Aiming at holistic development

Early childhood is defined as a period of growth from birth to eight years of age, where brain development is remarkable. This stage remains an important part as children are highly influenced by the environment and the people that surround them.

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is more than preparation for primary school. It aims at the holistic development of a child’s social and broad foundation for lifelong learning and well-being. It has the possibility to nurture caring, capable and responsible future citizens.

Why is early childhood important?

The first six years of life are critical years of human life since the rate of development in these years is more rapid than at any other stage of development. Global brain research also informs about the significance of early year for brain development. The government of India approved the ECCE policy in 2013.The policy framework also includes the national curriculum framework and quality standards for ECCE.

Challenges in early childhood education

Despite the recognition of the importance of ECCE by the government of India, the challenges in implementation still remains. Even after the implementation of the ECCE, substantial number of children have not enrolled in pre-schools. In elementary education, there is a significant rise in enrolments but there is a rise in dropouts as well.

Nurturing developmental skills

The main developmental skills from birth to six years are learning to walk, learning to take solid foods, learning to talk, physiological stability,forming simple concepts of social and physical reality, etc. Other skills include learning to relate self emotionally to parents, siblings and others. Children who have been to a pre-primary school show better performance at the primary level. Spending three years in a nursery school from three to six years age help the child to overcome dependency on mother and develop independence. It helps the child to achieve sufficient sense of security to go to the elementary school and identify himself with adults outside the home.

Learning and perception

Learning is a modification of behaviour as a result of experience or training. There are four basic components in learning – situation, drives, stimuli responses and reinforcement. These four components bring together development in the child’s cognitive structures and determine what he learns and stores for future.

Drives are of three types – primary physiological needs, secondary drives associated with the primary needs and the cognitive motivation.

The most important thing about learning special tasks and acquiring special skill is “Learning to learn.” Children can acquire learning sets and they can transfer this learning pattern from one problem to another problem.

Perception is the process through which the child will process meaningful information.

The goal of perception is to understand the events in the world. The infant and child perceive static and moving objects, colours, sounds and odours. Later on, he perceives coded symbols like words, letters, numbers and designs.

Through parents, they learn many things at home, like alphabets, shapes, colours and counting and spelling words. But for the betterment and healthy development, children require proper stimulation and interaction with their peers. With the help of early childhood education in classrooms, children apply what they have learnt from the parents.

Early childhood education focuses on learning through play by providing direct hands on, interactive atmosphere and where in children learn through the games and involve themselves with their same group children. The teacher plays the role of parent and allows children to become friends with each other. They learn by sharing, taking turns, following manners and lessons that evolve with each stage.

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is more than preparation for primary school. It aims at the holistic development of a child’s social and broad foundation for lifelong learning and well-being. It has the possibility to nurture caring, capable and responsible future citizens.

Early childhood education focuses on learning through play by providing direct hands on, interactive atmosphere and where in children learn through the games and involve themselves with their same group children. The teacher plays the role of parent and allows children to become friends with each other. They learn by sharing, taking turns, following manners and lessons that evolve with each stage.

A.Luisa Remi, Dindigul has accomplished a career demonstrating consistent success of 29 years, as an Administrator and Educator at the secondary and higher education levels. She is seasoned in conceiving and building programs from the ground up through proven competencies in leadership and administration, project and program management, and staff development and empowerment. She also has extensive background of developing and implementing special programs for at-risk and special needs students, specially gifted students and ethnically diverse populations, and second-language learners. She also has exhaustive experience in training and counseling teachers, students and people from other walks of life with regard to challenges such as upgrading the pedagogy, coping up mental depression and accumulation of knowledge with tech-savy techniques.