Introduction
The importance of early childhood education has been neglected for many years by various educational depart in many countries. Of recent there has been special attention given to the early childhood education as forms the foundation. It is in this view that many organizations have come up with initiatives that are meant to support the early childhood education. The crucial aspect in early childhood basically relates to finance.
The program of education serves children who are ineligible or inadequately served by the existing early childhood education programs. Fundamentally education funding is based on well-organized coordination with the members of the society. This research paper shall consider the early childhood education funding for the children of three to five years. Early childhood education has been a topic of conversation in several venues over the past few years. (Hinkle,2000)
Main text
The Vermont early childhood initiative grant was established in 1987 to fund collaborative community-based early hood education services. The major focus was to give early intervention to the children who were at risk of school failure. It is established that early developmental support promotes school and life success. The early childhood education funding is meant to reduce the unpreparedness of the young children. In 2003, S.166 was introduced in the Senate.
This bill addressed preschool funding, program quality and collaboration between public school districts and private providers. The bill also addressed some issues associated with kindergarten. This bill passed the Senate in 2004 but was not acted upon in the House. (Hinkle, 2000)
The family, infant and toddlers project of Vermont was started to enhance early intervention services for the infants and toddlers. This program was basically started so as to identify the disabilities in the young children in their early ages. The Vermont early childhood education funding provides a conducive environment for learning by developing the structures in the schools. Public preschools are given financial support by the Vermont education fund. The funds given to the preschool are administered and managed by the local districts. It has been found that many Vermont schools districts receive funds that specifically cater to the needs of those children who at risk or disadvantaged. (Wahl, 2002)
Further it was established that some special fund is also allocated to cater for the needs of the migrant children who are also considered disadvantaged by the circumstances. The aim of such funding is to prepare young children for a bright future through education. Vermont education department has been instrumental in advocating for the rights of the children. In this effect the departments hold facilitation meetings to promote the children’s welfare by educating and enlightening the public.
Vermont offers motivation to the teachers by choosing Vermont teacher of the year who is actually rewarded. This teacher travels in the whole state visiting different schools and working with other educators. This program is sponsored by Vermont and other partners. The Vermont teacher of the year also becomes automatically a candidate for the national teacher of the year award. The aim of this award is to promote the teaching profession and enhance positive education practices. The year 2007 had Kathleen Sullivan from Warren Elementary School awarded. Other partners as Hannaford Brothers Company supports the Vermont teacher of the year award by providing cash prize awards to the teacher.
The mission of Vermont education funding is to provide leadership and support to help all Vermont students achieve excellence. This has been a driving force and as such large amounts of money are pumped so as to achieve such objectives. In this respect high skills and love for knowledge through learning are encouraged. By the year 2006 there were a total 44 Early Childhood Education programs. These programs served 1,104 children in 135 towns. Many of these towns provided could afford to assist very few children.
This means that not all the children get assistance. There is need to expand the funding by partnering with other stakeholders. The early childhood intervention is aimed at creating high output in the later stages of higher education. Generally good early child educational care promotes increasing likelihood of college which consequently improves the life of the disadvantaged. (Family Center on Technology and Disability, 2005)
In addition the Vermont education funding promoted the health of young children by putting in place the necessary financial support. Health is fundamental to effective learning and future success. The program extensively caters to the provision of early childhood care for the young children. In the process of ensuring quality health care there is integration between the educational programs and the health care services for the young children. Further the public school districts are encouraged to integrate with the private early care and education. This is done by finding registered family care homes. There is actually great collaboration with other community-based early childhood education providers. Such education providers include parent-child centers, Head start programs and other private providers.
Vermont educational funding has made great steps in bringing quality early childhood care to the young children. The high program child carte improves the development of the young children health-wise and education-wise. Education actually has long terms gains on the individual achievement. This proper preparation the children have been known to reduce the children’s crimes or delinquency. Children at their tender age need maximum care which is important in their later development. This program is important especially in this era of changing family roles due to factors such as education, urbanization religion among others.
Factually unstable are has been observed especially from the working parents who spend most of their time in their working places. Working parents are currently very comfortable leaving their children in home care-based providers. Vermont has promoted excellent care services to these children through its excellent education programs that favor the young children over 70% mothers work.
