judy and anonymous; this is just the kind of awareness we (in the minority world) need to enable us to start to understand different experiences of childhood (and parenting for that matter). i think we have to be careful about how we set ourselves up to “judge” (and comment upon) how other cultures address child rearing etc…who are we to say what’s right?…i’m sure if you ask chinese parents about this, they may not be phased!

Andrew:

Too often the Western world has a fear of “judging” one another. When I started this blog, I was determined to make it a resource, and as a resource, there are things we like and things we don’t like. A resource place is a little like a pier store used to be – you see some nightmare trinkets you are not sure are particularly legal – like dried monkey heads, and you see cute things and funny things, and things you just have to buy and take home. I remember the giant Tahitian wine bottle my parents brought home with the one pound spider living inside it.

To understand a culture or a person, one has to have a home base of reason – I believe that’s called formation. Real formation doesn’t narrow the scope, it allows a person to stand on rock. That rock comes from understanding the pros and cons of one’s own culture well enough to embrace the pros and cons of other cultures.

In the West, we have a certain standard of cleanliness. That includes a daily bath, diapers, and a certain standard of clean beds, food, cooking utensils and water clean enough to drink from the tap. In the East, these things are not always available to everyone. That says something about the development of both cultures. When my children went to China, they knew the standards they were accustomed to would be left in the States, and they went anyway, and did the job. My son built a cyclotron for cancer treatment there.

What they experienced was very different than they expected. The playground – what there was of it was covered in human feces. People urinated in the streets. The public bathrooms were difficult at best and covered in unmentionables. In the restaurants, the people spit on the floor and threw their food on the floor as they finished with something.

There are no ovens in China, and all cooking was done on an electric platform that was either too hot or too cool. Because my children lived in housing provided by a hospital, they had a small washing machine that would wash one or two items at a time. It was broken half the time. The tap water was undrinkable, and there were open sewers all over their town. You could not open a window for the pollution. The skies were dark much of the time. It rained once, and they realized the sidewalk was green not brown.

Yet these were the asides of living there, the second part. My children liked China very much and made a lot of friends I hope they will have forever. They shopped and ate at public places every day. They learned some of the language, and their one year old daughter enjoyed the attention of the curious Chinese people. She came home speaking more Chinese than her parents!

Are these judgments? Would I care to take my school children to a playground covered in human feces? Would you like a trip in an elevator in the UK while the child being held next to you urinated on your foot? I’m thinking no to both questions. I’m thinking that the sense of culture might actually get in the way of “who is right” at that point.

The fact that my children are formed allows them to travel abroad well. My son especially is a great traveler and has been to the North Pole. He said Santa is a great guy. His teen son, Sam as well enjoyed his visit to China and found the eating and drinking a real test of his early formation. He said the jellyfish soup was interesting and tasted like a raw egg with a crunchy center. The sea slug was a little rough at first, and Brendan had to nix the cocktails for Sam after the third round, and he said no to eating the donkey – simply because no one else was eating it.

If I could pick a place to travel, I would like to go to Irian Jaya and go out into the wilds to visit with the tree people or the Kombai. I think it would be so neat to visit one of our remaining stone age peoples. To wake in the morning fifty feet in a tree would be an outstanding adventure. To learn to cook without utensils, without pots and pans would be a real treat. Not sure about eating larvae – they say it’s a bit like exploding pus pockets.

So in lieu of visiting the tree people and feasting on palm pulp and wild pig, I’ll just post stories about people here and there and try to bring us all closer to understanding one another. Because understanding ourselves and embracing one another as we can is what it’s all about.

My son lived in China for nearly a year. He said diapers are not used on the children. He said he offered a diaper to a professional colleague, a doctor, who declined his offer. In China, the diaper is considered to hold filth near the child, which is worse than letting a child defecate in the street or other public place. At the same time, a child sleeps with the parent until he is seven, and he is not diapered. The sleeping arrangements must be quite unimaginable.

If you read between the lines in this article, you can read the many changes in China.

Early childhood education course set
Fu Yingqing
2006-01-20 Beijing Time

PARENTS will be able to take a course on infant education. The new program will receive official approval next month. While the course provider is confident of the market potential, some educators said parents with busy schedules might not have time for the course, let alone be able to pay for it.

