said Dr. June Tester, co-director of the program. Children are five times more likely to be overweight or obese as adults if they are overweight or obese between the ages of 3 and 5. About 10 percent of the program's patients are preschool-age, she said.<br /><br />"There's a movement. A lot more people are aware of what we should be feeding little kids," she said. "It's not surprising that we would see our younger kids improve first. They're sort of leading the tide."<br /><br />For the CDC report, researchers analyzed weight and height data from the Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System for nearly 12 million preschool children who participate in federally funded maternal- and child-nutrition programs. </div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-59877402082686484112013-07-24T20:03:00.000-07:002013-07-24T20:03:11.141-07:00Access to early childhood education<div style="text-align: justify;">
The impact of pre-primary school education will be significant in the
future as it affects children’s success in primary school and
eventually, their lifelong learning, says an expert.<br /><br />Save the
Children’s education advisor, Lusi Margiyani, said children with
pre-primary school education had made significantly larger gains in
primary education compared to those who did not obtain such an
education.</div>
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Children with early childhood education were familiar with learning so they were more confident in their abilities, she said.<br /><br />“Children grow rapidly during the early childhood period. Proper interventions, such as boosting literacy skills, are crucial in this period because the impact of a failure to carry out a timely intervention cannot be corrected in later years,” said Lusi on the sidelines of a journalist visit in Atambua, Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), on Tuesday.<br /><br />NTT is one of four provinces, including Papua, West Nusa Tenggara, and West Sulawesi, with the highest illiteracy rate in Indonesia.<br /><br />For the 2012-2013 period, Save the Children has piloted Literacy Boost, a program that aims to accelerate literacy skills, particularly in reading fluency, in Belu.<br /><br />Literacy Boost is designed to improve the quality of early childhood education, comprising education in pre-primary schools and early classes (grades 1 to 3) in primary schools.<br /><br />Pre-primary school education is not compulsory in Indonesia. It is estimated that more than two-thirds of children under 6-years-old do not have access to that type of education. However, it is crucial for the development of social, cognitive and motor skills of pre-school aged children.<br /><br />“More resources need to be allocated to support access to early childhood education,” said Lusi. </div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-4260938983075639102013-04-20T02:58:00.000-07:002013-04-20T02:58:01.823-07:00 Early Childhood Education Planning<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Early Childhood Education Planning,</b> While no kid is as well and each family members is unique, a common take run deep in the heart of every home - the wish of mother or father is to give their kids the BEST knowledge possible and see them become their complete potential. However, lifestyle is complete of unexpected shock and the path to accomplishing this wish may be a complicated one. That's where a sound economical dedication strategy comes in. With versatile preparing and a package of economical dedication options that are available, you may help put your kid on the trip to a useful degree. Here are a few TIPS that may help kick-start you planning:</div>
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<b>Early Childhood Education Planning Tips :</b><br />1. CREATE A FINANCIAL PLAN WITH AN END IN MIND.<br /><br />First,
create an calculate of the costs that will go into your kid's
knowledge. Your price should take into account rising prices over the
economical dedication or preserving period. With the calculate as a
guide, begin piecing together your economical dedication plan. There are
many knowledge preparing choice, each with its own threats and
advantages, which you may use alone or at the same time to accomplish
your goals:</div>
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<br />a. AN EDUCATION SAVING PLAN is a excellent starting point as it is designed to offer payment when your kid goes into higher education. Some knowledge advantages plan may also shield you advantages to the kid and or mother or father.<br /><br />b. PROPERTY may offer lease results in and investment admiration to purchase your kid's tertiary knowledge. Rental results in may be used to top up your kid's knowledge finance advantages or pay for your kid's college tuition. Should the value of your qualities appreciate, it may be sold to obtain investment benefits. Making an investment in property has its threats too as the exact property market may change in the future and you may not be able to get the price level you hope for.<br /><br />c. UNIT TRUSTS and STRUCTURED INVESTMENTS can be added to your economical dedication plan, if they fit your danger information, time period and focus on objective for your kid's knowledge.<br /><br />d. AN INVESTMENT LINKED PLAN can be tailor-made to develop your prosperity with the versatility to select the type of resources suitable to your danger information and objectives. Your kid may be selected to get security advantages, should the unexpected happen to you. Usually, you would have the choice to create frequent participation or a single participation in line with your economical standing.<br /><br />2. SET UP AN AUTOMATIC SYSTEM TO INVEST REGULARLY<br /><br />Set in movement plan of action that makes advantages or investing automatic. Many advantages, economical dedication linked plan and unit believe in resources often once a month, every quarter, half-annually or yearly efforts choice. By investing consistently, you will also benefit from Money Cost Calculating (DCA) which regular out the high and levels of an economical dedication and possibly lower the total regular price per share of the economical dedication.<br /><br />3. REVIEW THE PLAN<br /><br />Regular opinions of the program will help you keep on track with your focus on objectives. Evaluation it at least yearly and with every major lifestyle change such as new kid, a better job or move to a bigger house. Find ways to top up if it is not up to speed in attaining your economical dedication objective.