Several challenges exist in the early childhood education industry, from a lack of resources to a pandemic of emotional regulation. In addition, the social-emotional skills of young children need to be developed. These skills are critical for success in life. These skills also contribute to healthy development and emotional well-being.
Social-emotional skills
Developing social-emotional skills is a critical component of a child’s early development. These skills are fundamental to a child’s overall growth and carry over into adulthood. Learning to regulate strong emotions and express empathy is essential for success in preschool and school.
Social and emotional development involves developing positive relationships with peers and adults. These relationships help to shape a child’s identity and sense of well-being. When young children learn to recognize and understand emotions, they can establish positive peer relationships more easily.
Social and emotional development in early childhood results from interactions with family and caregivers. Infants learn to follow directions, share, and comfort themselves when upset. This skill sets them up for later success in school and life. It also helps them build close relationships with their caregivers.
Early childhood teachers are responsible for helping children develop social and emotional skills. This includes identifying children who need help, planning activities, and modelling positive behaviors. The following resources can help teachers support preschoolers’ social and emotional development:
Responsible decision-making skills teach children to understand their emotions, listen to others, and negotiate in ways that are acceptable in society. These skills also help children develop healthy relationships and build teamwork.
Empathy is an essential social skill often overlooked in traditional school curricula. When children learn to recognize and understand the emotions of others, they are better able to identify and express their own emotions. This is also a pivotal step to acquiring other essential skills.
A positive sense of self is another essential social and emotional development element. A positive self-image helps children develop positive relationships and establish healthy behaviors. In addition, having a positive self-image helps children better handle the challenges that life may throw them.
Students who are more socially aware and develop empathy can better overcome peer pressure and resolve conflicts. These skills help students set goals, feel good about themselves, and work together to solve problems.
Emotion regulation
Developing emotion regulation skills is a vital part of early childhood education. This is because emotion regulation is critical to a child’s academic success. The ability to control and regulate emotions helps kids develop interpersonal skills, self-discipline, and independence.
Research has shown that developing emotion regulation skills directly correlates with academic school readiness. It is also related to success in later life. For instance, a child with good emotion regulation skills will experience fewer emotional distractions during a task and can perform tasks requiring inhibition, or the ability to wait, promptly.
Good emotional regulation skills also help the child cope with stress and anxiety.
A study by Howse, Calkins, Anastopoulos, Keane, and Shelton (2003) found a positive association between parental reports of the emotion regulation skills of young children and their achievement test scores. In addition, children with better emotion regulation skills also obtained better scores on standardized measures of mathematics.
One of the most critical aspects of emotional regulation is the ability to read a caregiver’s facial expression. This is because children can adjust their behavior based on how their caregiver feels. In addition, good emotional regulation skill also helps kids form positive relationships.
In addition, studies have shown that teachers are more likely to interact with kids who display good emotion regulation skills. Teachers also spend more time and energy on activities involving children’s emotion regulation skills. Specifically, teachers will often combine various strategies when faced with a child who cannot perform a task.
While no magic bullet exists for regulating emotions, all children can learn to manage their feelings. Given an environment conducive to developing emotion regulation skills, the ability to handle emotions promptly is not that difficult. However, some children may require more assistance than others.
For example, a child who can’t manage their arousal may become frustrated when attempting to complete a new assignment. This type of frustration may result in inaccurate completion of assignments.
Lack of resources
Despite some progress, access to early childhood education is still inadequate in many parts of the world. Children in low-income countries often face several obstacles that make completing a quality education difficult.
For example, they may not have access to high-quality child care, which preschoolers need. Children from poor families also have fewer resources than other groups, such as access to books and reading material. These obstacles may also affect their ability to study.
The first 1,000 days of a child’s existence are crucial for creating brain connections that forecast future socioemotional and cognitive abilities. Poorly developed neural pathways contribute to poor outcomes later in life.
Frequent, structured interactions with a caring adult aid these pathways. However, these programs are not available in all low-income countries, resulting in significant inequalities in the quality of education available to children.
The lack of resources in early childhood education has hurt the lives of young children. Children not attending pre-primary school are likelier to repeat their grades and drop out. Also, they are more prone to health issues like HIV infection, diarrhea, and malaria.
Also, they are more prone to experience poor mental health and self-image problems.
Investing in quality as education systems grow will help maintain and expand access to quality early education. In addition to investing in quality, governments should commit to universal pre-primary education. In the US, high-quality providers can offer financial incentives to serve children from low-income families.
High-quality early childhood education programs should be available to all 3- to 5-year-olds in high-poverty communities. They are also needed to offset the harms of concentrated poverty. However, most high-poverty schools do not provide the wraparound services necessary for students to benefit from these programs. These programs include art lessons, tutors, and out-of-school-time learning support.
The national averages hide substantial inequalities in the quality of early childhood education that should be addressed. The most effective interventions are multi-sectoral and involve coordination at the point of delivery.
Pandemic in early childhood education
Early childhood education was impacted during the Coronavirus pandemic, a global health pandemic that began in Indonesia in late 2015 and is now spreading throughout the world. The pandemic exposed long-standing inequities and funding problems in the early childhood education and care sector.
While the pandemic increased stress on teachers and caregivers, it added a new dimension to early education. The response to contain the pandemic has led to the closure of many childcare centers, hurting children’s educational experiences. Several countries are now struggling to implement programmatic interventions to support children during the pandemic.
In addition, the pandemic highlighted pre-existing inequities across the different types of early childhood education and care. More family childcare homes and public schools were affected than Head Start programs. This disparity in the capital has widened the gap between children needing support and those who can access it.
The effects of the pandemic were not felt equally by families, as many parents kept their young kids home. As a result, children were unable to interact with their caregivers face-to-face. They could only communicate through virtual meetings. Moreover, early educators reported high levels of stress and depression.
In addition, the pandemic disrupted health services and impeded families’ access to lifesaving services. This has exacerbated poverty and increased parenting needs. It has also exacerbated unemployment and impeded economic development across the world. The Biden administration in the US has suggested additional money through the American Jobs Plan and might adopt a rescue strategy for early care and education.
A recently released report by the National Institute for Early Education Research examines the effects of the pandemic on early childhood education programs. The report documents the impact of the pandemic on early education programs, including the recruitment of teachers, the quality of early education programs, and the readiness of preservice teachers to teach young children.
In addition, the report outlines policy priorities for the pandemic. These priorities include the need to provide professional support and resources to improve the health of children and caregivers and ensure that children have access to nurturing care programs. The report also recommends that children be given appropriate nutrition and adequate learning opportunities.
