UNIVERSAL Early Childhood Education – Key to Best Learning Success We Are Far Behind Other Nations by Susanne Jackson
UNIVERSAL Early Childhood Education – Key to Best Learning Success
We Are Far Behind Other Nations by Susanne Jackson
In 1970, when my oldest daughter was three, nearly 50 years ago, she participated in a pilot effort at the Institute for Human Potential in Philadelphia, which usually worked with brain injured children. They emphasized the “crawling before you walk” perspective to help children develop, and discovered that brain-injured children could learn to read before they were five – sometimes as young as two or three years old. The Institute wanted to see if the techniques they had developed would help “normal” children to read. It worked! So, they taught us how to continue sharing the process.
Pre-K education became very significant to me. Over the years I shared with other parents who were ecstatic to see their children progress. Sharing the simple game-like process with Memphis City Schools for their annual Pre-K Express, parents realized the literacy game could be played in any home language simply with index cards and markers, enhancing parent – child relationships.
Years later, I learned of “windows of opportunity” theories, completely reinforcing the Institute’s successes. Scientists determined times exist when a child can best learn certain abilities, when the brain is creating thousands of synapses, or connections. 1 Missing the window does not mean that the skill cannot be learned. It just means it will take more effort and practice. Based on the research, language development occurs best between birth and five years old. The basis for math and logic develop between one and four years of age. Learning a musical instrument is easier between three and 10 years old. 2
This scientific research should have compelled us to start education for our children at least by age three. Yet, we have hesitated, ignored the research and the proven results, and fallen far behind other nations’ educational development.
As we re-think education in the midst of this pandemic, we should heed the April 2019 UNICEF Sustainable Development Goals challenge based on worldwide analysis “Provide ALL children with quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education by 2030. The reasons for this aspiration are clear – a solid body of evidence shows that the foundations for learning are largely built in the early years of life before a child ever crosses the threshold of a primary school. Children who fall behind in these early years often never catch up with their peers, perpetuating a cycle of underachievement and high dropout rates that continue to harm vulnerable young people.” 3
Of course, we should not wait until 2030. With our resources we should expand to universal pre-K education for all of our children now.
In a comprehensive, 2018 multi-year study, Columbia University Teacher’s College and Yale University reported that six early education systems were beating the U.S. in money spent per child, percentage of children enrolled and math achievement at age 15. Australia, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore were helping their youth succeed through universal early education beginning by age three.4 Some are public, some private and some hybrid programs. Some provide 15 hours per week, others 30 hours per week for free. These programs were not created to allow parents to go to work. They ensure children develop in basic academics as well as social skills.
“For many countries, investments in young children are the mark of prudent thinking and wise resource allocation,” Professor Sharon Lynn Kagan writes, “often approaching the top of the list of requisite investments.” 4
In England, with government paid Pre-K for three-year and four-year olds, 66.3 percent have reached a “good level” of development before the age U.S. students enter kindergarten. “That includes measures of academic skills like reading, mathematics and writing as well as measures of non-cognitive skills like self-confidence, making relationships and being imaginative.” 5
Numerous studies now document the need for early childhood education. We are way past the time to understand and use brain development research to start public education for all students by three years old. For those concerned about individual options, certainly the same homeschooling, private, public, public charter would also be likely as it currently is for K-12.
1. http://www.yourbabycanread.com/?uid=PS1_MS1
2. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/story/news/windows.htm
3. https://data.unicef.org/resources/a-world-ready-to-learn-report/