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Rae Hall

Professor Cook

ENG 1101

22 November 2020

The Importance of Early Education Programs

In a world where people are constantly going, going, going from one thing to another or

running back and forth to work there’s one common question for many parents. Where am I

going to send my child while I’m gone? Many families choose to enroll their child into an early

learning program or preschool. Early learning programs such as childcare or preschool classes

prove to have many positive outcomes but some can be on the pricy side causing problems for

some families. Enrolling your child in a preschool or childcare setting has many benefits

including learning to interact with others, emotional development, and the importance of the

teacher-child relationship.

As children grow and age it’s important for them to learn early on how to play and

interact with others. Placing them in a preschool or kindergarten environment helps with their

social development. One example of how children learn to play is called parallel play. This is

often seen with younger children. Parallel play is when children play next to each other with the

same toys but aren’t interacting at all. The next step is associate play where the kids play closer

together but still aren’t joining in the same activity. This is the stage where most preschoolers

are. In a article written by Clancy Blair, a Professor of Cognitive Psychology, talked about how

kindergarten programs benefit children. For many children self-regulation is learned throughout

their preschool and kindergarten years. Self regulation refers to, “...controlled, cognitive

monitoring of the actions and steps required to obtain a goal, or to bring a desired response…”
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(Blair). Learning self regulation at an early age is such a crucial moment in a child’s experience

yet many don’t even think about who taught them and helped theirs grow. This is learned

through communicating needs, following directions and something as simple as taking turns. All

of these skills are ones that adults use everyday and they’re all values fostered in many preschool

and kindergarten classes.

A branch off of self regulation is emotional control. Susanne Denham, Katerine Zinsser

and Chavaughn Brown wrote The Emotional Basis of Learning and Development in Early

Childhood Education, a book about emotional development throughout childrens’ early years

and its importance. “The components of emotional competence help to ensure effective,

successful social interactions built on specific skills such as listening, cooperating, appropriate

help seeking, joining another child…” (Denham, Zinsser, and Brown (2012)) giving the

examples of how positive emotional development can benefit the children. Teaching children

how to cooperate with others and the right ways to ask for help are real world skills that are

utilized by the adults and grownups in their lives everyday. Emotional regulation is often

achieved through self-soothing, which is learned during infancy. Many children often try to

redirect their feelings when disappointed about a situation. Many children learn emotional

regulation simply by having friends in preschool and early education settings. They function

better as they play nicely and share with their peers, causing no conflict where teacher

intervention is needed. Difficulties with emotional regulation often leads to aggression and being

rejected by peers. These effects are usually brought on when the child has trouble expressing

their emotions in a constructive way. Children learn how to express themselves and their

emotions through watching how adults and their peers process events. For example in my toddler

classroom I have one child who wasn’t scared of the fire alarm the first time it went off for a fire
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drill. The second and third times we did fire drills she became more and more scared after

watching another girl in my class immediately go into hysterics when the alarm sounded. She

saw her friend’s reaction and copied when she didn’t know what else to do. We often try to tell

the kids that everything is okay and that everyone is safe so that they’ll tell their peers that as

well. If they see their teachers calm and collected then they handle the situation better and the

next times immediately go to comfort their friends.

Sometimes children mimicking their peers reactions can be a setback in their behavior

and self-regulation. While children watching their friend’s responses to situations they may

occasionally repeat bad behavior or outbursts. One child losing control over their emotions can

lead to all of the children losing control of theirs. When this happens preschool teachers redirect

the problems into other more constructive things. For example, when a child is angry or sad and

doesn’t want to talk about it art and coloring is a good way for the child to express how they’re

feeling to the adults. Art is a good outlet for kids to use when they don’t have the words to tell

how they feel. This is an emotional regulation tool.

A negative effect of having your child in a preschool or daycare is the cost of childcare.

On average childcare costs an Ohioan $658 per month for a four year-old and $808 per month

for an infant according to Procare Solutions. The site also said that the median income for an

Ohio family was just under $4,700 a month, meaning that infant childcare uses up about 17% of

a family’s monthly income. Not every family will have enough money to be able to afford the

prices of childcare monthly resulting in either parents finding different ways to have their child

cared for, either by family, friends, or themselves or the parent may even have to change or quit

their job in order to take care of their children.

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When asking a group of people you’re more than likely going to find more people than

not that went to preschool or childcare when they were younger. Placing your child in an early

childhood education program is proven to boost student teacher relationships. It’s also shown to

play a key role in children’s social and emotional development. Through play children learn how

to share and interact with their peers in ways that create positive relationships. At the end of the

day enrolling your child or children into early childhood education programs has more positives

than negatives.

Sources

Blair, Clancy, et al. “Effect of the Tools of the Mind Kindergarten Program on

Children’s Social and Emotional Development.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly,

vol. 43, 2018 2nd Quarter 2018, pp. 52–61. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.01.002.

Denham, Susanne A, et al. “The Emotional Basis of Learning and Development

in Early Childhood Education.” Shibboleth Authentication Request, 2012, search-

credoreference-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/content/entry/routsmch/the_emotional_basis_of_learning_and_d

evelopment_in_early_childhood_education/0.

Ladd, Gary W. “Young Children's Peer Relations and Social Competence.”

CREDO Reference, 2012, search-credoreference-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/content/entry/routsmch/young_children_s_peer_relations_and_s

ocial_competence/0.
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Paccione-Dyszlewski, Margaret, and John Boekamp. “Not Just Academic: The

Importance of Teaching Social and Emotional Skills in Preschools.” Brown

University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter, vol. 21, no. 9, Sept. 2005, p. 8.

EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=pwh&AN=18577221&site=pov-live.

Vaughn, Brian E., et al. “Negative Interactions and Social Competence for

Preschool Children in Two Samples: Reconsidering the Interpretation of Aggressive

Behavior for Young Children.” Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 3, July 2003, pp.

245–278. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/mpq.2003.0017.