Components of Optimal Quality Child Care or Preschool

 

There is a significant correlation between program quality (safe, stimulating environment) and socialization outcomes for children. In our program we strive to emphasize children as individuals, and to provide a quality setting for their natural gains in cognitive, social, emotional and physical growth.

The most significant predictors of positive classroom dynamics and child outcomes are:

• The size of the overall group

• The teacher-child ratios

• Whether the teacher has specialized training in child development or early childhood education

 

In classrooms that have smaller groups and whose teachers have specialized training, teachers can engage in more social interaction with the children. As a result, the children are more cooperative, more involved in tasks, more talkative, and more creative. They also make greater gains in cognitive development.

It is important to practice developmental appropriateness in a preschool setting. Developmental Appropriateness involves the knowledge of children’s normal growth patterns and individual differences. Developmental Appropriate Practice (developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children) views play as the primary indicator of children’s development. It ensures that each child is viewed as a unique person with an individual pattern and timing of growth, as well as individual temperament, learning style, and family background. Both the program and the interactions should be responsive to individual differences.

 

Berns, Roberta M. "Ecology of Nonparental Child Care." Child, Family, School,

Community: Socialization and Support. 9th ed. Bemont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013. 157-59. Print.

 

 

A Secure Environment for the Development of School Readiness

 

      What is school readiness? Most would agree that school readiness is having basic knowledge such as colors, ABC’s and number recognition. Susan D. Calkins and Amanda P. Williford, in the Handbook of Child Development and Early Education, describe school readiness as the “skills observable at school entry that are necessary for later school success” (Calkins and Williford, 2009, pg. 174). They state that these observable skills should include early social and emotional competence.

           

           Kindergarten teachers report that the mastery of basic skills, such as

           working independently, understanding and following classroom rules

           and routines, and sharing and taking turns, is more important than

           the mastery of academic skills for future school readiness

           (Calkins and Williford, 2009, pg. 174).

 

       Some researchers would stress that the development of self is one of the key components of school readiness. Development of self includes self-awareness, self-regulation, social and emotional understanding, empathy and caring, and initiative in learning. 

 

Self-Awareness

          A preschooler’s self-awareness is initially based on simple, observable, external and physical attributes, such as “I have red hair”, “I can jump high”. As the preschooler gets older, they exhibit a more sophisticated level of self-awareness that includes internal attributes and psychological characteristics, such as “I am nice”, “My mommy loves me”. Social comparison, such as “Tommy is smaller than me”, or “Sally runs faster than me”, is another indicator of self-awareness. 

A young child is sensitive to the comments and evaluations of adults, particularly the parent. As they mature they will incorporate these evaluations into their self-awareness. For example, a child whom is told he “cannot do” something, or he “does not know” something can be incredibly detrimental to the child’s self-awareness. Instead parents and teachers need to encourage their children to try new things and comfort them if they fail, letting them know it is ok and they can try again later.

 

Self-Regulation

         Self-regulation is the ability to suppress a dominant response and to perform instead a subdominant response. For instance, a child who is sitting still on the carpet during circle time while the teacher is working through the calendar or reading a story is displaying good self-regulation. Self-regulation is relevant to a variety of essential capabilities in classroom learning. In fact several studies have shown that self-regulatory abilities are predictive of children’s math and reading achievement in the early elementary school years (Alexander, Entwisle and Dauber, 1993, pg. 151). Coaching children to look away from a forbidden treat or to use words rather than hitting when angry are a few examples of how we can promote self-regulation.

 

Social and Emotional Understanding

        Social and emotional understanding is the ability to understand other’s feelings and emotions. “Young children who are more competent in understanding other’s feelings have been found to become more academically competent in elementary school, perhaps because of their more successful peer an adult relationships” (Izard, 2002, pg. 152). When a child tries to explain or describe others feelings, this provides a perfect opportunity for teachers to discuss the children’s feelings and causes of feelings. Teachers and parents can also help children to understand why their peers feel and respond the way they do.

 

           

Empathy and Caring

            Empathy is a person’s emotional response to another person’s distress. Caring concerns a person’s efforts to help the person in distress. Young children often do not know how to respond to a peer that is in distress. A toddler’s lack of response to another person’s distress is not something to be concerned with. As children become school aged their capacity for empathetic and caring responses increases. A sense of empathy and the ability to care for another person leads to greater social competence and to a child who is more actively engaged in the well being of his or her classmates, teachers and school environment. Teachers and parents can promote growth in this domain by allowing children to be involved in comforting and providing care for other people.

 

Initiative in Learning

            “Learning Orientation” is characterized as the act of learning for the sake of learning. “Performance Orientation” is characterized as the act of learning to achieve something, such as parents or teachers approval. Going into kindergarten, we want our children to be learning oriented. A learning oriented child is more likely to tackle difficult challenges and to persist even if early efforts are unsuccessful. Therefore, a strong learning orientation can predict future classroom achievement. Teachers and parents who emphasize children’s efforts and intrinsic abilities help contribute to the development of a learning oriented child. Strong efforts should be valued even if it results in initial failure. Children need encouragement to persist in their efforts to solve difficult learning challenges.