A BETTER START: New Choices for Early Learning

Half of the women with children under one are working, and that figure is going to climb. There is a growing need for child care which will provide more than a form of preschool warehousing. The editor, a well-known New York Times education writer, outlines the history and current dilemma in his introduction to this collection of essays. Headstart was the first major effort to provide a program of enrichment for preschoolers. Despite criticism, most longitudinal studies show that the students given the experience fared a lot better in life and were less of a burden on society. Currently, the government spends over $2 billion on some kind of day care including Headstart, but more will be required to provide the needed services. The question is: will the system be a quality one and or will the children be shortchanged? What will its curriculum be? What do we know about early childhood learning and can we avoid some of the major problems in the regular school system with enrichment and skills training in the preschool stage? Early childhood education is coming and probably in a big way. Books like this can alert us to some of the benefits and difficulties in the process. A useful analysis.