<br /><br />4. TOP UP ANNUALLY or WHEN YOU CAN<br /><br />You could consider increasing the amount of participation yearly or top up your frequent efforts when your income increase such as when you get a reward or get a pay rise, to meet your focus on earlier or accomplish an even large finance.<br /><br />5. NO DIPPING INTO THE FUNDS<br /><br />Choose plans that hair in your resources for your kid's knowledge until they are ready to keep for higher education. If it is easy to cash out the training and learning finance, chances are you may be influenced to use the cash for other emergency situations or needs that may appear in lifestyle.<br /><br />6. ENCOURAGE CONTRIBUTION FROM FAMILY MEMBERS<br /><br />Encourage grandma and grandpa or family members who shower your kids with gifts to consider looking for a cash participation towards the amount and learning finance instead.<br /><br />7. MAKE IT A TEAM EFFORT<br /><br />Get your kids involved in preserving for the amount and learning. When you are examining your investment funds for the amount and learning finance, talk to them about it and create them aware if the difficulties and dedication you face in preserving for the amount and learning. If possible, let them play a role a small part of their allocation to the amount and learning finance too. And before they keep for school help them develop decent management routines to help them live within their means.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-29911723173897698652013-04-19T06:35:00.002-07:002013-04-19T06:35:22.026-07:00Evidence points to better early childhood education<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Early Childhood Education</b> - The most important investments we
make as a society are those that help our children get off to a strong
start in life. That’s why we’ve stepped up our focus in this area,
leveraging state and federal investments here in Delaware. We are in the
middle of a great story – a story about giving our state’s children a
great start in school and in life, but we still have a lot of work to
do.</div>
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We have been hard at work over the past couple years supporting enhanced outcomes for our earliest learners, including providing a significant increase in early childhood funding. Just this week we laid out our road map. Delaware’s early childhood strategic plan was launched on Monday and is available online. Called Sustaining Early Success, the plan focuses on creating and sustaining a comprehensive early childhood system for all Delaware children and their families, through four strategic goals:<br /><br />• Enable Delaware children to become the healthiest in the nation<br />– physically, emotionally and behaviorally. The state will take a “whole child” approach and link children’s health care, social and emotional development and family and community support to help them be ready for school.<br /><br />• Assure all Delaware children have access to high-quality early childhood programs and professionals. The state will significantly increase early learning provider participation in the Delaware Stars program, particularly for high-needs children, and offer more professional development and wage enhancements to support the early childhood workforce.<br /><br />• Create an aligned and effective early learning system, from infants to third-graders. Delaware will build new bridges between early childhood and K-12 education using cross-sector professional development and the Delaware Early Learner Survey to strengthen understanding of early childhood learning and development and improve later educational outcomes.<br /><br />• Sustain system improvement. Delaware will create a more integrated, sustainable system with strong oversight and accountability and data-driven decision-making to continuously improve children’s progress. Our state must continue to link these elements together to set each child on a course toward lifelong success. Ultimately, the payoff benefits children, their families, employers, teachers and taxpayers. It affects every aspect of our lives, from healthier and safer communities to a stronger tax base and more qualified workforce. More specifically, students who have attended quality preschool are more likely to graduate from high school and go on to college, ultimately providing Delaware with a stronger workforce and allowing us to compete more effectively in a global economy.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-2028873603155547622013-04-15T21:43:00.003-07:002013-04-15T21:43:36.840-07:00Early childhood education gets funding boost<div style="text-align: justify;">
New Mexico plans to spend about $31 million in new money over the coming
year to expand early childhood education programs, bringing the state's
annual spending for such programs to about $197 million for the fiscal
year that begins July 1.<br /><br />The Albuquerque Journal reports
(http://bit.ly/177spEW) that the state's early childhood education
spending has increased nearly 44 percent in the past two years.</div>
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The new money for the upcoming fiscal year includes about $21 million in budget increases for state agencies administering the programs. Another $10 million is from the state's tobacco settlement funds transferred through legislation designed to boost the state's early childhood education efforts.<br /><br />Critics who have advocated for more significant increases to early childhood education efforts in New Mexico say $31 million of new money is a drop in the bucket for what they consider New Mexico's education needs for children younger than 5 years old.<br /><br />Allen Sanchez, CEO of St. Joseph Community Health, a nonprofit advocate for early childhood education services that doesn't receive state funding for early childhood services, said the state should spend about $275 million a year on early childhood education.<br /><br />Sanchez and others have pushed for a constitutional amendment that would tap the state's Land Grant Permanent Fund to provide an extra $113 million per year dedicated to early childhood programs.<br /><br />"At this point, they're funding bits and pieces," Sanchez said. "We can't piecemeal this."