Essay Example - Early Years Education Proposal

When children are below the age of eight, they are usually at a stage when the brain is developing rapidly. It is, therefore, important that proper techniques are applied to ensure that they can grasp what they are being taught. In my research, I have reviewed various articles to learn what they say about early education. In this review, I have decided which ones are relevant to this topic. This paper highlights the importance of activity-based learning to children who are below the age of eight years. The analysis will also show what other authors have said about early childhood education.

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Activities that are used by children when learning are mostly games and songs. Games have been known to be helpful to children in enabling the development of mental capabilities. When children are playing, they are able to interact with the environment. They understand the things which are around them, and it is hard to forget. As they repeat the games, what is learned is stored in the subconscious mind. If one wants the child to get used to him, then playing with the kid is the best style to use. Playing is essential to the child in all aspects. It helps in biological development and cognitive. The child learns at an early age to socialize. Communication skills are developed as the child is playing as they are excited and want to mention some words.

The other activity is songs. Music has been known to accelerate brain development in children. One area where it is particularly vital is in language acquisition and also learning of sounds. When the children are at a tender age, the parents use sounds and some songs to soothe the child when crying. The songs are so appealing that the child even sleeps. The importance of music to children can be explained differently. The bottom line is that the significance of songs cannot be underestimated in the development of children. Most people recall the songs which they sang when they were in early childhood education. If they were taught when they were grown-ups, they could not have remembered them. Every early childhood educator should ensure that they encompass singing in the learning programs.

Annotated Bibliography

Cutter-Mackenzie, A., & Edwards, S. (2013). Toward a Model for Early Childhood Environmental Education: Foregrounding, Developing, and Connecting Knowledge through Play-Based Learning. The Journal of Environmental Education, 44(3), 195-213. doi:10.1080/00958964.2012.751892

The article focus is on the inclusion of environmental principles to early childhood education. The environment is all that surrounds us. The child must familiarize with everything in the surrounding for learning to take place. One way in which the child can learn about the environment is through playing. The article is relevant to the topic as it expounds on the different forms of play that can be used by the early childhood educator. The game includes open-ended play, modeled play, and purposefully modeled play.

Dodman, M. (2016). Building multilingual learning environments in early years education. Ricerche di Pedagogia e Didattica. Journal of Theories and Research in Education, 11(1), 1-18. https://rpd.unibo.it/article/view/6207

The article focuses on language development in children. Particular emphasis is on multilingual development and the reason why it should be done in the early years. Dodman shows that the child is able to learn languages when they are young. It is easier to teach a child a new language than a grown-up. What one is taught when below eight years cannot be forgotten. Again, the environment is vital to the child learning languages at a tender age. The article is crucial to the topic since it shows different ways in which the child learns languages.

Montag, J. L., Jones, M. N., & Smith, L. B. (2018). Quantity and diversity: Simulating early word learning environments. Cognitive science, 42, 375-412. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cogs.12592

The article is about language development in children. There is a high correlation between how a child learns a language and the environment. Most of children, in most cases, tend to internalize quickly the words that they hear more times in a day. It is essential to keep talking to the child even when the kid is yet to start communicating. The article is relevant to the topic since one learns that repeating some words may be in a song helps a child in learning the language faster.

Martyniuk, O. J., & Tucker, P. (2014). An exploration of early childhood education students' knowledge and preparation to facilitate physical activity for preschoolers: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 14(1), 727. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-14-727

The article talks about the training of early childhood educators in physical education. Physical activities are essential to children's education. Sometimes it is challenging for teachers to prepare programs that will be useful for young children while teaching. It is therefore crucial for the teachers also to be ready so that they can choose the right activities for children according to their ages. The article is relevant to my topic as it links physical education to learning in early childhood education.

Van As, A. J., & Excell, L. (2018). Strengthening early childhood teacher education towards a play-based pedagogical approach. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 8(1). doi:10.4102/sajce.v8i1.525

In their research, Van As and Excell show how music education is important in the early years of education. Although children may be reluctant first before accepting music, the advantages are numerous thereafter. 90% of students showed interest in listening to music and singing as well. Music education is included in the pedagogy of play. The articles show how different play-based methodologies are important in young children's education. It is important to research on the topic since it attempts to answer the question of why music is crucial in early learning.