The study aims to present a series of resources for coherent and effective practices in order to establish a positive relationship between educational actors: family and educators. Teachers will find arguments in favour of the need to create a unity of action between teacher and parents and the importance of the partnership between daycare/kindergarten and family, a professional partnership based on trust, respect, knowledge and communication. For this partnership to become tangible, it is necessary for the adult - whether educator or parent - to internalise this, to be constantly informed and to exploit all human, material, and financial resources available in educational practice.
Top1. Early Education And Preschoolers
Early education has been, is and will be a focus for educational institutions around the world. It is the first stage of the education system, the stage that encompasses the totality of children’s learning and development experiences from birth to 6/7 years, ensuring the child’s entry into the compulsory education system. Early education fosters the ideal, optimal overall development in accordance with the individual and age-specific characteristics of children, adapting learning conditions to these characteristics.
Early education is the totality of personally acquired and socially available experiences, or the experiences gained from organized activities. It involves the task of protecting, nurturing and developing the individual by equipping them with skills. It provides personal identity and dignity. It provides for healthy physical and mental development as well as the foundation for social, mental and cultural development. What children learn at an early age is more than half of what they learn later in life. Early education is a current concern that aims to answer questions about the new generations. Early education as a discipline combines elements from several fields of knowledge and action, including early childhood development, health, nutrition, early education, community development, psychology, sociology, anthropology, child development and economics.
Specific early education benchmarks from the literature:
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The uniqueness of the child requires a holistic approach, taking into account all aspects of their development;
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Integrated approach to early education services (care, feeding and education) is imperative at young ages;
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The educator, in interacting with the child, is both a play partner and the one who masters the rules, establishes discipline in order to establish group cohesion and initiate the teaching act;
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The teaching activities carried out must be attractive, truly contextual learning opportunities;
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Parents are key partners in children’s education, the family-kindergarten-community relationship plays an important role in bringing meaning to children’s lives (apud Stan, 2016, p.67).
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The strategic aim of the early education domain is to ensure that every child has the right to education and maximum development in order to enable them to reach their individual potential in relation to European and international standards. The focus on early education is natural, given that children’s development is rapid at this age stage, and harnessing the above-mentioned potential of the child creates opportunities for future performance.
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Research and studies in the field of early education have shown that there are strong relationships between kindergarten attendance and children’s behaviors at school. These include:
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The impressive intellectual progress for children from all backgrounds;
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Positive effects on social integration and reduction of challenging behavior and school failure;
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Children discover their self-identity, autonomy and develop a positive self-image;
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The development of social skills through relationships established by the learning environment.
Early education is based on the premise that the early years provide the foundation for personality formation, and the educational success of the child requires the involvement of all the actors with whom the child interacts, from family members, to staff in educational institutions, to the community. Humanity transmits its values through children, such as tolerance, living together in harmony, cooperation, appreciation, and the other cultural, moral, spiritual and social values, which early education promotes. Therefore, children are the future, as they pass on society’s values, and focusing on early childhood programs can lead to better educated individuals who know and perceive their environment as it really is.