About 100 mothers finished a trial version of the program, said Zeng Qi, director of the training facility. Parents that pass an exam will receive certificates. “It’s a different program from nanny training,” said Zeng.

His facility at the vocational center of East China Normal University launched Shanghai’s first professional nanny training center late last year. The center decided to launch a new course designed for young parents. Classes focus a lot on communication with babies. This includes how to recognize their needs and how your mood and behavior can affect a baby.

Zeng said early child education from ages one to three is the most crucial period in one’s childhood. It usually takes 15 days to complete the program. It costs 100 yuan (US$12.40) per day. Dai Yuxia, mother of a 2-year-old girl, just completed the trial version last week. She said it taught her many things. “I always have thought early child education is essential for any family,” said Dai. “My daughter has grasped the vocabulary equivalent to a four year old.”

Some educators were not convinced of the program’s benefits. Zhu Wei, manager of Shanghai Boni Housekeeping Services, said not all young parents can afford this program.

Guo Zongli, an early child educator, also worried about a lack of demand for such a course. “Of course early child education is essential, but I doubt parents will have time for the courses,” said Guo. “Most have careers, plus the family needs sufficient income for the baby.”

Guo said low cost day care services were available in several communities. Each family can get free professional assistance four times before the child reaches the age of three. Additional services cost just 8 yuan per visit, said Guo.

And we think we have problems in the US.

Improve child care: Plan panel
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
Friday, January 20, 2006
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 19:

If the 10th Five Year Plan has failed the country’s children, most conspicuously in arresting infant and neo-natal mortality, can the 11th Plan do better?

This was the question that worried experts gathered for perhaps the first major consultation in the process of conceiving the 11th Plan. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said that India needed to be a little clearer on what really works for it. ‘‘It is good to focus on inputs, but it is also important to focus on outputs,’’ he observed, while addressing the two-day consultation, jointly organised by the Planning Commission, UNICEF and the Institute of Human Development, which ended on Thursday.

The present moment is full of contradictions, and the participants recognised this. While India is on the growth trajectory in economic terms and has the demographic advantage of having one of the youngest populations, it has to contend with a huge backlog of deprivations and great inequalities along regional, gender and community/caste lines.

Health of the newborn was regarded a crucial area of neglect, with 50 per cent of infants dying within the 28th day; 20 per cent on the day of birth itself. The reasons for this vary from poor coverage of child health programmes to a tendency of concentrating on initiatives like polio-eradication at the cost of other, more important ones. The participants argued that the focus on child health should shift to child-mortality reduction in the 11th Plan. This, they believe, is relatively easy to achieve through the deployment of a specially trained community-based child health provider — ASHA — in every village by 2012 (the last year of the 11th Plan), mandated to deliver healthcare at the doorstep.

Related to health was nutrition, a crucial aspect of child survival. Here too it was felt early childhood should be in focus. Since the family plays an important role at this stage, it was felt that initiatives in improving nutrition should be routed through the community and family.

On school education, there was a consensus that the flagship programme, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, must continue, but should also focus on quality education. At the same time there must be the targeted enrollment of disadvantaged groups, like SC/STs, working children, children with special needs, even while educational opportunities are expanded for girls. There was also a felt need for strengthening the school supervision system through independent institutional mechanisms; focusing on professional development of teachers, and creating more space for non-profit, non-state actors in elementary education.

Lack of access to water and sanitation severely impacts children’s lives. Given this, there was concern over hand pumps — once seen as a major infrastructure to reach potable water to every Indian — being in a state of disrepair and neglect as also a lack of investment in their maintenance. Since pipe water will remain a pipe dream for millions, it is important to address this huge crisis.

Similarly, the provision of toilets was very unsatisfactory and child-unfriendly. An example from Purnea, where a local school was converted into a community toilet, with the children driven to study under trees, highlighted the general reality.

The participants therefore called for ensuring that all households get sustained access to potable water in a phased manner.

It’s been a week – a really good week. We’ve had two puppet shows – fledgling shows, but we’re working on the voices. Yesterday Mr. Devilin told the story of his old friend Pinocchio. He has an Irish brogue. He was seconded by Jerome Prescott, the barn owl who is manned by Edith.

We need a stand up puppet shelf along the lines of Sherry and Lamb Chop. I’m thinking a kind of Dutch door set up. Any ideas?

