Early Childhood Programs: What's
What
Early childhood programs go by so many different names that it
is often difficult to know what they have in common and what
distinguishes them. As a result, it can be difficult to compare
programs. This Fact Sheet is intended as a primer on early
childhood programs.
To begin with, there are three categories of early
childhood programs:
- Parenting education programs,
- Family child care homes, and
- Centers, which include Head Start, nursery
schools, child care centers, preschool programs, etc.
Parenting education programs serve children by helping their
parents to interact with and understand them better, while the
other two categories of programs serve children directly.
Of the programs that serve children directly, the only
similarity lies in their meeting state licensing requirements.
Beyond that, the programs can vary all over the board. Variables
include source of funding, cost, hours of operation, staff/child
ratio, curriculum, philosophy of education, ages of children
accepted, amount of parental involvement and additional services
provided.
Who is Served What Does it Cost?
Family child care, the most prevalent form of care, is
provided in a home setting. Nursery schools or child care centers
may be sponsored by churches, community agencies or run as
private businesses. Head Start, in contrast, is a
federally--sponsored program. Head Start does not charge fees,
but can only accept 3-or 4-year-old children who meet income
eligibility requirements.
Other programs may each determine the age groupings of
children they wish to serve. Parent fees are minimal for
participation in parenting education programs. Fees in other
programs vary widely, depending primarily on the age of the child
and the number of hours of care. They may be substantially higher
than costs shown in the chart. (For instance, full time child
care for an infant in the Metro area may cost over $6,000 per
year.)
How Are Parents Involved?
Many early childhood programs include some form of parent
involvement, but this is a broad term. It may take the form of
parent conferences, social gatherings, participation in the
classroom, fund raising, or serving on advisory councils or
governing boards.
The parenting education programs are unique in this aspect
since their primary purpose is to provide information and support
to parents. A parent must participate.
What About Curriculum?
Programs also vary as a matter of their philosophy of early
childhood education. Some programs, like Montessori schools, are
based on a particular academic method for educating young
children. Other programs focus on the importance of social
interaction, while still others stress the ABCs. A high quality
program will respect children's individual differences and
provide developmentally appropriate experiences.
Licensing
Minnesota has 2 broad categories of Licensing Regulations for
Early Childhood Programs:
RULE 2 governs Family Day Care and Group Family Day Care which
occurs in the individual provider's home.
RULE 3 governs programs which take place in centers, including
part-day, full-day, night care, drop-in, and sick care.
While the two rules differ in specific requirements, both of
them set minimum standards in such aspects as health, safety,
nutrition, equipment, staff qualifications, and training. Both
rules define age groups that may be served and establish adult to
child ratios. A program may serve all or a portion of the age
groups defined.
Each of the rules provides for some exemptions from licensing.
What About Quality?
The quality of programs can vary regardless of the sponsor or
the philosophy of education. For example, variation in quality
exists in Head Start just as surely as in family child care and
child care centers. In some programs teachers may meet only
minimum educational requirements while other programs hire more
experienced and educated staff. The curriculum of some programs
amounts to merely keeping children busy, while other curriculum
have educational and developmentally appropriate goals.
In general, the variables to pay attention to when trying to
determine the quality of a center program are teacher
qualifications, staff/child ratio, and curriculum.
The accompanying chart displays the key variables of the three
kinds of early childhood programs.
"Quotable Quotes"
Although states often describe the need for providing or
expanding child care and/or early education, there is a growing
consensus among researchers and practitioners that child care and
early education are inseparable issues and must be considered as
one. For example, good child care involves developmental and
socialization experiences, cognitive stimulation, and physical
care. Children cannot be cared for well without educating them
and children cannot be educated well without caring for them.
Parents do not necessarily separate their education and care
demands, wanting both in the same convenient location and at an
affordable price.
The time has come for making comprehensive cross-cutting early
childhood policy; no more can we have welfare policy and
education policy and employment policy and community development
policy moving on different tracks. We must recognize that we are
dealing in different arenas with the same families. What is
required is comprehensive policies in which all arenas intersect
and cooperate. The goal is an integrated unified policy for the
state's children and families.
From A Guide For Slate Action: Early Childhood and Family
Education, Council of Chief State School Officers. 11/88.
What's Missing???
What is missing is the recognition that child care is
inherently an educational service. All child care is educational!
Is it all good education? Of course not. All child care for
at-risk children is a form of early intervention. Is it all
effective intervention? Again, no. Children are learning, whether
we acknowledge it or not, and that learning has implications for
future learning. Poor, underfunded learning environments provide
poor educational preparation and, most often, poor care as well.
The result of an artificial two-track system (child care over
here, education over there) the needless child/family stress of
complex schedules, transitions, and transportation.
As a fundamental premise: Each child and parent should be
served through the system appropriate for that family.
From Living in the Real World by Jim Greenman, Child Care
Information Exchange, 2/89.
Fact Find Says:
A wide variety of early childhood services is available to
families. This is as it should be, since choices are essential
for the differing needs of Minnesota families.
The wide variation in quality, however, is an issue for
concern. Good programs cannot be judged by names or labels alone.
The level of funding is often the difference between good and
mediocre programs.
Funding commitments should build on the existing network of
early childhood programs. Education and/ or intervention should
take place within the program setting that best fits that
individual family's needs. For example, intervention for children
at educational risk can and should take place in a child care
setting if full-day child care is needed for that child.
Some ways to improve quality:
- Improving collaboration among existing programs.
- Improving funding to make programs more accessible and
affordable to parents.
- Enforcing standards across programs regardless of
institutional affiliation.
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1989 issue (2nd of 4
issues)