Research that Benefits Children and Families

In New South Wales (NSW), Australia, the school year commences in late January and finishes in early December. The age by which children are legally required to start school is 6 years. However, children are eligible to start school at the beginning of the school year if they turn 5 by July 31 in that same year. A child whose birthday falls after this cut-off date starts school the following year. Because there is only one annual intake of students, children starting school can vary in age from 4-1/2 to 6 years. The first year of school, kindergarten, involves a full-day program operating throughout school terms. In some schools, kindergarten students finish school 30 minutes prior to other students, at least for the first term.

The Starting School Research Project, based at the University of Western Sydney, involves a group of researchers and a wide ranging Advisory Committee representing major early childhood organizations, early childhood employer groups, parent associations, school organizations, community, and union perspectives (Dockett, Howard, & Perry, 1999). Over the past three years, the project has investigated the perceptions and expectations of all those involved in young children's transition to school.

The initial phase of the project consisted of interviews with groups of children, parents, and early childhood educators—in both school and prior-to-school settings—to determine what is important to each of these groups as children start school. From these interviews and a detailed review of the relevant literature, an extensive questionnaire was developed. Over the period 1998-2000, this questionnaire was distributed to parents and early childhood educators across NSW (Perry, Dockett, & Howard, 2000; Perry, Dockett, & Tracey, 1998).

Together, the interviews and questionnaire responses have enabled the project team to describe the most important issues for children, parents, and educators as children start school. A series of categories of responses was devised using grounded theory that reflected the issues raised by respondents. These categories related to (1) the knowledge children needed to have in order to start school, (2) elements of social adjustment required in the transition to school, (3) specific skills children needed to have mastered, (4) dispositions conducive to a successful start to school, (5) the rules of school, (6) physical aspects of starting school, (7) family issues, and (8) the nature of the educational environment within school (Dockett & Perry, 1999b). A confirmatory factor analysis and review of national and international literature supported these categories. As an overview of the responses for different groups, the ranking of each category, from most to least mentioned, is listed in Table 1.

References:

Dockett, S & Perry, B (1999). Starting School: Effective Transitions. Retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v3n2/dockett.html

School Readiness

The topic I chose for my simulation is school readiness. It is defined as children’s preparedness for what they are expected to know and do in academic domains and processes of learning when they enter a formal classroom setting. The reason why I chose it is because young children are increasingly entering academically rigorous school settings where an emphasis on accountability and standards has replaced an emphasis on child development. Many young children enter school unprepared for both academic and social expectations. . I have a child in my class that finds it difficult to play with other children without quarreling with them. I belief it’s as a result of lack of school readiness. He always looks for trouble. At times if I talk to her he would ignore me. There is also another child who use to cry for her mum during the break time when others are playing. It is imperative for the early childhood professionals to identify strategies that move young children toward becoming independent and reflective learners, to increase the likelihood of their school success in later years.

As professionals in this field I belief you would have had one or two experiences about school readiness or resources that you may want to share. Please don’t hesitate.

Week 8 Blog

One of the consequences of learning about the international early childhood field is the ability to know how the professionals in this field in other countries are doing and the strategies they are using in helping the development of the children.

It’s also an opportunity to be able to liaise with other professionals in order to share their experience with us.

The opportunity to know the services that are available for the children in need and some of the ways the professionals in this field could be of help.

A big thank you to all my colleagues for your contribution to my knowledge in this course for sharing your experience. As you continue your studies the Lord will crown your effort with success in Jesus name.

UNESCO

UNESCO advocates for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programs that attend to health, nutrition, security and learning and which provide for children’s holistic development. I was able to find some information about access and equity in early childhood education on their website which are some of the issues we have been discussing about in this course and related to my professional goals.

The 1990 Jomtien Declaration for Education for All stated that learning begins at birth. A decade later, the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action reaffirmed the importance of early childhood by including the development of early childhood care and education as the first of its six main goals.

Participating countries committed themselves to “expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.” Governments were particularly urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy in favor of the poor.

Countries often promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative, but often raise concerns about sustainability and quality.  In cases where the government has limited resources, a pro-poor policy can redistribute resources by reducing state support for the more privileged.

Central governments must ensure an equitable distribution of resources among different populations and especially those who live in the most disadvantaged regions. This approach aims to expand access without creating serious regional inequities. However, where there is universal provision for a certain age group while the overall enrollment in other age groups is low, this policy can create inequity.

Privileged children of the target age group benefit from state investment, while poor children of non-target ages receive scant government attention. A policy of universalization with targeting can minimize inequity where governments aim for universal access among the target age group, but simultaneously priorities the poor.

Sharing Wed Resources

On Harlem Children Zone website I opened a section where they have there result and I was able to get some information about some of the issues we've been discussing in this course. This has really opened my eyes to see how one can actually get parents involved in their children's education as early as possible. Early Childhood As researchers confirm that the early-childhood years are key to building a strong foundation for future educational success, HCZ has been bolstering its work with children and families in these critically important first years. Like all of HCZ’s programs, our early childhood programs provide their services free to the public. The Baby College® The Baby College offers a nine-week parenting workshop to expectant parents and those raising a child up to three years old. Among other lessons, the workshops promote reading to children and verbal discipline over corporal punishment. Over the past two years, more than 870 people graduated from The Baby College. The Three Year Old Journey The Three-Year-Old Journey works with parents of children who have won the HCZ Promise Academy charter school lottery. Held on Saturdays over several months, it teaches parents about their child's development, building language skills and parenting skills. GET READY FOR PRE-K The Get Ready for Pre-K program brings in new Gems students before the start of the school year. The six-week summer session runs for extended hours during weekdays like the regular Gems program, helping children acclimate to the new schedule and readying them to start school in the fall. Harlem Gems® Harlem Gems is an all-day pre-kindergarten program that gets children ready to enter kindergarten. Classes have a 4:1 child-to-adult ratio, teach English, Spanish and French, and run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. HCZ runs three pre-kindergarten sites, serving 200 children. Of the 190 four-year-olds that entered the Harlem Gems in the 2009-2010 school years, 16.5% had a school readiness classification of delayed or very delayed. By the end of the year, there were no students classified as "very delayed" and the percentage of "advanced" had gone from 21.3% to 41.6%, with another 6.8% at "very advanced," up from 2.1%. 99.5% of students attained a school readiness classification of average or above.