We are still working on the paper mache puppets. Not all the children have even started them, but some of the first attempts are dry now, and it’s time to put on the feet. That should be a trip. We are going to spend the morning working on them.

It’s International Feast today at 12:30. I’m bringing curried chicken. Edith is bringing bean dip. The regular lunch is bean soup and peanut butter, cheese or egg sandwiches. Parents are welcome to join us at 12:30.

The teaching is going very well. When Miss Kelly was hired, I told her my goal for the first grade was to learn to read and write well enough to write stories and illustrate them. As the child learns more, the stories get longer and the illustration becomes less and less important. Yesterday, Miss Kelly showed me their first attempts. I nearly cried. They were so adorable. The children wrote tributes to one another.

My education theory is that the ability to read and write well enough to be able to tell the world about one’s thoughts encourages the following disciplines: reading for good word sense, writing for expression and thought, advanced or critical thinking and problem solving, creative effort, humor, social development. This is what I would like to send these kids off to big school being able to do. A mastery of the language in mind, word and creation is a skill that will serve them forever. So three cheers for Miss Kelly and a great round of applause for the kids.

On the downside — We have about six kids who are having a lot of trouble with behavior, and we have started a smiley face project that seems to work encouraging good behavior – like listening to learn.

Up front in the school there is a chart with the children’s names and each name starts out the day with a smiley face. That face can be lost by disruption, disobedience or aggression. It can be earned back by a period of great behavior. The faces came and went yesterday by the half hour and the behavior was much better. At 3:00 we take note of who has managed to salvage the day, and we post the face on the envelope to go home. Children who have earned a green face all week will not come on the field trip on Monday. Letters will be sent home today.

Monday we are going ice skating. Our parent, Miss Grace, has taught ice skating in upstate New York, and she has volunteered to go with us and help the kids out. We are so grateful for parents like her. We hope to have a lot of parents interested in taking kids on the ice.

The sweatshirts are in, but the company put the logo on the back and the words on the front and it looks just terrible. They have agreed to re-do them, but that means a wait again. Not sure it’s worth the wait, but I’ll let Miss Molly make that decision.

Yesterday I read the Elephant’s Child, by Rudyard Kipling, in class. Of my ten little guys, eight listened to the story. I was so impressed because it’s a long story and it was at the end of the K day. Logan was riveted to this story and so were Justin and Aidan. I looked down and the eagerness to get more was as fun as reading the story.

I asked a parent yesterday if his child watched or wallowed in front of TV, and the answer was wallow. I’m not a fan of TV, so encouraging watching is not my gig. I think it might be a wise idea to nix the TV altogether and simply turn it on for a few minutes to “WATCH” otherwise it just becomes more background noise kids don’t listen to. Listening is a skill, and background noise is not an encouraging sound – it’s a discouraging sound.

Well, it’s time to go to school.

Have a good day – a day filled with joy and fun. Laugh today.

Just a note to say how much I appreciate the exchange here. This is extremely important to me and I hope this kind of thing continues. I hope the language of writing does not come across as an obstacle. As a national childcare writer for 15 years, I often am too direct for many readers. As a teacher of early childhood for 25 years, I’m often too upfront with parents as well – I think it comes with the territory. I hope my questions come across as pro child. Children always come first.

Judy; you make some key points i think…you suggest that moving from /to and between different care/education contexts is normal in this day and age…i agree but i just get the feeling that, in the UK, the formula available is one where a choice has to be made; there’s lots of pressures for mums to go out to work and get off benefits; hints towards what you would call “work-fare” are beginning to emerge here with what we call incapacity benefit (govt ideas to come out soon)…so it’s not a choice that can be avoided…and a second point is the one you make about “quality”; how strong is regulation in the US?; excellent provision is what all parents want for their children (who wants to send their child into second-class care?)

Andrew: It’s the same here in the US. There are lots of parents on Welfare to Work programs that entitle them to Step Ahead funds. The program allows women with children to return to work or work and school with the hope that they will get that education they missed at the right time and be a contributing part of the workforce. The government puts billions of dollars into this program to get young people the help they need. But the question remains, why do they need this? What went wrong? With as many walk on colleges as we have, why are there so many young women in need of a lifebuoy? Is it a matter of a culture that doesn’t care at the right time, or is it a matter of knowing that someone will pick up the pieces after they have spent a certain number of years playing at the expense of everyone else?

Regulation for childcare?

