Quality Programs for all children

This week I have learned about the five strands of early childhood and how socio-cultural, economic, and political/policy has influenced how agencies and private organizations provide their services to young children and their families. The strands I viewed were Head Start/Early Head Start, Day Nurseries, Special Education, Nursery School, Kindergarten Education/Primary Grades.

A majority of women with children, infants through age 13, work outside of the home, many due to economic necessity, and the childcare industry is viewed as an essential industry supporting the workforce within the United States. Despite the economics that have contributed to the need for both parents to work outside of the home, government economic support for childcare facilities in terms of tuition remains limited to populations that are living in poverty. Childcare, therefore, for the majority of American families is supported through private pay.

However there are federally funded and not for profit organizations who understand the importance of early childhood care and the need for quality services to meet the needs of children who are in low income and poverty stricken families. I hope that over the next five years public opinion will continue to improve and individuals will become more educated on how important early childhood development is and how a child’s physical Development, Social and Emotional development is important for the overall well being of the child.

Implications for young children is that if the government and society continued funds early childhood development programs and projects for the ongoing services for families who are in the most need in the future then maybe we may not have to spend as much of the tax payers money to build additional prisons to house individuals who did not get needed educational and other required services at a younger age and we will have more involved citizens that will build better communities throughout the world.