Forum on Public Policy Early Childhood Education: The Promise, The Challenges

The benefits of high quality early childhood programs have been documented. Good programs engage students in developmentally appropriate practices that include pre-literacy, pre-numeracy activities, language, social and physical development in these preschool programs. Studies have shown that literacy skills such as letter-name recognition, phonological and print awareness affect the reading achievement of children. However, in the rush to provide these skills, preschool programs cannot overlook the important role that culture plays. There is an important place for multicultural education and even an anti-bias curriculum. Several reasons are given for multicultural education from the need to confront the harmful effects of racism, as well as the need to address the poor academic performance of the growing number of children from ethnic groups of color who are entering schools. This paper will outline some of the benefits of pre-school programs and address some of the issues contribute to the development of a high quality early childhood literacy programs that also values culture and diversity