That’s the point. What are you going to regulate? There are kindergarten standards that talk about time spent doing this or that in the classroom, and a list of what teachers must accomplish in 2.5 hours, but when you reduce the standards to the bottom line, it’s about as regulated as “State Lunch.” Did you know that it is legal to offer a child 6 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese as a protein for lunch?

Regulation has to come with interpretation or there is no life in it. Regulation must come from the good intentions, from the inside of the person, not the flapping of papers. As a parent of children in public schools for 27 years in a row, and as a room mother for 21 of those years, I know that regulation in the classroom is determined by the efforts of either good teachers, and poor ones just take up space. It’s as OK to offer children 25 worksheets a day as it is to really teach creatively. One of the best teachers my kids had was Mary Jo Huff – a preschool teacher.

It’s the same in preschool. One of the things we are trying to do at our little school is to develop a set of puppet characters because the children, even the distracted ones, listen carefully to a puppet because it’s fun. Listening is the primary activity in preschool. Learning to listen for information is a skill that comes then, not later. But again let’s go to the bottom line – listening to what from whom? If the provider doesn’t have anything to say, the children will catch on quickly.

So what makes a good preschool? What is the bottom line? How far from the bottom line separates a warehouse from something that is truly beneficial to children? Is it the plant, the teachers, the activities, the intellectual stretch, the extras, the parents, the state regulations, the right shows on TV?

Childcare salaries are the lowest paying job in the nation. No one could live on what we pay at the Garden School, but the job, when it is done well, is one in a million. This is the age where a life takes off or doesn’t. So what makes the regulation in the UK different or enlightened?

That’s one reason I like posting stories from the world – it gives us ideas for our own places and children.

NICHD Alerts Parents to Winter SIDS Risk and Updated AAP Recommendations

The number of infants who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, increases in the cold winter months, according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the National Institutes of Health. During these colder months, parents often place extra blankets or clothes on infants, hoping to provide them with more warmth. In fact, the extra material may actually increase infants’ risk for SIDS.

“Parents and caregivers should be careful not to put too many layers of sleep clothing or blankets on infants-or to keep room temperatures too warm-because overheating increases the risk of SIDS, ” said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NICHD. ” Of course, parents and caregivers should always place infants to sleep on their backs for naps and at night. “

For more than a decade, the NICHD has led the Back to Sleep campaign, which recommends a number of ways to reduce the risk of SIDS. Unless there’s a medical reason not to, infants should be placed on their backs to sleep, on a firm mattress with no blankets or fluffy bedding under or over them. If a blanket is used, it should be placed no higher than the baby’s chest and be tucked in under the crib mattress. The baby’s crib and sleep area should be free of pillows and stuffed toys, and the temperature should be kept at a level that feels comfortable for an adult. Since the NICHD campaign began, the overall SIDS rate in the United States has declined by more than 50 percent.

Despite the campaign’s progress, SIDS is the leading cause of death in infants between 1 month and 1 year of age and claims the lives of approximately 2,500 infants each year. SIDS is the sudden unexplained death of an infant in the first year of life. Most SIDS deaths happen when babies are between two and four months of age. The causes of SIDS are still unclear, but it is possible to reduce factors that increase SIDS risk.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently issued updated recommendations for reducing the risk of SIDS:

* Always place your baby on his or her back to sleep, for naps and at night
* Place your baby on a firm sleep surface, such as on a safety-approved crib mattress, covered by a fitted sheet
* Keep soft objects, toys, and loose bedding out of your baby’s sleep area
* Do not allow smoking around your baby
* Keep your baby’s sleep area close to, but separate from, where you and others sleep
* Consider offering a clean, dry pacifier when placing your baby on his or her back to sleep
* Do not let your baby overheat during sleep
* Avoid products that claim to reduce the risk of SIDS
* Do not use home monitors to reduce the risk of SIDS
* Reduce the chance that flat spots will develop on your baby’s head by providing” Tummy Time” when your baby is awake and someone is watching; changing the direction that your baby lies in the crib; and avoiding too much time in car seats, carriers, and bouncers

Although the rate of SIDS among African American infants has declined by almost 50 percent since the Back to Sleep campaign began, it is still higher than that of white infants. In fact, African American infants are twice as likely to die of SIDS as are white infants. To help eliminate the racial disparity in SIDS rates, the NICHD has forged partnerships with several African American organizations. In 2003, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the National Coalition of 100 B lack Women, Women in the NAACP, and the NICHD held three SIDS Summits, which brought together thousands of participants from across the country to learn more about SIDS. Since the Summits, these partners have continued their work in communities across the country. They met recently to discuss the updated AAP recommendations and future campaign direction.

