BUILDING ON A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE Chapter 2 - C

Child Care Movement

Child Care: A different path Kindergarten & Preschool Child Care Movement Child study; Middle class children- choice; Education and development focus; $$ State monies Social welfare effort for poor families; Need to support working parents Focus on physical care of children initially $$ Federal child care funding – connected to public policy

Key People Margaret & Rachel McMillan – London & USA early 20th C Offer children and alternative to dire living conditions in slums Set up a health clinic, nursery school and training school Focus: “open-air”, healthy living, development – day nurseries

Key Events Works Progress Administration (WPA) 1930s High unemployment rate (25%) WPA nurseries – opened 9-5; provided jobs and supported families seeking work; rapid growth=often untrained staff Lanham Act – World War II massive workshift Work-site child care 10-12 hours per day Kaiser Shipbuilding – 24 hour nursery school – all year long Comprehensive services: Health services; nutritious meals for children/mothers; parent education; play-based experiences; teacher training

African American Leaders

Equal Rights ~ Equal Education? 1954 Brown vs Brown – desegregated schools Education = Advancement HBCU operated Teacher Education programs and lab schools Parralled current trends and influences in ECE Major players in the development of ECE profession Evangeline Ward – NAEYC Code of Ethics and Child Development Associate (CDA) credentialing Foundation for a National Movement – Head Start

Head Start

Bringing the Stories Together 1960s Civil Rights movement – President Lyndon Johnson War on Poverty Represents the coming together of Nursery School movement and Child Care movement Based on lesson learned from early child care history!

Head Start: Key Components Comprehensive Program Serve the whole child; Multidisciplinary 10% children with disabilities; early intervention Educational Program Bank Street model; Developmentally Appropriate Practice Improvement of teacher quality & compensation Parent Involvement Program Involved in classroom; involved in decision making Parents as teachers; increased professional development National Laboratory Research; development of curriculum; teacher training models Locally administered and controlled Integrity and consistency – HS Performance Standards

Lessons Learned Fundamental questions continue… Many ideas revisited… Emerging differences…. INTENTIONAL teaching Development more than unfolding…INTERACTIVE FLEXIBILITY in Standards and approaches We are still changing!