<br /><br />The constitutional amendment effort failed during the 2013 legislative session after one key opponent, Democratic Sen. John Arthur Smith of Deming, held the bill in committee. Smith has argued that the increased distributions would diminish the $11.45 billion permanent fund that benefits public education.<br /><br />Smith, however, sponsored the legislation that appropriated nearly $10 million from the tobacco settlement fund for in-home visiting and preschool programs.<br /><br />The dramatic increase in early childhood education funding in the state budget since 2012 — a time when most state agencies have received little or no new money — is proof that the Legislature is committed to plugging the gap of unmet needs for early childhood education programs, Smith said.<br /><br />Officials with the state's Public Education Department and Children, Youth and Families Department — the primary administrators of the state's early childhood education programs — agreed there isn't enough money to fund the programs statewide. However, agency officials said the budgeted funds have been sufficient to meet most demand so far.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-44843596245296447592013-04-15T21:39:00.001-07:002013-04-15T21:39:31.083-07:00Benefits of Early Childhood Education<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Early childhood education benefits children</b>, their families, and their communities. From improved academic outcomes to the economic savings to schools and states, the benefits or high-quality early childhood education are irrefutable.<br /><br /><b>EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION RESULTS IN SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS</b></div>
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<br />Increases high school graduation rates – Chicago children who attended an early childhood education program were 29% more likely to graduate from high school than their peers who did not attend.<br /><br />Helps children do better on standardized tests – Michigan fourth graders who had attended early childhood education programs passed the state's literacy and math assessment tests at higher rates than their peers who did not attend.<br /><br />Reduces grade repetition – Maryland fifth graders who attended an early childhood education program were 44% less likely to have repeated a grade than their peers who did not attend.<br /><br />Reduces the number of children placed in special education – Among Chicago children, those who attended an early childhood education program were 41% likely to require special education services than their peers who did not attend.<br /><b><br />EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION RESULTS IN RESPONSIBLE ADULTS</b><br />Reduces crime and delinquency – Chicago children who did not attend early childhood education programs were 70% more likely to be arrested for violent crime by age 18 than their peer who had attended.<br /><br />Lowers rates of teen pregnancy – North Carolina children who attended early childhood programs were less likely to become teen parents than their peers who did not attend (26% vs. 45%).<br /><br />Leads to greater employment and higher wages as adults – Forty-year old adults in Michigan who attended early childhood education programs as children were more likely to be employed and had a 33% higher average income than their peers who did not attend.<br /><br />Contributes to more stable families - Forty-year old adults in Michigan who attended early childhood education programs as children were more likely to report that they were getting along very well with their families than their peers who did not attend (75% vs. 64%).<br /><br /><b>EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION RESULTS IN STRONGER COMMUNITIES</b><br />Every $1 invested in high-quality early childhood education saves the taxpayers $7 – savings are found in reduction of remedial and special education, welfare, and criminal justice services.<br /><br />Improves efficiency and productivity in the classroom – Children who attended early childhood education programs as Head Start centers had more advanced skills in areas such as following directions, problem-solving, and joining in activities, all of which allow teachers to spend more time working directly with children and less on classroom management. </div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-32431109063941805072013-04-14T15:14:00.001-07:002013-04-14T15:14:32.491-07:00Early Childhood Education Degrees<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Early Childhood Education Degrees</b>, Nothing is added important in the early, determinative years of a adolescent activity than the level, quality, and abyss of their education. The accent of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship cannot be overstated. It is believed that a bewitched amount of a child’s aboriginal apprenticeship unfolds in their aboriginal eight years of life. This is why the role of the Aboriginal Adolescence Drillmaster is so meaningful. Learnings are formed and shaped in all aspects of a adolescent child’s activity including their concrete and social, emotional, cerebral development as able-bodied as artistic talents. So abundant is accident during this time that is alarmingly important as the adolescent embraces a addition apple and explores talking, walking, and assembles and constructs the foundations of cocky admire and morality. It is these admirable baby animal beings that we charge embrace and advance to their fullest. Back you reflect on the abomination this all has on the child’s life, their actual ancestors and association at large, it becomes as it should, one of them best important activity abstraction activities we will anytime face.</div>
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<br />Both parents and educators comedy an astronomic role in abstraction the lives of actual adolescent children. Parents are aboriginal and foremost the best important cog in the aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship wheel. They access and/or anon appulse about every analytical footfall in the aboriginal apprenticeship process, decidedly during the pre-school aeon (i.e. 3-6 years of age). This is not to say that the aboriginal two years of a child’s activity is not an important aboriginal adolescence development period. After all, it is during this time the adolescent begins to digest a faculty of who they are (i.e. self) and practices out a array of behaviors and acquires learnings above description in the time I accept allotted here. In both of these instances, the role of a able-bodied accomplished educator, whether they be the ancestor or an adolescent educator, is awfully important to the absolute aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship landscape.</div>
