Dr. Maria Montessori, founder of the Montessori education model, believed that the first three years of a child's life are critical to emotional and mental development. Until recently, those who were responsible for caring for and educating these youngsters were primarily untrained and underpaid. Fortunately, the tide appears to change in training early childhood educators, and community colleges are at the forefront of the new trend. We will examine how early training impacts children and what community colleges are doing to raise a new generation of early childhood educators equipped to answer the call.
The Importance of Early Childhood Education
According to a report in Community College Week, more research continues to surface regarding the importance of the years from birth to age three. A child's brain begins connecting to his outer world during this developmental time. This age group has been historically dubbed the future of our nation. Yet, the educational system rarely invests the time, effort, and money to educate this demographic as effectively as possible. In fact, those at the front of the public education movement often regard early childhood education as an afterthought – after the more important issues like school choice, student performance, and educational standards.
A report by the New American Foundation called attention to our young's educational plight in a CCW report that stated pre-kindergarten education has "long been the poor stepchild of the education system, with fewer resources, spotty quality standards, and limited attention to children's learning outcomes. To
