Learning starts in infancy, long before formal education begins, and continues throughout life. Early learning begets later learning and early success breeds later success, just as early failure breeds later failure. – James J. Heckman
All of us absorb, acquire, and learn all through our lives. It begins from the day we are born. It is now very well acknowledged and accepted worldwide that the early years of life are of paramount importance for learning. That’s when the foundations for the future are positioned, and when we begin moving down the pathway that will take us through childhood, the teenage years and eventually into adulthood.
What are the early years?
The term ‘the early years’ is used in different ways. To some individuals it means the years from birth to eight years; to others it means the years before school; while some focus mainly on the first three years of life. All these phases are critical in every child’s life. The essential thing is that we make available tangible opportunities for children to absorb, progress and have fun through those years, irrespective of what expression we use.
What is Early Childhood Care and Education?
The term ‘early childhood care and education’ (ECCE) refers to a range of processes and mechanisms that sustain, support and aid in the holistic development of children, from birth to age 6 years.Due to the rapid neural connections, brain development and growth that take place at this age, this period is considered a critical window of opportunity for optimizing children’s development through the combined impact of education, care, health, nutrition, protection and stimulation. The field of early childhood care and education is replete with evidence that attests to the considerable benefits of good-quality ECCE programmes. Children who have participated in quality ECCE exhibit tremendous gains in their overall social, cognitive and intellectual development.
(http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002171/217145e.pdf)
What marks learning?
Children are born equipped to learn and be fascinated with the world around them. It is likely for them to use all their capacities to learn. From birth, children are learning about themselves, other people and the world around them, and playing a dynamic role in their own learning and progress. There’s no question about the astounding extent children can enquirer, explore and discover.
All a parent and caregiver has to do is spend time with the baby, toddler or child to eyewitness the incredible leaps in abilities,cognizance and empathy that transpire in the first eight years of life.
Children’s development and learning are marked by:
- Stimuli within themselves – their genomic inheritance, personality, sexual role, and healthiness.
- Impetuses within the family – family relationships, parenting styles and morals, the family’s economicstate, parents’ level of edification, parents’ profession, and parents’ physical and mental health.
- Motivation within the community – children’s facilities (both accessibility and worth), support for parenting, housing, safety and crime in the neighborhood, unemployment levels and the overall feeling of faithamid the inhabitants.
- Reassurances within their culture – with diverse cultures marked by dissimilarities in parenting styles, beliefs and values, and different opinions in what way children should be educated.
What does the research specifies about the importance of the early years?
The significance of the early years is now well known throughout the world. These years are a time when the brain fosters and much of its ‘wiring’ is laid down. The experiences and associations a child has, plus nutrition and health, can profoundly affect this course greatly. Positive experiences aid the brain to grow in healthy ways. However, negative experiences such as negligence and abuse, affect brain development in more detrimental ways, and contribute to emotional and behavioral problems later in life. So the experiences a child has in the early years can either support learning or hamper it.
The brain is the only organ that is not fully formed at birth. During the first three years, trillions of connections between brain cells are being made. A child’s relationships and experiences during the early years greatly influence how their brain grows.
(Source: https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/221-getting-ready-for-school-begins-at-birth)
What are some important areas of learning?
Health and physical well being are the foundation for all learning and development. Such areas as eating habits, outlook towards keep fit and self-care routines shape from the child’s most primitive experiences.
One of the most imperative things children learn in the early years is about themselves – that is, they develop a picture of themselves that affects the ways they approach any situation, task, or affiliation with another person. In other words, they develop a self-concept. An essential part of that self-concept is the image they have of themselves as learners: is it okay to be inquisitive, to discover, to ask queries, to tackle problems, to try to figure things out, to investigate? Is it okay to try something and fail occasionally? Being a good learner means having the enthusiasm, seeing yourself as capable, and taking judicious risks.
There are many different means to classify learning in the early years, but whatsoever the classifications, it is essential for parents, and others who work and live with children, to keep in mind the wide range of types of learning that are essential in the early years.
Some essential areas of learning are item is ed underneath:
Physical development:
developing skills of coordination, control, manipulation and movement and to understand the importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Personal, social and emotional development:
- developing a positive sense of self and respect for others
- a sense of your own strengths, talents and uniqueness
- how to look after and take care of yourself
- self-knowledge - understanding of feelings
- behaving in acceptable ways and controlling your own behavior
- how to relate to others, both adults and other children
- how to resolve conflict
- getting used to the things that make people different from each other
- a sense of belonging to family, community, culture
- social skills including dressing, undressing and washing, as well as having an enthusiasm for learning
Communication, language and literacy: developing confidence and proficiency in communicating, speaking and listening, listening to stories and beginning to read and write.
Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy: developing an increasing understanding of problem solving and numbers, through stories, songs, games and play.
Knowledge and understanding of the world: learning to make sense of the world, finding out about the natural environment, using tools and different materials to make things.
Creative development: developing imagination and creativity in art, music, movement, dance, imaginative and role-play activities.
What do children need to support learning in the early years?
They need:
- Adults who help them to stay safe and healthy.
- Positive caring relationships that are enduring. All children need people, or at least one person, who believe in them, care for them, and want to support them as learners. Children do some of their most powerful learning from imitating what people around them do, so it is essential that they are with adults who are learners themselves.
- Adults who appreciate the individuality of each child, and who respect and respond to the child’s feelings, needs and interests.
- Resources and experiences to learn from, and time to get involved with them.
- Opportunities to be actively involved in meaningful experiences.
- Learning happens best in context, that is, when there’s a real need to know. So going to the supermarket, working in the garden, cooking with an adult, helping to wash the car, as well as going to the park or the beach are some of the best kinds of learning experiences. TV, DVDS, computers and other forms of technology, can also be wonderful tools for learning if used in moderation and with the help of an adult.
- Books to look at and read, stories to listen to and people to have conversations with. Children can benefit from having stories read to them from the very beginning, even before they are able to understand what’s being said.
- A group experience which can be a playgroup, a childcare, a kindergarten, or some enrichment program. In order for children to benefit, these experiences need to be of a high quality under the supervision of trained professionals.
Children need reassurance but they don’t need to be ‘pushed’ and put under stress to learn things earlier than they would if they weren’t pushed. Learning happens best when caring adults work with the child, have loving relationships, and explore the world together in ways that are interesting and fun.
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