“While we have made great progress in reducing the rate of SIDS for African American infants by almost 50 percent, there is much work ahead,” said Yvonne Maddox, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the NICHD.” The winter SIDS alert is one way to remind parents and caregivers that we can reduce the risk of SIDS by placing babies on their backs to sleep for naps and at night.”

The NICHD is also working within the American Indian community to help reduce the racial disparity in SIDS rates. American Indian babies are nearly three times as likely to die of SIDS as white babies. Research has found that among the Northern Plains American Indian community, overheating is one of the biggest risk factor for SIDS. The NICHD is establishing partnerships with American Indian organizations to help create and disseminate culturally appropriate SIDS risk reduction materials.

After an extensive body of research showed that placing infants to sleep on their backs reduces their risk of SIDS, the NICHD led a coalition of organizations to launch the Back to Sleep campaign in 1994. Along with the NICHD, the coalition consists of the AAP, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs, and First Candle/SIDS Alliance.

The NICHD distributes a variety of free Back to Sleep education materials for parents, caregivers, and health care providers, including brochures, magnets, door hangers, and infant” onesies.” Most of the materials are available in English and Spanish. To obtain these free materials, other NICHD publications, as well as information about the Institute, visit the NICHD Web site or call the NICHD Information Resource Center, 1-800-370-2943; e-mail NICHDInformationResourceCenter@mail.nih.gov.

The NICHD is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the biomedical research arm of the federal government. NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. NICHD publications, as well as information about the Institute, are available from the NICHD Web site.

Someone wrote in to say: Judy; this is indeed an interesting piece. [Paris]. I note your comments especially those pointing towards the “best” time for a child to start formal schooling; this is a hot potato here in the UK at the moment. We got stuck at 5 way back in the 1800’s mainly for child protection and working children economically contributing to families at the time and things haven’t changed since then. It would also be true that the UK is out-of-step with the rest of Europe; it’s much higher in Scandinavia and more in France etc…the bottom line is basically, for me, “when s/he’s ready…” but there’s also the pressure from those who advocate (as the article does a bit) the earlier the better especially for potentially disadvantaged children.

These are good points and interesting notes. I think, like the writer, it’s important to understand who the child is now and who he has been in the past and how he is regarded by the rest of the world. It makes the job of childcare a lot more understandable. It offers a perspective on how other nations are rearing children as well as understanding why we do what we do.

In the US, I think children are still thought of as a really necessary part of the family unit because we are still continuing to replace ourselves and often having more than two. Both my married children are having a third child, and I don’t think this is unusual for families who keep it together. Putting a child in school is a normal event at a particular age. Seeking childcare for at least part of the day is also not unusual. Moving one child along because there is another one coming allows the norm to work for the family. In other words I think in the US the child is not the isolated one of a kind pet, he’s simply one of the kids, and this is what we do with him and for him.

The question is not about “when” so much as it’s about what. When we put a child in school what will he do there? If the answer is nothing, then there’s a problem. Many childcares that tout an early education aren’t that at all. The monitors or providers aren’t capable of educating anyone. Then the idea of placing a child into a center where children are simply held for 10-12 hours is a warehouse, and that’s more the story than anything else. That’s why the big push for every four year old to go to preschool is daunting because the question has not been answered — to do what? Is there going to be a scramble to find someone to educate these kids or will the classrooms be maintained by another crew of non readers?

I think placing a three or four year old into a “nothing” childcare is worse than putting a child to work because at least at work a child in the company of family and he could be accomplishing something. Can you imagine a place where you do nothing for the three most productive years of your life? What can that do to formation?

The child as an economic unit is still alive and well in many parts of the world including the US. Helping on family farms and in family businesses is still very much a part of the way many people live. I would rather see children working on the family farm than doing nothing. There is so much to see and do on a farm, and the farmers I know are such wonderful people. Understanding the natural flow of seasons, seeing nature at it’s best and worst is something a child locked into a small room in a center will never witness.