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<br />Childhood Apprenticeship Matters!<br />We are committed to accouterment you with a portfolio of advice on this best allusive topic. Realizing that in abounding cases our readers may accept one or abounding altered types of areas of interest, we will blow on assorted capacity and animate you to absolutely analyze the face of our absolute website across-the-board of the accessories and ability information. Whether you are accession from the angle of a Ancestor or as an alone who seeks to be an aboriginal adolescence Educator, all of the advice will be of account to you because neither of these two roles are mutually exclusive. In abounding cases, you are affianced in both roles as you airing through life.<br />So what are some of the Affair Categories you will be able to analyze and apprentice added about at this website. They include:</div>
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<br />1. What is Aboriginal Adolescence Education<br />What is it absolutely and why is it important? How do we apprentice added about it and how do we apperceive that as parents we are employing the best practices. We will analyze its history and the accent and allowances to our children. We will additionally analysis the programs and educational accoutrement that are accessible and how you can apprentice added about them, including appropriate apprenticeship programs.</div>
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<br />2. Aboriginal Adolescence Apprenticeship Amount Programs Available<br />What is so absorbing about this affair is there are abounding aboriginal amount aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship amount online programs, acceptance programs, and classes accessible to those who ambition to commence on a career in this acreage or aloof apprentice added about the subject. Interestingly, abounding of our visitors are parents who appointment the website to seek out added advice in adjustment to breed a added good compassionate of the best aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship practices. Throughout this website you will acquisition advice about adolescence apprenticeship degrees as able-bodied as the growing acceptance and accessibility of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship amount online programs, classes, and affidavit programs. We will additionally booty a attending at some of the best accepted colleges that acceptance can appear to accompany their studies, forth with the abounding scholarships and grants accessible to them.<br />3. Aboriginal Adolescence Apprenticeship Jobs Available</div>
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<br />Perhaps one of the best agitative things about this acreage is the ambit and ambit of career opportunities. This will be explored forth with salaries for educators at all levels. What charge be underscored is that while abounding affectionate individuals accompany accomplishing advantageous careers in the aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship jobs market, amid our best admired educators in this acreage are those who acquire actual little or no salary. In these cases they are the parents, brothers, and sisters, and added associates of the actual ancestors who advance time for the advancement of the child.</div>
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<br />About Adolescence Apprenticeship And Educators<br />There is so abundant to apprentice in the agitative and accomplishing adolescence apprenticeship field. Whether you are a ancestor or an ambitious educator, we aboveboard achievement you will be able-bodied served by the advice accessible at our website. Back you stop and reflect on its accent in our association in that it serves as such a above force in the adolescent child’s aboriginal years of development, it is hasty that there is not added accent on teaching anybody abundant added about this topic. I admiration why its not a amount claim at some akin of our own educational preparation. It is one affair to apperceive of it…to accept a somewhat accidental compassionate of the key attempt and best practices. Its altogether a abundant added allusive affair back we accept a abundant college akin of adequacy in its practice. Unfortunately, far too abounding of us apprentice how best to advance our accouchement through a alternation of trials and errors. Such charge not be the case accustomed the abundance of advice accessible to us from abounding sources, whether it be a university setting, online program, or added empiric learning.</div>
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<br />What Is Aboriginal Adolescence Education?: The Long Pole in the Tent!<br />Educating our accouchement in those aboriginal years is by far one of the best impactful things we can do for our accouchement and actual possibly one of the best allusive things we can do for ourselves. Often back we apprentice to advise another, afresh backpack out that mission, we end up acquirements article abroad again. It can be article about the accountable amount or it can be article about ourselves. As you attending about this website and analyze accessories and appraise the assorted opportunities, anticipate anxiously about what the art of teaching accouchement aboriginal in their determinative years of their activity agency to you. </div>
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Afresh anticipate about why that is important to you personally. If you can accomplish that affiliation and the affidavit for immersing yourself into acquirements added about this acreage are compelling, afresh you accept best acceptable happened aloft an imporant crossroads. It becomes afresh a alternation of choices you accept about what and how you ambition to apprentice added about aboriginal adolescence education.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-30657597421508138612013-04-13T09:08:00.002-07:002013-04-13T09:08:24.615-07:00Types of Early Childhood Education<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b>Public Preschool</b><br />Public preschool programs are gaining in
popularity in states across the United States. These programs tend to be
state-funded, and are primarily available to lower-income families.
