Early childhood is a crucial stage of life. It is a time when children need personal care and attention. Children who receive due attention early in life are likely to do better in school and make better adjustments in social life in future. Learning in early stages of life provides a foundation for further learning later in life Researches in the field of ECE highlight the need for ECE professionals and stakeholders to know how children grow and develop, how they best learn and gather experiences inside and outside early childhood education centre.
As society becomes aware of the criticality of early years in human development and long-term effects of quality early childhood care and education, the need for providing age and developmentally appropriate educational experience gains momentum Section 11 of the RTE Act, 2009 underlines the need for providing quality early childhood education by stating with a view to prepare children above the age of three years for elementary education and to provide ECCE for all children until they complete the age of six years, the appropriate Government may make necessary arrangements for providing free pre-school education for such children. "In this context, a resource material that caters to the needs of all concerned has been developed by involving practitioners and experts.
The document titled 'Smooth and Successful Transitions' provides readiness indicators as well as suggestive activities that can be organised at the age of three to five years for providing rich experiences to young children in all the domains of development. The efforts made by the faculty members of the Department of Elementary Education, NIE, NCERT in the development of this document is highly appreciated. It is hoped that the document would serve the felt needs of the field functionaries, planners and managers of early childhood education.
We invite feedback from the stakeholders to help us improve the future editions of the document.
The early years are most important years in the life of a person as there are obvious and noticeable changes taking place during these years. Environment and experiences for young children are critically important as they help in shaping the personality of the child and determine how the child will develop. Research studies have shown that preschool experiences of good quality enhance children's all round development including physical/motor, social, emotional and cognitive development. Such experiences not only affect a child's development but actually change the physical structure of the brain (Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, 1996). The implications of such research findings are great for parents/caregivers and teachers of young children. The physical and psychological environment, the interactions and experiences they provide to children have far reaching impact on the development of children.
This handbook has been developed primarily to help teachers, parents and other caregivers to know how to observe and notice the development and learning taking place in children. The focus has been to provide some guidance for optimising child's total development. Creative and child based processes are essential for children to develop skills in problem solving and generation of innovative ideas. This document would be a comprehensive guide to planning programmes with an activity based and developmentally appropriate curriculum for children.
at the pre primary level. The unique features of this handbook are as follows:-
The document describes the meaning and significance of readiness. It presents the need for developing appropriate readiness amongst young children in order to help them make a smooth and successful transition to the primary school.
Considering ECE a two-year programme, the indicators have been presented in two sections at the end of the first year of pre-primary and also at the end of the second year/exit level of pre-primary when children would be joining primary schools.
Another feature of the document is that it not only provides the indicators in different domains of development but also gives a plethora of activities and ideas through which teachers and other caregivers can support the young children to obtain a desired level of readiness.
The document also provides a format for the teachers to observe and keep a record of the progress of each child with respect to different indicators in specific domains. This would help them to plan individualised experiences as well as group activities for the young children.
Adaptations for young children with disabilities as well as for anganwadis and pre-schools with space constraints have been provided at the appropriate places in the document The handbook has been organised into four chapters.
Chapter one titled 'Introduction' explains the meaning and role of readiness for improving the quality of primary education. The chapter also spells out that in order to get young children ready for school it is important that the preprimary centre, teachers and other caregivers, parents and community members are ready to welcome the children and give them appropriate experiences. Chapter two titled 'Developing School Readiness for Pre-primary and Beyond' discusses how to get children ready appropriately. The readiness has been discussed at two levels; at the end of first year in the preprimary centre and at the end of second year of the preprimary when children are supposed to join class one in the primary school. This transition can be made smoother and successful by giving children lots of opportunities and experiences in all the domains of development. Chapter three provides indicators as well as activities and ideas that could be organised to develop specific skills and abilities in young children after first year of pre-primary. Chapter four presents indicators as well as activities and ideas after second year of pre-primary or at the exit level of pre-primary.
It is expected that with the help of indicators the preschool teachers, parents and other caregivers will understand the expected progression in the learning and development of the child and will use the activities and ideas to help the young children being capable of acquiring age and developmentally appropriate skills. This document has been developed after realising the need for such an exemplar material in the field. This handbook can be used by teacher trainees, preschool teachers, parents, school managers, educational advisors and primary teachers. It will be our pleasure to receive feedback on the first edition of the handbook which will be utilised for necessary modifications in the future editions.
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