As far as child protection goes, without strong families, we’ve come full circle back to the early middle ages where children were not protected by anyone. We see vulnerable unprotected children all the time simply because promises have not been made or kept.

It’s interesting to remember that it was the Church that established marriage as a sacrament so that a marriage promise could not be broken and the children within the family could be cared for as a matter of law. The state also once cared for marriage by making divorce difficult. Now it’s a free for all and the idea of family has taken another blow.

Sometimes I think the state is trying to get children out of the family mess and into school so that the state can be the parent. How do we feel about that?

This is a powerful article written by an American and published in a Parisian magazine. I agree with about half of it. I don’t think it’s the government’s role to monitor all education. I think that there should be government schools, but I think there should be an equal balance of private schools because that creates balance. Private schools also offer a kind of change and growth and challenge not seen in the public system. Private schools are the model makers not the public system. The creativity found in the private sector will always be superior to what the state can do. That’s why Catholic schools trying desperately to become like public schools is such a waste and such a shame.

Educating the poor is a whole other ball game than educating the financially solvent. Headstart is a good thing if a child has nothing, but as a child moves up the economic ladder, programs like Headstart don’t offer much.

The other problem with early childhood is that in many places – like Evansville – there is an old guard grasp on the business of educating young children that won’t budge. It’s caught in the 1970’s trends and can’t move from cubbyhole warehousing to real education. They won’t give credibility to anyone who is moving out of the warehouse, and they blackball anyone doing more than “babysitting.” It’s so evident when you get children from an early childhood center in the main stream. They can’t hold a crayon, don’t know a letter, and can’t listen to a story. Then you realize what is not going on in the warehouse grasp of the powers that be. And that’s where the money goes.

The very idea that all four year olds should go to preschool is about as ignorant as saying all children should start kindergarten at 5. Everyone learns differently. We have two five year olds in the preschool and two in the kindergarten and two in the first grade. Each one is working to his or her best effort, but their abilities vary a lot. By placing all of them in one grade – kindergarten, there will be two bored children, two doing fun stuff, and two who don’t understand a thing.

It seems to me that parents are the impetus for education. That means if a child has to be really ready to start kindergarten, more will be done to make that possible. Yanking a child off to the public system who is barely potty trained and expecting that child to go from helpless to educated by a teacher who is over worked does no one a service.

Individuality should be best guarded at 3,4,5. Pushing, smothering, boring, ignoring a child in that age range inhibits learning rather than encourages it.

My effort would go to private and public preschools that would offer a three year program for kids ( ages 3-6) to make their way through in as much time as it took to do the work so that they could go on to first grade successfully. Entering first grade knowing how to listen, how to read a little and how to be a good friend would make teaching grammar school a breeze. It’s then that we could fly as a nation of learners.

Newropeans Magazine

Written by Francesco Bonavita
Monday, 16 January 2006

Ever since the publication of Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Emile ou l’éducation an unprecedented interest in child development was unleashed which, to this day, continues uninterruptedly. A great body of research on early child education continues to heighten public awareness not only among educators but parents as well who would like nothing more than to find an essential guide on when to begin formal education.

A study published recently by the Rand Corporation has focused on the merits of early childhood intervention as a preventive measure to lower the drop-out rate and to shrink crime statistics substantially. The study attaches a monetary value to the idea of introducing education at an earlier age. In the Los Angeles County alone, for instance, such an early educational head start would lower the drop out rate annually approximately by 3,000 students. The study further projects a dramatic reduction of crime among youth by 10,000 per year.

These data are being offered at a time when school officials in California are considering presenting an early universal preschool initiative before the voters. If this is approved, educators are envisioning that for every $1 spent on preschool related activities, $2.50 in financial benefits would be generated in return, as well as reducing crime rate, drop out rate, teenage pregnancy and having fewer students repeat grades.

These statistics are indeed impressive but they do not reveal the intrinsic benefits of a preschool program, such as the impact of socialization on children. Early education promotes non-cognitive abilities, such as motivation, social interaction and self-control, as well as cognitive skills, such as distinguishing geometric shapes, differentiating colors, and gaining musical awareness. This early intervention promotes the necessary skills to function in a competitive society.