Some states provide the programs to all children within the district.
Availability differs from state to state, and then district to district
within each state. Names for such programs can include Universal
Prekindergarten, Universal Preschool and Public Preschool. The programs
are currently available in states such as New York, Georgia, Oklahoma,
Illinois, California and West Virginia, with more states looking to add
them. Teachers apply the best early childhood practices they know, in an
attempt to better prepare the children for their kindergarten year.
Most programs tend to include children at age 4, with some starting to
take children at age 3.</div>
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<br /><b>Head Start Programs</b><br />Head Start programs are publicly funded with federal money. They are geared toward families who are at a lower income level, with children under the age of 5. Early Head Start focuses on women who are pregnant and children ages 0-3 years. People wishing to enroll their children in Head Start or Early Head Start programs need to contact their local Head Start office. Some of the services can also be located by some local departments of human services, if available. Children who receive some kind of public assistance, due to medical or psychological conditions, are often also eligible. Each local office will determine a child's eligibility. Head Start programs aim to prepare the child for kindergarten, as well as to educate parents about their responsibilities and about child development.<br /><br /><b>Montessori Early Childhood Programs</b><br />Most Montessori early childhood education programs are designed for children ages 3-6. Some schools also offer toddler programs. A few offer an infant program. Within these programs, children are directed through a sequence of materials that offer hands-on learning. Teachers are known as directresses, as they direct children to appropriate activities, instead of constantly teaching. Direction comes as a result of the teacher's observations and carefully maintained notes. Children tend to stay with their teachers for three years. While most of these programs are provided through private schools, a few public school systems are implementing Montessori into their programs.<br /><br /><b>Waldorf Early Childhood Programs</b><br />In Waldorf education, the teacher demonstrates practical, domestic and artistic activities, which the children are to imitate. Imagination is encouraged through storytelling and dramatic play. Toys used are created from natural materials only. Children often bring from nature their own items with which to play and to explore in the classroom. Curriculum is based on the three developmental phases of childhood: birth to 6 or 7 years of age, ages 7 to 14 and 14 to 18. Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner believed that children in this first phase of childhood learn best through imitation.<br /><br /><b>Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood</b><br />The Reggio Emilia approach is another one with Italian roots, like Montessori. In this type of program, teachers, parents, and children collaborate in the learning process. if children show an interest in an activity, teachers will provide ample learning opportunities across the curriculum to feed that interest. Schools also provide information to parents, based on their questions and needs, to help them assist their children in the learning process. Parents can also frequently be found participating in the classroom. Assessments are made via photographs, videotapes, tape recordings, and written documentation. Children also stay with their teachers for three years. Many Reggio Emilia programs are found in private schools, though some public schools around the country are starting to adopt this method.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-75194825595304156982013-04-13T08:59:00.002-07:002013-04-13T08:59:24.624-07:00Obama's early-childhood education plan<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Obama's early-childhood education plan</b>, Using a method similar to California's to fund early-childhood education, President Obama is proposing a tax hike for his "Preschool for All" plan in the budget presented to Congress.<br />
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The proposed 94-cent hike on cigarettes is projected to generate more than $78 billion over 10 years.<br />
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Some Los Angeles-based early-childhood education providers praised the proposal for its plan to fund education for preschoolers across all types of socioeconomic backgrounds.<br />
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“The president’s plan falls right in line with what [Los Angeles Universal Preschool] has been doing for nearly a decade, and the new budget is a tremendous step forward for our nation’s children,” said Celia C. Ayala, chief executive for LAUP.<br />
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Established by First 5 LA, which receives funding through the voter-approved tobacco tax initiative Proposition 10, LAUP has provided more than 60,000 children with free or low-cost preschool for the last nine years.<br />
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The president's plan would extend programs such as Early Head Start, home visitation services for at-risk families and universal preschool.<br />
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The proposal "is an important affirmation of the educational, social and economic benefits associated with quality early learning programs," said First 5 LA Director Kim Belshe.<br />
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"We have long known that investment in quality early childhood education boosts our kids’ success in school and has even more long-term benefits," she said.<br />
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A Georgetown University report showed that by 2018, 63% of job openings will require workers with a higher education and that children who attend quality preschool are twice as likely to attend college.<br />
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The president's budget reflects the comments during his State of the Union address that support early-childhood education, though implementing a nationwide program may be difficult.<br />
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"It's complicated for the federal government because there's a spectrum of readiness across the states," said Kris Perry, executive director of the First Five Fund.<br />
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"Some states have been doing it successfully, like New Jersey, but there are others that don’t have any program in place," Perry said.<br />
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The funds will be allocated to states and distributed to local school districts and other preschool service providers.<br />
