Public+Policy+-+Early+Childhood+Education


 * Early Childhood Education**

When the founding fathers conceived the idea of America, it is sure that they believed it to be a fresh, dominant new country built from the ground up by hard working, well educated citizens. America was not founded to be a second place country, not in economic wealth, not in military power, and not in education. Throughout the history of our great country, there have been many different kinds of people taking the reigns and changing history. Albert Einstein, a Non-natural American, devoted his time and studies to help create the Atomic Bomb, effectively and abruptly ending World War II. Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s most intuitive citizens, invented many different machines and contraptions that have all individually contributed to the advancement, success, and improvement of the American lifestyle. Since its establishment in 1776, America has had the uncanny ability to turn out naturally talented people. But recently, that talent has become somewhat tainted. Over the past few decades, the intuition and brainpower of the American society has taken a backseat to the mechanistic ways of foreign countries such as China, relying on cheap manpower to replace natural American intuition. Our advancement in technology has been one of the main contributors to our doom, and because of easier, faster ways of doing things, people are relying on the efficient yet vulnerable skill of these advancements instead of the power of their minds and hearts. In order to become more adjusted to the world and bring ourselves back to the level of education we were once at, we must find a solution to offset the laziness technology has instilled in us. The best way to do this is to provide a higher level of education before technology and society have a chance to distract us from it. Providing the education necessary to lead the world at a younger age will have amazing long-term affects that will get America back into the saddle, putting our great nation at the forefront of the world. At birth, most of the brain cells a child will have are already present. These brain cells soak up just about everything the child hears, feels, smells, and tastes, and uses it to become more familiar with the world the child is in. Between the time of birth and the age of six, a child can learn almost anything with ease. Multiple languages, math, the alphabet, even how to read. The brain takes anything that it can and just stores and familiarizes it. By the age of six, 75% of brain growth is completed and it becomes exceedingly more difficult for a child to learn how to do things. Unfortunately, the age of six years old is the average age for a child to begin schooling. Many parents do not take the time to educate their children as newborns, thinking that once they begin to attend school, it will all get figured out in the process. The true potential of a child is wasted when parents wait to begin educating their kids. If parents would start schooling earlier than they currently do, then many benefits would be reaped in the long-term. Time and money well spent would create more jobs for the people actually teaching the children, and these jobs created would help to keep the American economy flowing. Parents would be relieved of stay at home duties and be able to go back to work themselves as their children learn their way to success. But one of the greatest benefits of early childhood education is the money that will be saved by getting ahead early. So much money is spent towards putting kids through college. Money for books, cars, the technology they need to get through the actual schooling, and the price of classes are all burdens placed parents’ shoulders. By starting their kids in school 3 years earlier, it would be possible for the money that is spent on specified educational skills could be reallocated towards the same thing but at a younger age, making it less expensive due to public transportation, provided books, and closer to home education. By starting earlier in school, kids will be able to get a better idea of what exactly they want to do with their lives; where they want to be, what they want to do, and they will have a stronger drive to work towards their goals. More money will be saved this way because there will not be children jumping back and for the between majors in college, trying to choose exactly what they want to study for a career. One of the worst problems with public schooling right now is that children attend school, but they do not learn from their activities while they are there. Taxpayer money is being wasted and teachers are not taking advantage of the potential that children possess at such an early age, and when the time comes for the children to really learn something, they do not feel the need to because they have not experienced the joy and seen the fruits of their labor in school. By this time, more money is wasted trying to educate children who do not want to be anywhere near school. Foreign countries have America beaten in education by a long shot. Students in Asia and Europe start learning subjects at a more advanced level before American students even begin to cover the basics. In Germany, students are required to learn the English language from the 5th grade forward, at an age where their potential to actually learn the language is strong. Until recently, American students were not required to learn any foreign language until the 9th grade, which is a terrible time to start for many reasons. The brain cells that have not been used to learn new subjects have already shut off by this time and puberty has become a big distraction from a child’s schooling. The fact that America is lacking in the educational department is disappointing to say the least. So much potential is wasted by waiting to put kids through school, when it would be so much easier to just start almost immediately. Money can be saved, jobs created, and the country changed if only we would adjust one small detail in our education system. All of these things are possible, but a strong spokesperson on the behalf of early childhood education must take the spotlight. Thinking in the long-term is a must if we want to have any hope for the future of our great country.