There is a growing awareness among educators that a correlation exists between preschool and formal schooling. In countries where pre-formal education is greatly valued the child’s chances for success are increased dramatically. Julia Whitburn, an observer of Japanese schooling, in her study, “Learning to Live Together: The Japanese model of early years education,” published in the International Journal of Early Years Education, reports that first and second grade children are the indisputable beneficiaries with a firm handle on learning. Whitburn shows that Japan’s long tradition of universal preschool ensures that children perform well in their learning rate, as well as exhibiting self-reliance and independence, enthusiasm and self-confidence, essential components for educational success.

The Bill & Belinda Gates Foundation, which has become a notable contributor to improving the quality of education around the world, has set aside $90 million that is intended to fund early schooling in the state of Washington, during the next ten years. Apparently, the Foundation subscribes to the notion that preparing children for kindergarten can impact significantly on the learning disposition of future students. This is a remarkable initiative for it validates preschool essentially beginning with the cradle phase of child rearing up to the age of five. In some ways, the Foundation echoes the Reggio Emilia approach, which believes in educating the child from the very beginning stages of infancy.

Given the amount of research conducted in this area, one would think that governments are ready to embrace the notion of head start in an effort to better prepare future students upon entering kindergarten. Unfortunately, universal preschool in the United States is still a long way from becoming a reality. For the most part, preschool programs fall under the domain of private enterprises and, as such, they are quite expensive and inaccessible to families with a limited budget. This preschool issue represents a blatant educational divide between those who have the means and those who are struggling to make ends meet.

Critics of early childhood education are quick to point out that this initiative is a costly proposition and that the government should not interfere let along intervene in preschool activities. The conservatives have argued for greater teacher accountability, more parental involvement, a safer and orderly environment where children can learn, raising academic standards, and advocating a return to basics. While there is no question that these recommendations are important in terms of improving the educational performance for our children, they fall short of introducing a bolder reform where all children can have an equal playing field.

Four years ago, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind bill that was designed to close the educational divide by 2014. This legislation, thus far, has had a minimal impact on minorities as they are still lagging considerably behind. Many schools in America are working with a nineteenth century infrastructure with limited opportunities for extra-curricula activities.

The idea of vouchers where parents can enroll children in private schools by getting federal credit does not necessarily improve the quality of learning. This is a rather simplistic approach aimed at chipping away from the public educational system. It is important to find a way to assist schools when they fail rather than punishing them. A bolder proposal is needed; one which envisions an educational program that can generate excitement for learning and one way to attain this is to invest in preschool initiatives. A universal preschool that is accessible to all children is crucial to eliminating the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and the rest of America’s students.

Similarly, we need to increase federal spending on education. It is estimated that the US spends something on the order of $700 billion on schools, much of which comes from individual states and only a small percentage can be attributed to federal monies. While there is nothing in the American Constitution about the responsibility of government with respect to education, arguably an educated citizen that can compete in the Twenty-first century ought to be everyone’s preoccupation.

Investing in the young is a rational public policy in so far as it fosters social justice and economic opportunities for everyone. This is what James J. Heckman, the Nobel laureate in economics in 2000 from the University of Chicago, proposes in order to correct years of governmental neglect. A whole slew of studies in neuroscience, psychology and social science demonstrates exceedingly well the need, according to Heckman, to intervene in the early phases of learning way before the child falls irreparably behind with respect to cognitive and non-cognitive abilities.

The issue of preschool is fundamental for it sets the tone not only for children but for parents as well. The idea that formal learning at preschool levels ought to be indispensable is a matter that is vital to future generations. A social transformation has taken place in America where close to 50% of the families are sending their children to some form of preschool. This change is dictated by economic necessities where, more often than not, both parents and single mothers have to work.

The number of private child care institutions has proliferated at an unprecedented rate during the last two decades and there are no signs that this trend will come to a halt anytime soon. The problem with these preschool programs, however, is that they are not always educationally sound. While the research clearly demonstrates how children can benefit from preschool it does not necessarily mean that simply by enrolling a toddler in a custodial setting leads to intellectual growth. Early child care programs must be able to afford learners an opportunity to be fully engaged and to interact with other children. It is essential to have the child give meaning to its fantasies, to unfold its creative powers and to create an environment where the multi-dimensional personality of the learner can begin to emerge.

It is important to ensure that a preschool program is of the highest quality, providing worthwhile activities that lead to educational growth for all children. This is an area that is still expanding and it is the government’s task to provide policies in an effort to maintain a certain degree of uniformity and consistency. Universal preschool that delivers effective educational practices can not only strengthen the child’s level of readiness in terms of meeting the social academic rigors of schooling but it can ultimately achieve educational equality, a dream clearly cherished by the late Martin Luther King Jr.

