The importance of early childhood education

An article in today's Observer points out that our state's early childhood programs, such as More at Four, may suffer from additional budget cuts (see link): http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=322180

I applaud President Obama for understanding the value of early childhood education and for his commitment to education reform as a whole. Perhaps he should have a word with our Governor. We should follow his lead and get involved in state and local programs that support early learning initiatives. Here is an excerpt from the President's online town hall meeting which aired yesterday:

"That success will require preparing every child, everywhere in this country, to out-compete any worker anywhere in the world because we know that those students who are getting the best education are going to be able to compete. And that's why we're making a historic investment in early childhood education.

That's why we're going to make a historic investment in improving K-12 education, making sure that our children get a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career. It's an investment that will expand and improve not just early learning programs, but reward good teachers while replacing bad ones, and put college or technical training within reach for anyone who wants it."

"So let me give you just a couple examples of what we need to do. Early childhood education we know works. Let's invest in that. That's what my budget calls for -- substantial investment; every dollar we invest in early childhood education, we get potentially $10 back in improved reading scores, reduced dropout rates, reduced delinquency rates and so forth".

Tags: childhood, early, education, obama, president

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Comment by Veronica on March 31, 2009 at 2:25pm: Some days you have to ask yourself...who really are these people that determine what a solid education should consist of and what are they thinking?

Comment by Michelle Evans Jarrell on March 30, 2009 at 1:34pm: Financial planning for high school seniors should be mandatory. Especially since they are about to enter the world and be preyed upon by the credit card companies!

Comment by Veronica on March 30, 2009 at 12:13pm: In my honest opinion, I think we need to invest in better quality public school education as a whole. We would not have so many young children falling behind in life in general if they were taught proper financial planning, how to manage a household, how to properly care for children/family planning, how to develop a skill, and so forth. I know that some schools have these classes, but they are either poorly taught or are not mandatory.

Comment by Michelle Evans Jarrell on March 29, 2009 at 10:07am: If you have read my blogs, you know I am an advocate for quality early childhood education. Studies have shown that the interaction children receive in their formative years does have an impact on thier academic success later on.

Comment by Michelle Evans Jarrell on March 29, 2009 at 9:47am: Absolutely, Veronica. Unfortunately, not every child receives the much needed support and encouragement of dedicated parents, and many of our children are under-served. Programs have been created to ensure that all of our children have an opportunity for quality early childhood education. Programs like More at Four, the state-funded, public (free) Pre-K program, was designed with a specific curriculum to help young children transition to Kindergarten successfully. I hate to see funding for these programs diminish, since as President Obama put it, "Early childhood education we know works. Let's invest in that."