The Outcomes of Early Childhood Education

09/29/2004

The Outcomes of Early Childhood Education

"One and one make two. That's great. What's a two?" - Bill Cosby

The Outcomes of Early Childhood Education

In last week's Exchange Insta-Poll we asked, "What are the most important goals of our work as early childhood educators?" Over 500 Exchange readers shared their views on this subject. We observed a number of trends in your responses:

* Rather than identifying one curriculum area as most important, the largest number of those participating in the survey supported the following reader-added statement:

"Stimulate and encourage the development of all areas -- language, physical, cognitive, social, emotional."

* Although literacy is such a "hot topic" in recent years, less than 4% of participants identified this as one of the most important goals of our work. We particularly liked a participant's take on this goal that gained considerable support:

"Developing a well rounded child who can eventually read well."

* Two types of goals were contributed. First, there were curriculum foci, such as physical development, cognitive development, and social skills. Second, there were outcomes of our work such as:

"Experiences that offer each child the ability to tap in to her potential as an individual and as a contributing member of the community."

We believe this distinction is important and over the next two weeks will attempt to refine each type of goal. In this week's Exchange Insta-Poll, we have listed a variety of outcomes of our work that were identified last week. We ask you to participate in the Poll and tell us what outcomes you view as most important by going to http://mail.ccie.com/go/eed/0416.

Next week, we will focus on the day to day curriculum goals you have identified.

Note: If you are interested in viewing the results of last week's Exchange Insta-Poll, or the results of any of the past polls, go to http://mail.ccie.com/go/eed/0417

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.