Francesco BonavitaKean University Union, New Jersey (United States of America)

Interesting article because it gives us a look at another place and how they work at the same things we do so many miles away.

The Daily Observer
Observer MD Urges Greater Education Access
Written by DO
Monday, 16 January 2006

Dr Saja Taal, a senior lecturer at the University of The Gambia, who also doubles as the Managing Director of the Observer Company (Gambia) Limited, has observed that there are not enough senior secondary schools in the country to meet the growing demand for secondary school education.

Speaking last Friday at a one-day interactive workshop on educational tourism, jointly organised by Gam-World Education Link, the Movement for Positive Action and Change (MPAc) and the Association for Responsible Tourism (Art) of the University of The Gambia at the University Auditorium, School of Nursing and Midwifery in Banjul, the erudite don said: “Despite the proliferation of senior secondary schools in the country, a large number of students from the upper basic schools are still not absorbed in the secondary schools.”

He therefore called for the establishment of more senior secondary schools across the country to take in the upper basic school leavers.

Dr Taal’s predilection for the controversial showed itself in his class analysis of educational access in the country, as he contended that a considerable number of students flock to the Greater Banjul Area (GBA) for secondary school education because that is where most of the qualified teachers are found.

To redress this lopsidedness, he said, the Department of State for Education (DoSE) has introduced hardship allowance for teachers who choose to work in the provinces.

Dr Taal noted that the same imbalance is observable among female teachers in that most of them prefer to work in the GBA.

A key impediment to universal access to education in the country, according to him, is the widely held belief that you need not be educated to be wealthy. He pointed out that most parents accordingly regard education as a sheer waste of time, believing that the time spent in school could be more productively used in making money by doing something else.

That notwithstanding, Dr Taal opined that more enlightenment campaigns on the value of education as a defence and emancipation from the shackles of ignorance ought to be carried out with greater vigour throughout the country.

Dr Taal’s views set the tone for the workshop and were lapped up by an appreciative audience, especially by Mrs Lisong Bah of the Christian Children’s Fund (CCF), who openly admitted that Dr Taal had made her presentation a lot easier for her.

Speaking on early childhood education in The Gambia, Mrs Bah identified shortage of trained personnel, the dichotomy between the curriculum of the lower basic school and that of the early child development centres, and lack of funds as the major drawbacks of early childhood education in the country.

According to her, early childhood education takes the form of home-based care, centre-based care, community-based care and parenting education.

She disclosed that CCF provides sensitisation and training for targeted caregivers with emphasis on holistic child development and the integrated approach.

Last Updated ( Monday, 16 January 2006 )

Korea Times
Preschool Enrollments Drop

By Chung Ah-young Staff Reporter

The number of children attending kindergartens fell to a record low of 85,302 last year from 104,999 in 1994 in Seoul due mainly to the rapidly falling birthrate.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Thursday that the number of children enrolled in preschools has been on the decline as young couples have fewer and fewer children.

Park Young-ja, a senior official at the education office, said that children aged 3-5 have declined recently, thus reducing the number of children enrolled to preschools in the region.

However, the number of state-run preschools in Seoul has been on the rise from 7,996 in 2003 to 8,588 last year, while the number of kindergartens has plunged to 76,714 last year, a three-percent decline from 79,472 in 2004.

But some of preschools are transforming themselves into another type of educational institutions for children, rather than shutting down,’’ she said.

A total of 923 preschools were in operation in Seoul last year, a 3-percent decline from 949 in 2004.

Meanwhile, the number of state-run kindergartens has declined to 107 from 117.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development plans to expand financial support for the education of five-year-olds in low-income households from 64.2 billion won last year to 116.8 billion won in 2006.

About 142,000 children, or half the number of five-year-olds in the country, will benefit from free education in kindergartens and other childcare centers from this year.

Children attending public preschools or kindergartens will receive 53,000 won a month, while those attending private preschools will be financed 157,000 won.

The ministry also set aside about 77.5 billion won to support children aged three and four, a fourfold increase from the current 16.3 billion won.

The number of beneficiaries aged three and four will increase from the current 32,000 to 155,000.