The young children are usually vulnerable to the negative health effects of poor health as a result of poor eating habits. The Vermont education fund recognized this and it therefore came up with budgets that cater for health and food. The parents are given a range of programs to choose from according to their needs.
It was also found that there are 3 sources of funding for early childhood education. The first source of funding is from early essential Education, and then there is early education initiative and state public funds. In addition to this there are other private organizations that have helped in enhances the funding. All these programs have helped reshape the general appearance of the early childhood schools by putting in place proper structures. The funds are also used to recruit quality staffs who give quality services.
There is a current trend of improving the curricula to accommodate the dynamics and challenges of special needs for different children. Head staff and other child care providers provide subsidized programs which even favor the low-income families. This is off course a great challenge for these providers to search for sufficient funds that will be used to subsidize the whole education process. (Wahl,2002)
The other challenge that relates to the funding is the provision of other basic facilities such as uniforms for all three to five years old in the poorest schools districts. These programs are equally supported by the Early Childhood Education programs. The Head start organization and other community-based child care can not be able to deliver these care services alone. The ultimate goal for all these programs for all the providers is to deliver quality services. Over the years the increase in number of the young children in the Vermont schools calls for additional funds. New York is one the key implementers of the universal pre-k with an intention of providing free early childhood education to all four-year-old children.
In this program the state channels fund to the individual districts. Such programs are supposed to integrate children with disabilities and that is why special funding is important. More education opportunities have been put in place due to the high demands. Some citizens have expressed concerns about having state funding continue to be available for all pre-kindergarten students ages 3 to 5. They are concerned that this system is too costly for the state and recommend that such funding only be available for “at-risk” students. (Barbara, 1998).
Training is a very crucial aspect of the implementation of the early childhood education program. The cost of training the staff is very high. Since a quality staff is required to achieve such demanding needs, then Vermont has put aside some money that can be used to foster training of the teachers and other staff members.
To improve the quality of childcare financial incentives are required to motivate the providers so as to achieve high quality levels. The parents usually consider the credibility of a particular program by paying close attention to overall quality of the service provision. It has been found that financially subsidies childcare programs are likely to give high-quality services. (DesJardin, Eisenberg, & Hodapp, 2006)
The extensive services that are provided by Vermont require financial support. Some of these services include home visits, parent education, and community development to mention but a few. The capital investment for these very important services is actually high. But there is no otherwise the services have to be provided for they are very crucial community mobilization is very crucial in achieving these funding that is why parents’ education is very necessary.
It is not easy to mobilize the citizens to support such education systems. Much of the funding is set to cater for the needs of those children with special needs. These special needs range and vary in terms of intensity. There are those who have learning disabilities due to the poor care given to them. Vermont has therefore used general funds to support such educational programs. The University of Vermont has a program that focuses on developmental disabilities. The program is meant to prepare early childhood special educators to meet Vermont’s need for highly trained early childhood trained teachers. (Dugan, Campbell, & Wilcox, 2006)
Conclusion
The early childhood educational funds program continues to provide for high quality. Early childhood educations to those children are at risk and disadvantage in their early ages. The financial support from Vermont and other partner have helped to raise the status. The academic gains are actually evident once the children have committed to ensure that every child is able to acquire a good learning environment in their early ages.
References
D Hinkle (2000) School Involvement in Early Childhood.Donna Hinkle National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education US Department.
DesJardin, J., Eisenberg, L., & Hodapp, R. (2006). Sound beginnings: Supporting families of young deaf children with cochlear implants. Infants & Young Children, 19(3), 179-189.
Dugan, L., Campbell, P., & Wilcox, M. (2006). Making decisions about assistive technology with infants and toddlers. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 26(1), 25-32.
Family Center on Technology and Disability. (2005). AT Supports for Young Children: Transcript of an Online Discussion with Susan Mistrett and Lisa Johnson.
Mintz, Barbara. (1998). Young Children with AAC Needs. Bangor, ME: University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion.
Moore, H., & Wilcox, M. (2006). Characteristics of early intervention practitioners and their confidence in the use of assistive technology. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 26(1), 15-23
Wahl, L. (2002). Report on the Need for Assistive Technology Expertise in Education and the Creation of New Models. San Rafael, CA: Alliance for Technology Access.