National Center for Early Development and Learning, 1999

 

The early childhood years involve a vast amount of knowledge gain and is an influential time for learning, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Developing a child's capacity to learn in the early years results in several benefits for the child.Too often, however, child care providers are poorly trained and do not provide children with appropriate stimulation.

 

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal

Most research shows that early learning experiences have immediate, measurable gains on the cognitive and social development of preschool children. When preschool education is of high quality it leads to lasting enhancement of educational performance and later employment.

It does this through encouraging high aspirations, motivation to learn and feelings of task efficacy, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is suggested that preschool education is effective because it shapes the cognitions that children construct for explaining success and failure in school.

Early learning can foster the belief in children that attainment is not innate but is, instead, achieved in part by effort.

 

Early learning occurs in day care as well as nursery school. Research shows that high quality day care provision leads to successful social and educational outcomes.There is a strong case for investment in high quality early learning on economic as well as social grounds.

Cost benefit analyses carried out on preschool interventions have demonstrated a large financial return to society.

 

What is Quality Child Care?

 

There are some important things to look for that can help determine if a child care center or an in-home setting is a safe, nurturing, educational place for children. Here are some examples of important quality indicators:

The setting has low child to teacher ratios (number of children for every one adult).

The setting has small group sizes (number of children in each room, regardless of the ratio).

There is low turnover among staff and children have consistency in their caregivers.

There is a written curriculum based upon the ages and interests of each child.

Caregivers have appropriate expectations of children’s abilities and guidance techniques that foster positive behavior in children.

 

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Zitat Margrit Stamm: „Junge Kinder verfügen über herausragende Lern- und Entwicklungskapazitäten. Sie sollen weit stärker als bisher gefördert und unterstützt werden.“