Laying the Foundation for a Bright Future: Early Childhood Education and Its Impact
Early Childhood Education and Its Impact: The role of the Early Learning Centre in preparing young minds for future development is now widely accepted. However, it wasn’t always that way.
The evolution of the Early Childhood Education Learning Centre
More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle is reputed to have uttered the words “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man”.
Ignoring the gender assumptions in his statement as being a product of his times, it’s clear that, even in antiquity, at least some people recognised the need to begin helping young minds to form at the earliest ages. That is not to say that the characteristics of the adult are all formed and fully in place by the age of seven but simply that a foundation stone has been laid at a very early stage in life, with much subsequent development over time being based on that foundation.
That wisdom was never really lost but its application remained the preserve of the rich. For example, many children of the nobility in mediaeval Europe began their formal education at very young ages. Some were expected to master several languages, the basics of the science of the time and be fully able to read and write by 7-10 years.
They though, were the exception and for the vast majority of the population, education for children was restricted to required learning-by-rote of religious practice. At the age of around 5-7, many children would have been expected to start working around the house, with their parents in their occupations or incredibly, as employees of someone else.
In Australia, Victoria introduced the first formal requirement for free childhood education in 1872. This covered the age range 6-15, an incredibly enlightened piece of education for its time. Yet that still assumed that most children’s structured educational development couldn’t start until the age of 6 or so.
By the late 19th century, some educational experts were getting back to the Aristotelian recognition that education could and should start at earlier ages. To cite one well-known example, Maria Montessori (1870–1952) developed an educational model that helps children engage in various forms of learning from the first weeks of life.
By the end of the 20th century, it was widely accepted that the years up until 5-6 are critically important in not only a child’s immediate learning but also in developing their potential for further learning as they go through the education system.
Early Learning Centres – what is the evidence?
Initially and perhaps inevitably, the development of Early Learning Centres led to some dispute over the benefits. These have now largely been resolved by extensive studies, notably in the USA, which has shown that children attending early learning childhood education programs, as they age and progress through formal education, tend to have:
lower rates of involvement in criminal activities;
- a higher probability of finishing secondary schooling;
- a higher likelihood of pursuing additional education;
- strangely perhaps – fewer serious diseases, as well as better general health.
The evidence seems to suggest that children starting under the auspices of an Early Learning and childhood education Centre don’t necessarily achieve higher grades later in education but they do develop a far greater interest in and commitment to, education. In other words, it becomes a pleasure and interest for them and that means they appear to have a higher determination to do well for themselves both academically and personally – the latter of which may explain the health benefits.
Summary
Keep in mind that what defines an Early Learning Centre is the program it adopts and the experience of its personnel, rather than simply the title it uses the describe the establishment.
There are expert practitioners in this area and it is worth seriously considering the subject to aid the development of your child.
Why not call us if you’d like to know more? We’d love the opportunity to arrange a meeting to explain this subject in more detail.
