Early Years
Staff writer Christina A. Samuels and Contributing Writer Marva Hinton provided insight, news, and analysis on early-childhood education. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: early childhood.
Early Childhood
Could 'Redshirting' Become A Thing of the Past in Illinois?
Lawmakers in Illinois are considering a bill that would require children to start kindergarten if they are 5 on or before May 31, with exceptions for summer birthdays.
Early Childhood
World Health Organization Recommends No More Than One Hour of Screen Time for Most Children Under 5
The global health group also offers advice on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep for infants and young children.
Early Childhood
Head Start Wants to Back Off Its Mandate to Lengthen Operating Hours
The federally funded preschool program for children from low-income families proposes ending a requirement that all center-based programs offer 1,020 hours of service per school year.
Early Childhood
Eleven $100,000 Grants Awarded to Help States Support Infants, Toddlers
The Pritzker Children's Initiative is awarding the grants to help states develop plans to provide better services for infants, toddlers, and their families through public and private partnerships.
Early Childhood
Is Online Early-Childhood Education the Next Big Thing?
Waterford UPSTART, an online program that offers literacy and math enrichment lessons aimed at preschoolers, received support from a philanthropy dedicated to funding "bold ideas for social change."
Early Childhood
State-Funded Pre-K Sees Slow Enrollment Growth, Says New National Report
It would take years at the current growth rate for state-funded preschool to enroll half of the nation's 4-year-olds, the National Institute for Early Education Reseach says.
Early Childhood
Will Child-Care Services Help Recruit Teachers? Oklahoma District Aims to Find Out
A small school district in Oklahoma plans to offer low-cost daycare services to its employees next year in an effort to better compete with larger districts when it comes to recruiting and retaining teachers.
Early Childhood
In These Laundromats, Adults Do the Wash, and Children Read (Video)
Librarians, early-literacy groups, and laundromat owners are combining forces to see if reaching out to families in places they frequent can help close the literacy gap between low- and higher-income students.
Reading & Literacy
North Carolina Awards $12 Million Dollar Grant to Improve Literacy Instruction
A $12.2 million dollar grant from the state Department of Public Instruction will go to a program based at North Carolina State University to provide additional training literacy training to teachers in 16 high-needs districts across the state.
Early Childhood
New Reports Tout Role of Gathering Data in Creating Effective Head Start Programs
Bellwether Education Partners highlights five Head Starts programs and says that the very best are serious about data collection and use what they learn from it to improve their practices.
Early Childhood
Apprenticeships Could Offer Big Benefits for Early-Ed Teachers, Report Argues
The think tank New America finds that early-childhood educators may benefit from apprenticeship programs that let them receive training while still working full-time.
Early Childhood
How to Help Your Child Love Reading (Video)
Parents should read to their children. That's well established. But what's the best way to do that? Here's how.
Early Childhood
New Report Ranks Which States Give Babies the Strongest Start in Life
A new report ranks the best and worst states for babies based on how those children fare in terms of health, strong families and opportunities for early learning.
Early Childhood
Reading Aloud and 'Exergaming': A Roundup of Early-Years Research
Two recent studies take a look at how often parents are reading to young children and the impact of exercise-related video games on boosting preschoolers physical activity.
