| Nowadays, people with young children are increasingly | | | | we can judge the quality of an early child education |
| finding themselves with quite a big number of early | | | | program; criteria via which we can identify the best |
| childhood programs they can choose to put the | | | | ECD programs over the rest. |
| youngsters through. In this context, we are using the | | | | As it turns out, the best ECD programs are those |
| term 'early child education program' to refer to those | | | | that are structured in a way that creates a genuine |
| programs that children go through prior to their | | | | love for learning in their students. Kids are by nature |
| joining the formal school system at grade one. The | | | | curious, and the best ECD programs are created to |
| different early childhood education programs are | | | | arouse, rather than dull, that curiosity. Curiosity |
| usually based on quite different educational | | | | awakened, the best childhood education programs |
| philosophies. They are also usually structured | | | | tend to go on to make the learning process (which is |
| differently, and tailored (in terms of their content) to | | | | supposed to feed the curiosity) fun. This is as |
| offer the kids different types of information in | | | | opposed to the archaic ECD programs that are |
| readiness for their enrollment into the higher | | | | known to make learning a chore for the kids. Now |
| education systems. | | | | human nature inclines us to do things that are 'fun' to |
| Many people, now awake to the important role of | | | | us, while disinclining us from doing things that are |
| child education in shaping up a person's feature, are | | | | 'chore-some' to us. And attitudes we acquire early in |
| expressing a strong desire in seeing that their kids go | | | | our lives tend to be attitudes we hold and act on all |
| through decent ECD programs. Therefore many are | | | | our lives. |
| known to proceed to the early childhood education | | | | The best early child education programs are also |
| centers, and pose questions on how the different | | | | those that are structured in such a way that the |
| childhood education systems work. But the answers | | | | students who go through them develop a sense of |
| given to those questions don't help them much, | | | | balance throughout their lives. This is as opposed to |
| because a description of each early childhood | | | | some archaic childhood education that tended to |
| program makes it seem alluring. That is especially the | | | | insist on utmost concentration on academic matters, |
| case, given the fact that the developers are always | | | | whilst discouraging social contact and physical activity. |
| keen on putting very reasonable explanations for | | | | That could turn out to be counterproductive, and |
| pretty much each and every aspect of their program. | | | | could breed truancy in the learners (as they tried to |
| At the end of the day, we know that some early | | | | act on their natural human tendencies towards social |
| child education programs are better than others. ECD | | | | contact and physical activity). It could also give, in the |
| programs whose graduates go on to become | | | | learners who chose to follow the dictates of the |
| educational achievers can be termed as being | | | | system keenly, a problem of lack of balance. That is |
| amongst the best. ECD programs whose graduates, | | | | where we end up with 'nerds' who are so focused |
| in addition to becoming educational achievers, also | | | | on their work, intellectual or otherwise, to the |
| tend to become socially competent and physically | | | | detriment of the other aspects of their lives. But the |
| active adults would also definitely qualify for a spot | | | | best early child education programs, whilst |
| amongst the very best childhood education programs. | | | | encouraging keenness in educational pursuit, also |
| There are therefore two main criteria through which | | | | strongly encourage balance. |