WHY PARENTS SHOULD MAKE SURE THEIR  CHILDREN GOES THROUGH THE TWO MANDATORY YEARS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION.

Early childhood development education (ECDE) refers to a period in a child’s life between 0-8 years. The first years act as a foundation for total life of an individual. Experiences of these years continue to influence the individual throughout his life. Therefore it is of greatest importance that caregivers enhance  one’s  realization of holistic development through stimulating the child right from conception. Education is the top priority because it is a basic human right and the foundation on which to build peace and drive sustainable development UNESCO,( 2017).Due ignorance of the parents  on the open windows of opportunities in these early years, many  learners miss out on joining ECDE. The open windows include the following. The window of development of motor skills, the window of attachment, window of emotional control window of social behaviors ,window of vocabulary, mathematics and logic and many more. Many people prefer not to take their children through the two mandatory years of ECDE .They believe it is a waste of their hard earned money and precious time. These have greatly disadvantaged children who could otherwise benefit much more from those years instead of being at home. Tackling disadvantage and setting strong foundations for learning begins in the earliest years through adequate health, nutrition, care and stimulation UNESCO (2017).

ECDE institutions have teachers who provide education aimed at development of a child’s cognitive abilities and physical growth. ECDE teachers have knowledge on how children grow, learn and develop. They therefore ensure that the ECDE children are in good health which is essential in a child’s life, in order for him or her to enjoy living and learning through play .ECDE teachers are responsible for making follow up on children’s general well being. In regards to immunization and common infections, they remind the parents on importance of taking their children to health clinics for the services without failure. They also liaise with health workers to provide deworming drugs to ECDE learners regularly. These is because a healthy child will concentrate more in class hence develops his or her cognitive abilities. This is also made possible through good nutrition.

According to Agbozo,Faith,ProsperAtitto, and Abdulai  Abubakari (2017), the school feeding program(SFP) is an essential aspect of child growth and development. It was found that schools which provided SFP showed high academic achievement among the ECDE Learners.  Most of the early childhood development education centers have school   feeding programs, which provide high quality, nutritious diets for the learners. These would not have been possible for most families who have less knowledge on the dietary needs of the ECDE learners. Thus ECDE institutions provide quality care to learners.

Quality care refers to skills in handling the child with love, guidance and support. According to Nandwa, Anyanje, et al. (2020) a good foundation in a child’s life is got through promotion of quality care , nurturing and safe environment. ECDE learners come from diverse backgrounds, in terms of culture and social norms. Early childhood development   education   centers, provides an opportunity for early intervention to cub behaviors that may not be acceptable in the society and embracing those cultures that are acceptable. Teachers are able to show love and support by giving the ECDE learners a feeling of trust, acceptance and consistence in following regular schedules or ways of training and guiding the learners   to do what is right .Also, ECDE teachers are able to provide stimulating environment for the children because they understand its importance to children.

The act of stimulation means, making a child more active or alert through encouraging\ assuring him or her. Early stimulation makes a child more aware of self, others and the environment. Healthy development of the child’s mental, social, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects is sustained. Early stimulation experiences includes; play, storytelling, singing them lullabies,  games, tender loving care and good health and nutrition. Play activities like exposing  the child to bright moving, dancing objects, reading to them, showing  him\her pictures, naming objects, identifying colors and giving the child  the chance to feel shapes and textures sharpens the child’s  mental capabilities. On the other side, outdoor games like kicking, running and climbing among others stimulates gross and fine motor muscles. Through the above experiences, the child acquires new knowledge, skills, attitudes and concepts which form the foundation of learning.

According to Go, Wei, et al (2015) the early years are the fastest period of growth and development in all aspects. During the first years of life, there is a rapid growth and development which will only be observed in adolescence. Hence the critical need to ensure good health, nutrition, proper care and stimulation to realize this fast growth.

                                                    WORKS CITED


EFA, UNESCO. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2007. Strong Foundation,; 2\1\UNESCO\R\07\E,2007.

NANDWA, ANYANJE HANNINGTON and DR WAFULA ROBERT WEKESA. "Involvement of the County Government in Human Resource Management towards the Provision of ECDE Services: A Case of Kakamega County: Kenya."

Agbozo, Faith,Prosper Atitto, and Abdulai Abubakari. "NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF PUPILS ATTENDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITH AND WITHOUT SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMME IN HOHUE MUNICIPALITY GHANA."(2017)

Gao, Wei,et al."Functional network development during the first year: relative sequence and socio economic correlations."cerebral cotex 25.9(2015):2919_2928



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