Early Childhood Education

Early Care and Education

Attitudes and perceptions about early childhood education are often emotionally charged and tend to mirror the state of the family in American culture. Until recently, the types of programs serving young children were unofficially assigned status labels as well as stigmas. Preschool, for example, often received the highest status as it tended to serve a more affluent and mainstream population. Head Start tended to bear the stigma of being associated with poverty even though it had the highest degree of oversight, was backed by several longitudinal research studies, and had the most comprehensive programming. Day care was stigmatized by the media as horror stories of unfit caregivers were made public. As women went to work outside of the home in growing numbers during the 1970s and 1980s, day care emerged as a necessity. Mothers who used day care were commonly the target of criticism by mothers who stayed home with their children. Attitudes about early childhood education were strong but were often not based in reality.

Today, researchers have come to understand that regardless of where children spend their time between birth and age 8, all children deserve responsive care and quality experiences that serve as the foundation for learning. The debate over whether children need care or education has given way to an understanding that both care and education are important in the education of young children. The new term, “early care and education,” refers to a wide variety of service providers, including [Page 296]center-based child care, home-based child care, public school preschool, traditional preschool, Head Start, and programs for young children with special needs. The automatic assumption that children who stay home with a parent are receiving all that they need has given way to the understanding that children need rich experience and responsive care in whatever setting they are reared.

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