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The Department of Education also announced it would award $750 million to states to strengthen their early learning initiatives.<br />
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"It will do some good, but will never cover all the needs," Perry said.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-46596887756862665522013-01-01T23:48:00.000-08:002013-01-01T23:49:08.376-08:00Early childhood education investment<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Over the past decade many studies have reached the conclusion that investing in high-quality early childhood education is a successful hedge against poverty.</div>
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Students who attend Head Start, America's comprehensive early childhood education and development program for poor children, are far better prepared to learn when they enter kindergarten. They are referred for special education services less frequently and they are also more likely to graduate high school.</div>
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As adults they are less likely to be incarcerated and more likely to be successful, contributing members of society than those who do not attend such programs.</div>
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Programs such as Head Start help to break the poverty cycle. For every dollar we invest in early education programs there is a return of between $7 and $16. Head Start programs and services are not entitlements but prudent investments in the future of our children and our nation.</div>
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As President Barack Obama and congressional leaders consider where to cut federal programs, they should make sustaining funding for Head Start a national priority.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-13351448657690344572012-12-16T23:38:00.002-08:002012-12-16T23:38:56.194-08:005 Foundations of Any Child’s Education<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Child’s Education Foundations “Is the education of a child important?” This might just be the most ridiculous and obvious question ever asked. Ask any parent this question and for sure, you will get the same answer again and again. However, if the question had asked for the reason behind this importance, there will, without a doubt, be many different answers. One parent may say “So he will be able to easily get a job”. Another may say that it is important so that his child will learn responsibility. Another reason could be that the child’s learning will help him make good decisions. Parents have countless other reasons for a child’s education but ultimately, they mean the same thing—to prepare the child for adulthood.</div>
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Some might disagree with this; in fact, many parents do not want to think of adulthood yet, saying they do not want their children to grow up fast. Well nobody said anything about reaching adulthood fast. Rather, it is progressing from childhood and growing up to be adults. You have to bear in mind that in the end, only two things can happen: your child grows up with you, with your guidance, or your child grows up without you, guided by his friends. Which ending do you want for your child?</div>
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Surely, you want your child to grow up guided by you. If you are to prepare them to become responsible adults, you must make them learn, understand and live by five essential things. The proper education of a child involves the teaching of values, morals, ethics, problem-solving, and decision-making.</div>
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Values are the feelings, thoughts and opinions which your family has determined important. The values of one family may, of course, differ from those of another. A child needs to learn what the things he values are. Morals refer to what things are right and what are wrong. Usually, our morals are shaped by a bigger community’s standards and beliefs. Every child must be able to distinguish right from wrong. Ethics refer to the ideology of how one should behave. These are the principles of conduct and manners. A child will follow what he sees. If parents are not there to show the child how one should rightfully behave, he will then follow those whom he sees; he will pattern the way his peers behave.</div>
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Problem solving is the ability to come up with a solution for a particular task or difficulty AND the ability to do everything required to carry it out. Knowing that sand can put out a spreading fire is useless if you do not know where and how to get that sand. A child must be able to determine what must be done with a problem and know to do it. Lastly, decision-making is the ability to make sound decisions that will be for the betterment of all. A good decision is one that is based on the first four essential principles. A child must learn have the ability to make good judgments and sound decisions so that he will be able to determine which direction to follow.</div>
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These five elements shape the entire education of a child. Without these five, your child may grow physically and biologically, but he will never grow from being a child to becoming an adult. </div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-7580118496869205102012-12-14T20:20:00.000-08:002012-12-14T20:20:05.166-08:00Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anyone who’s driven north from downtown Wausau toward Bridge Street may have seen the billboard there featuring the smiling face of a young child and the word “YoungStar.”</div>
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The relatively new program of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families is designed to be a resource for parents and to create a system of incentives for child care providers. The state rates child care providers that receive state subsidies based on a number of different assessments largely focused on how they approach early childhood education. The state provides help for providers to improve their ratings, and there’s a financial incentive, too: Those who score highly receive more state tax credits; those with low scores can lose funding.</div>
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YoungStar got a big boost last week when Wisconsin won a $22.7 million grant in federal Race to the Top funding to be spent in the next four years on expanding the program and improving its data collection system.</div>
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As our understanding of brain development has become more sophisticated in recent years, the importance of early childhood education has been amplified. Young brains — from birth to four or five years old — are building connections and forming habits that have the potential to have long-term effects.</div>
