CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Education can broadly be seen to include all those processes through which a person acquires the experiences which enable him to gain new knowledge or augment the knowledge he already has or those activities through which the intellect or the will is strengthened. This definition includes the experiences one gains both within and outside the school.
Education comes from the Latin word educerewhich means to lead out. Plato in his philosophy of idealism holds that the learner has innate ideas which only need to be squeezed out, pulled out and expanded. The second school of thought says thateducation originated from the Latin’’ word educarewhich stands for “toform”, “to train’.They believe that the child’s or learner’s mind is a “tabula rasa”. In other words when a child is born his mind is like a blank or erased slate on which to write. It is the sensations that come from external objects which put impressions on the mind and feed it with information and knowledge. This theory has been challenged by some scientists who contend that the “clean slate” theory should be rejected or at least questioned because sometime before birth the baby’s mind becomes active in such a way that it can receive some information or data.
As it relates to the early childhood education, the mental needs for the young child include a stimulating environment which provides challenges to the intellect and satisfies the child’s natural curiosity; which provide answers to puzzling questions as well as opportunities to explore experiment and discover the world for him or herself. The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2004), defined education as that process that helps to develop whole being physically, mentally, morally, politically, socially, emotionally, economically and technologically to enable individuals function in any environment in which they may find themselves. Consequently, most countries of the world of which Nigeria is one of them have provided various educational programmes for their citizens because education is conceived as the greatest legacy that any nation can confer on its child.
Childhood is the developmental stage of a child between infancy and puberty. The childhood age corresponds to a crucial period of rapid physical, cognitive and psychological development of the child. The quality and intensity of care, nutrition and stimulation a child receives during this period determines to a large extent the level of physical and cognitive development the child can attain. Childhood stage comprises – infancy and toddler hood (0-2years). Early childhood (2-5 years) middle childhood (6-11 years plus) and later childhood (12 – 18 years). Early childhood is a critical period in human development. It is a period when the foundation for the development of major life skills are laid, therefore the environment in which the child is nurtured at this critical period should be safe, responsive and nurturing enough to ensure sound basis for future development. Thus the need for early childhood education.
Early childhood education is practiced in most societies; both government and private individuals make provision for early childhood education programs of various types for children below the official school age (usually 0-5 years) mainly to prepare them for the rigors of primary education and beyond. Early years in life are the most important to the formation of intelligence, personality and social behavior of a child. That is why modern societies show serious concern for the education of their young ones by providing needed support to prepare them to succeed later in school (Ejieh, 2006). The Federal Republic of Nigeria in the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2014)in her National Policy on Education (NPE), holds that early childhood education is the education given in an educational institution to children prior to their entering the primary school. It includes the crèche, the nursery and the kindergarten. The indispensability of early childhood education as the basis for the development of cognitive, affective and psychomotor potentials needed in adult life cannot be overemphasized.
Early years in life are widely accepted as the most important period during which children experience cognitive, language, perceptual, socio-emotional and motor development which they will need for future achievements and social functioning. This informs the reason why the periods of the early years need to be handled with all special and detailed attention. Alabi and Ijaiya(2014) noted that the early years of children are years of extreme vulnerability and tremendous potentials, during which adequate protection, care and stimulation are essential to provide the foundation for well-being and development of the child. In providing this foundation during the early years, Early Childhood Education (ECE) play a key role. Generally, ECE is aimed at promoting holistic development of children from birth to age 5. According to Oleleye and Omatayo (2009), ECE is any group programme that is designed to promote children’s intellectual development, socio-emotional development, language development, physical development and learning from birth to age5. Huar (2010) agreed with Mahuta (2007) by stating the aims of ECE to include fostering proper development of children, identifying and addressing their problems, harnessing their potentials, molding their characters, enhancing their learning and equipping them for life so that their actions are channeled towards positive personal, communal and global development. It is pertinent to note that all ECE activities and programmes are geared towards giving positive early experiences to children.
