ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 5, 1996 TAG: 9611050012
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PHYLLIS OLIN
WHAT'S this? Early childhood education? Don't children start to get educated at age 6 when they enter "regular" school?
We know now that learning begins in infancy, that the early childhood years are the most important years for learning, that what children experience and learn in their early years lays the foundation for success in school and for a productive adult life. But not enough people understand what goes into early childhood education, and what a child needs to learn to grow into healthy adulthood.
It should go without saying that children need tender loving care, adequate nutrition, clean air and water, protection from heat, cold and danger - a safe environment in which to grow up.
But they also need the chance to try out their muscles - to crawl, walk, run, jump and climb. They need to get their eyes and hands to work together, learn how to pick up blocks, how to hold a pencil, how to put together a puzzle.
They need to learn to understand words - to talk, to listen, to hear differences in sounds, to follow directions. They need to learn concepts - colors, shapes, big and little, how many. They need to learn good health habits - to feed themselves, to wash their hands before eating, to brush their teeth. They need to learn how to get along with others, how to share, how to wait their turn, how to settle disputes, when to say please and thank you.
When they've learned all this plus much more, they begin to know who they are and feel good about who they are. They have acquired a sense of accomplishment, and they are motivated to learn more. In other words, they have achieved the gross and fine motor skills, the language and cognitive skills, and the social skills that go into "school readiness."
Many children learn all this at home in the family from parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents. But not all children enter school ready to learn. We see the at-risk child whose teen-age mother is a child herself. We have children whose "homes" are fraught with violence, drugs and alcoholism - even children who are homeless.
We have single parents, divorced parents and working mothers who are struggling to find enough hours in the day. Most are well-meaning, but many parents don't have the wherewithal, the know-how and/or the energy to meet their children's needs.
Into this picture comes child care. It can be in the child's home, in a family day-care home, in a private for-profit establishment, a church or a government-sponsored center - part-time or full-time. It can be minimal baby-sitting with Kool-Aid and lots of TV. It can be quality child care, or it can be somewhere between the two.
Quality child-care at home or at a child-care center provides a clean and safe environment with enough space and equipment, outdoor and indoor, for active play. The outdoor area should have safe swings, slides, wagons, a sandbox, balls and enough toys for all. Indoors, there should be places for active and quiet play, and a good supply of dolls, dishes, cars, trucks, blocks, dress-up clothes, puzzles, games, books, records or tapes, Play-Doh, paints, crayons, paste and paper.
Most important, though, are the teachers - teachers who have been trained to understand young children and their needs. They understand that children learn through play and hands-on experiences. The teachers know how to talk to and listen to children. They are genuinely fond of children and treat them with respect. They know how to deal with arguments, fights and other behavior problems. There should be at least one teacher for each group of eight children aged 3 to 5 (one to five for younger children).
Parents are the child's most important teacher. Learning from each other, parents and teachers can better understand their individual children and help them grow up to become responsible adults. A quality child-care center gets parents involved.
Prevention. prevention, prevention!
Quality early-childhood education reduces school failure, expensive placement in special-education classes, school-dropout rates, illiteracy rates, juvenile delinquency, criminal behavior and the exorbitant costs of the judicial system and jails.
In the long run, it strengthens families, relieves the stresses that may lead to child abuse, leads to success in school, gives people the skills to be successful on the job, breaks the vicious cycle of poverty, is good economics and provides for a "safe and sound" community - a better quality of life for all.
We know all this. We know there is a shortage of quality, affordable child care. When the new welfare policies take effect, this shortage will become a crisis. We will need more teachers who have been trained to work with young children, and we will need to pay them more.
The message of the New Century Council Early Childhood Education Subcommittee is that for the future and prosperity of our country, we must make children a higher priority. We need to deliver this message to business people, members of service organizations, government leaders, policy-makers, physicians, lawyers, the media and parents - to the entire community. We need, somehow, to get them all concerned and involved.
Phyllis Olin of Roanoke chairs the New Century Council Early Childhood Education Subcommittee.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 linesby CNB