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One way that’s measured is in what’s called “readiness,” a measure of the skills children bring with them when they enter kindergarten. Those who start kindergarten at a disadvantage can struggle to catch up even a decade or more into the future.</div>
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Another way to think about this is that kindergarten is not some magical threshold: Learning doesn’t begin when a child is enrolled in kindergarten. Creating the right environment for a child to learn literally begins in the womb, and proceeds at exponential pace throughout early childhood. We need an education system that recognizes that.</div>
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In Wausau, the Marathon County Early Years Coalition is a group of many different local organizations tackling this issue. Parents or anyone interested in seeing ratings of local child care providers can go to http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/youngstar/ to find YoungStar online.</div>
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There are not many more foundational goals than improving early childhood education. It’s good to see Wisconsin’s system given a boost, and we all can hope this grant will help Wisconsin’s children move forward.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-60763760462496565352012-11-30T22:09:00.001-08:002012-11-30T22:10:00.572-08:00early childhood education a priority<div style="text-align: justify;">
TORONTO - A new report suggests governments need to be spending more money on early childhood education.</div>
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But the TD Economics analysis also notes that since most governments are struggling to balance the books, that investment might not come for a while.</div>
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The report explores the benefits of the education kids get before starting school.</div>
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It concludes that every dollar invested can provide three times the returns, and the children aren't the only ones who benefit.</div>
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The report says early learning also helps the economy, because it allows parents to join the workforce after parental leave and before a child starts full-time school.</div>
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It also found Canada's government spending on education before primary school pales in comparison with other European and English-speaking countries.</div>
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And it's uneven across Canada, with spending lowest in Nunavut and highest in Quebec.</div>
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Altogether, provincial and territorial governments spent $7.5 billion on the sector in 2011, and the federal government spend $1.2 billion plus another $2.5 billion through tax credits.</div>
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TD economist Craig Alexander says while steps have been taken to improve the education system across the country, it's clear there is demand for more.</div>
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"The challenge is that governments are currently facing deficits and have made commitments to rebalance their finances," Alexander said.</div>
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"It's extraordinarily difficult to go to government today and ask them to launch large-scale new financial programs."</div>
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It would take between $3 billion and $4 billion just to bring Canada in line with the average of OECD countries when it comes to spending on early childhood education, he added.</div>
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"I don't think in the current environment, that is a reasonable ask."</div>
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But as government allocate resources going forward, Alexander said they should consider adding more to early childhood education spending, especially once their books are in order.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-36540511182870606692012-11-05T20:35:00.002-08:002012-11-05T20:36:02.787-08:00Early childhood education survey<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b>Early childhood education News</b>, The New Zealand early childhood network, ChildForum, is conducting a national survey on young children’s care and education in New Zealand and the current state of the early childhood sector.</div>
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The survey is the only research independent of the Government and its Ministries of Education and Social Development and the financial and political interests of individual groups within the sector.</div>
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It canvasses the views of different providers of early childhood care and education and people from across the sector, says ChildForum’s chief executive Dr Sarah Farquhar.</div>
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"The survey provides an opportunity to indicate what is best for young children’s care and education and convey what is going well or not going well on the ground in the sector. "The survey results may even have an influence on future policy development."</div>
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Dr Farquhar says the turmoil the early childhood and care sector has faced over the last few years with reductions in funding for the employment of qualified teachers and other decisions such as increasing the proxy for class size allowing centre operators to have up to 150 children per licence, may be nothing compared to what may be seen soon.</div>
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The Government has so far set a path that is focused on numbers - on strategies to get more children in early childcare and on establishing control of the burgeoning costs of supply of this childcare and education - rather than on quality of experience for children and families, and being supportive of a well-functioning cohesive early childhood sector. Already as a result of the Government’s ECE Taskforce Group report we have seen the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust going to the Waitangi Tribunal and Playcentre people staging major protests to get some assurance on the safety of their funding. With several reviews of funding, standards, and the home-based sector either under way or recently completed many more changes for groups within the sector, and potential stress for teachers, families and children are in the wind. Last year’s survey, also conducted by ChildForum, revealed six key issues occupying the minds of people in the ECE sector and how they thought Government should respond.</div>
