How Could Early Childhood Education Programs Be Better Structured?

Staff Structure

• One of the key factors in improving any early childhood program is the staff training and structure, states the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Effective programs employ quality staff members with specialized training and professional experience working with children in the early childhood stage. Likewise, the National Association for the Education of Young Children recommends that preschool and child care teachers have training -- a college degree or higher -- in child development, learning, assessment and parental engagement. Employing teachers with a appropriate child development or education-related degree, as well as direct experience working with young children, is a crucial way to improve the early education environment. The structure of the center's staffing -- such as having a lead teacher with a bachelor's degree, an assistant with an associate's degree or specialized training and aides who are still in school -- is essential to maximizing child learning and building a quality school setting.

School Day

• If your preschooler comes home exhausted, cranky or overly hungry, speak to the school administrator about better structuring the school day. When the school day isn't balanced, the amount of time for each activity gets out of sync. For example, if the afternoon is so jam-packed with crafts, outdoor play and music that lunch is pushed forward to 10:40 or 11:00, your child may feel very hungry by the time you pick up at 5:00. Additionally, if the school schedule is unpredictable or changes day by day, your child may not feel secure in knowing what comes next and when. An unpredictable daily schedule makes young children feel out of control or anxious about the day's events.

The Indoor Environment

• Planning an appropriate indoor environment -- including learning and play spaces, as well as areas for eating and napping -- is part of adequately structuring any early childhood education program. A haphazard indoor structure, or one that limits children's learning by keeping toys out of reach, can hinder how a child learns. Additionally, an early childhood classroom that doesn't allow for easy access to bathrooms, sinks or through-ways makes the daily tasks and activities that young students engage in much more difficult. If your child is coming home complaining that she can't get to the art area or that she wanted to wash her hands, but the sink was blocked, talk to her teacher about the classroom organizational structure.

Curriculum

• One of the key aspects of any early childhood education program is the curriculum. Without a well-structured curriculum, your child's learning may suffer. According to NAEYC's position statement on "Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation," a quality early childhood curriculum engages the children in active learning, is research-based, builds on children's prior knowledge and has clear goals. For example, a well-structured curriculum doesn't throw in rote worksheets on subject matter that your child has never heard of before. Instead, an appropriate early childhood curriculum creates a progression of interactive learning experiences, such as counting from one to 10 using math beads, then later on counting up to 15 with building blocks.