Early childhood education

Definition

Early childhood education provides learning and educational activities with a holistic approach to support children’s early cognitive, physical, social and emotional development and introduce young children to organized instruction outside of the family context to develop some of the skills needed for academic readiness and to prepare them for entry into primary education.

 

Example of use

If the vicious cycle of inequality is to be broken, then child care and education have to start very early, before primary school. In most developing countries, early childhood education is restricted to urban middle-class children. Children from rural areas and low-income families not only are denied access to this kind of education, but they enter primary school later than other children (Caillods, 2006: 2).

 

Source :

Caillods, Françoise. 2006. "Quality and equality". IIEP newsletter 24, no 1: 2.