{"id":837,"date":"2016-07-19T12:34:29","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T19:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/?p=837"},"modified":"2018-12-21T22:35:03","modified_gmt":"2018-12-22T06:35:03","slug":"teaching-early-childhood-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/praxis\/teaching-early-childhood-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Early Childhood Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m probably biased, but early childhood education is SO much fun! Want to know more? Here\u2019s your crash course on what you need to know about teaching preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten.<\/p>\n

Why is Early Childhood Education Important?<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ll try not to stay on my soapbox too<\/em> long, but basically, investing in early childhood pays off<\/a>! High quality (not all programs are high quality, it\u2019s important to note) preschool programs help kids for their whole lives<\/em><\/a> — from K-12 test scores to adult earnings to health outcomes. That\u2019s pretty cool.<\/p>\n

Early Childhood Licensure<\/h2>\n

Technically, \u201cearly childhood\u201d is anything from birth to age 8. Depending on your state, teachers for kindergarten, first, and second grade may need an elementary licensure or may need an early childhood education licensure, or your state may accept either type of licensure. For teaching younger ages, pre-kindergarten and below, the requirements for licensure are usually more lax. Depending on your state, you may just need to take certain courses or have a certain amount of experience.<\/p>\n

Early Childhood Settings<\/h2>\n

Settings for early childhood care are a little more diverse than school-age settings. Of course, for kindergarten through 2nd grade, that will look the same as the other school-age options<\/a> in your area (public schools, charter schools, and private schools, for instance). Some states have public pre-kindergarten, but it usually isn\u2019t mandatory like elementary school.<\/p>\n

In younger years and for states without public pre-k, or for families who choose a different path, there are a ton of different options. The biggest distinction is daycare versus preschool. The difference here usually depends on the focus the program places on learning and structured time. Daycare is less expensive, but often the student teacher ratios are not as good and the daycare workers may not have as much formal education. Preschool will likely cost more money, but in exchange, there is usually more focus on education and social skills and more highly-trained staff. This is a generalization, though; there are certainly exceptions! There are also lots of early childhood programs at churches or in people\u2019s homes.<\/p>\n

Head Start and Early Head Start is another type of early childhood program, providing high-quality early childhood education in centers nationwide. It is federally funded and open to children of families whose incomes fall below the poverty line.<\/p>\n

Play in Early Childhood Education<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Early
University of Fraser Valley<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 
\nYoung children learn best through play. That means that as an early childhood educator, we can watch them discover and learn so much<\/em> just while they play dress-up! It\u2019s such a fun job to bring new learning to kids in the form of play (like, \u201cWhat happens if we pour water through this funnel?\u201d), and watch them take it and run. It also means that the ideal early childhood day isn\u2019t filled with lecture and seat work, but tricycles and blocks. To me, it\u2019s what keeps me excited about teaching. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m probably biased, but teaching young children is SO much fun! Want to know more? Here\u2019s your crash course on what you need to know about teaching preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2440],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[4918],"class_list":["post-837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-becoming-a-teacher"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTeaching Early Childhood Education - Magoosh Blog \u2013 Praxis\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I\u2019m probably biased, but early childhood education is SO much fun! Want to know more? 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