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The six issues were:</div>
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concerns about funding levels and reliability of funding</div>
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maintaining teacher morale (optimism and confidence) in the face of policy and funding changes</div>
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the financial affordability of early childcare and education for families</div>
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maintaining full rolls and child attendance</div>
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services and teaching adults being able to give children what they valued as a high standard of education, and</div>
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a high standard of care for children.</div>
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This year’s survey seeks to find out if anything has changed, identify what issues may be concerning the sector now, and what might be expected to improve or worsen.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5169392066023989435.post-29447523309452391402012-10-24T19:05:00.000-07:002012-10-24T19:05:07.961-07:00History of Early Childhood Education<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b>History of Early Childhood Education</b>, The education of the young mind is an important step in readying the child for future learning experiences. The evolution of early childhood education has transformed how adults and parents view the importance of offering stimulating and exciting opportunities to the very young. Early childhood education offers toddlers learning experiences that benefit them throughout their educational career.</div>
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<b>History of Early Childhood Education</b>, According to Pre-K Now, the concept of early childhood education started with a European mother in the early 1800’s that educated children outside of their homes. The idea came to America during the Industrial Revolution with “infant schools” set up in churches, factories, and private homes to care for the young while parents were working. The state of Wisconsin created constitutional amendments to include committees dedicated to free education of children aged four to twenty in 1848 and then later, in 1873, started the first four year old kindergarten program.</div>
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As time progressed, other states began to follow Wisconsin’s lead in the area of early childhood education with preschools, day care centers, and nursery programs starting across the country. In 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) was established dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children and focusing on the quality of education and developmental services offered to children from birth to the age of eight.</div>
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Head Start, founded in 1965 as a program through the United States Department of Health and Human Services, was originally founded to ready low-income children over the summer months for upcoming kindergarten. Over the years, Head Start has become a respected preschool aged program found in many communities working with children of all backgrounds and abilities.</div>
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Early Education Teaching Theories</div>
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The concept of educating young children within the family has been happening for many, many years, but the evolution of early childhood education within an outside setting has many different theories and facets. The studies conducted by Jean Piaget along with the work he did with children, paved the way for educators to create different styles of teaching to use within programs. Many of these theories of teaching are used in preschools around the country. They include:</div>
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The Montessori Method: Maria Montessori was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree with areas of study in psychiatry, education and anthropology. Her belief was that every child was born with potential and that children should be allowed to be free to explore and play within their environment. In the early 1900’s, Montessori visited the United States to share her unique style of teaching. The main focus is to always be attentive to the child and follow the child in the direction they chose to go when learning. The Montessori Method is practiced within many preschools around the country.</div>
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Reggio Emilia Approach: Begun in Italy after World War II in the city of Reggio Emilia, this preschool teaching style is based on children’s symbolic language and the context of project-oriented curriculum. With the Reggio Emilia approach, community is a large part of the educational process and with opportunities for educational experiences for teachers to maintain their abilities and to enhance and dedicate themselves as educators to the development of the young child. The environment of the educational setting is also considered to be an important aspect of the child’s development and often considered as the “third teacher.” Along with Piaget’s constructivist thought, the Reggio Emilia Approach, the community as well as teachers believe the child to be interested in learning and experimenting through inner motivation, promoting educated and productive future adults.</div>
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Play-Based Learning: The concept of play-based learning is exactly what it sounds like, playing to learn. Many educators have helped pave the way to understanding the wonders of allowing children to learn through their play. Bev Bos, both an educator and writer, has been sharing her ideas and concepts through books and lectures for over 40 years. Her suggestions of teaching with a hand’s off style encourages teachers to let children lead themselves through problem solving and discovery with minimal intervention, and to learn through play.</div>
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Direct Instruction: Siegried Engelmann and Wesley Becker coined this teaching concept in the 1960’s. The goal is for children to be directed through their development with teachers leading activities directed toward specific learning. Often drilling methods are used as well as rote learning. Other characteristics of direct instruction are fast-paced learning activities, active involvement between teachers and children, and positive reinforcement offered often and mistakes corrected immediately.</div>
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Early childhood education is an important step in educating children and offering stimulating opportunities for exploring and learning.</div>
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