As I have mentioned before, there are many articles, newspaper columns, editorials, and blogs denoting the importance of funding "quality" early childhood programs. Yesterday, I was watching Texans via the web provide testimony for a bill for prekindergarten. Most testifiers discussed the importance of a quality early childhood program. Unfortunately, no one defined "quality" for the Texas representatives. My experience has been when I ask early childhood friends to define this term there are many different definitions.

Personally, I like to look at centers such as REM Learning Center in Miami, Florida as a demonstration of "quality". REM states on its website that it is dedicated to quality early childhood education. They have been in Miami since 1982 and are under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Moreno. This center serves twelve months to first grade young children and has a gold award as well as NAEYC accreditation. What I think sets them apart from other centers is their focus on the whole child. They stress cognitive development and support English language acquisition for ELL children. Recently, Mr. Moreno had five TeachSMART™ Learning Systems installed into REM's prekindergarten classrooms. Mr. and Mrs. Moreno are keenly aware of the current scientific research regarding school readiness and have added pieces to their program to ensure their program maintains high quality. They want to ensure children who enter kindergarten from their prekindergarten classrooms can recognize letters, write their name, have a large vocabulary, possess strong phonological awareness, and experiences with numbers, graphing, counting, shapes, sorting and story problems.

What is your definition of a quality early childhood program? 

Please visit them at http://www.remlearningcenter.com