I have been away from the blogosphere for a week or so. Since my last blog, I attended the IRA Conference in Chicago and the Ohio Early Education Conference in Ohio. I met many, many dedicated early childhood teachers, coaches and administrators who are interested in defining quality under the umbrella of school readiness. It is such an exciting time for our young children.

Earlier this week, I had the pure joy of seeing a quality early childhood program in Little Rock, Arkansas. The director of this Early Reading First project is Glenda Nugent. The programs in this grant are Southwest and Kennedy Head Start and Chicot Early Childhood Center. I will take you on a brief tour of this center. The classrooms have a strong focus on literacy. There are interest centers such as butterfly gardens, lots of books, happy children working with manipulatives, and having conversations. Here are pictures of what I saw in the hallway. Notice one of them is based on the Hungry Caterpillar.

Now meet Jaylon. Jaylon is 4 years old. The children were coming in from outside play. I was waving to them, asking a few questions, giving high fives. A handsome young boy towards the end of the line, comes up to me and with a big hug and smile on his face proudly announces, “I can write my name!” Please meet Jaylon. He is truly destined for greatness.

The ERF director, the building principals, the Head Start supervisors and staff, and ERF coaches are working together to define quality. Their definition is my definition. They are using data to determine grouping. Parents are volunteering. Everyone is strongly focused on ensuring the future leaders of America are ready for school with literacy, math and social/emotional skills. Please meet the ERF mentors and me. I am in the pink jacket. Left to right, Sandra Mims, Cotina Johnson, me, YvonneJones, ERF Coordinator, and Julie Dyer. In front, Krystie Bailey.

Early Reading First has provided excellent research findings for the early childhood field to consider. Little Rock is no exception. Congratulations!

In the March 2010 issue, the editors of the prestigious Scientific American discuss the state of good science education in early childhood. Quoting, “Good science education at the earliest grades is supremely important, but in most classrooms it gets short shrift.” Studies have found that children in Kindergarten classrooms are already forming negative views. Apparently researchers who interviewed children in Kindergarten found that barely one-third showed an interest in science. Many thought that science was for older kids and fewer girls are interested in science than boys.

Many teachers feel unprepared to teach science in the early years. “A 2009 Head Start study conducted in Florida found significantly lower readiness scores in science than in any other domain.” Findings likes these may be indicative of the lack of focus on science instruction in early childhood. The effects of this deficiency may help to form the kindergarteners’ negative attitudes.

We must do a much better job in this area. The Obama Administration has established the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) grant opportunity. We are hopeful that Prekindergarten will benefit from this very important initiative.

Go to: http://discoverscience.hatchearlychildhood.com