Early Childhood Education

Early Childhood Education:.  Early childhood education is a branch of educational theory which relates to the teaching of young children up until the age of about eight, with a particular focus on education, notable in the period before start of compulsory education.

Context of Childhood Education:.
Much of the first two years of a child's life is spent in the creation of a child's first "sense of self", most children are able to differentiate between themselves and others by their second year. This is a crucial part of the child's ability to determine how they  should function in relation to other people. Early care must emphasize links to family, home culture and home language by uniquely caring for each child which is known as the key worker system.
Infant education is the education of children before they would normally enter school. The term infant is typically applied to children between the ages of 1 month and 12 months.
Early childhood education education focuses on children's learning through play, based on the research and philosophy of Jean Piaget. This belief is centered on the Power of Play. Play is a form of exercise that extends children's development. Play meets the physical, intellectual language emotional and social needs of children. Tassoni suggests that some play opportunities will develop specific individual areas of development, but many will develop several areas. Depending on the child and their interests will determine the areas of play they are good at. During free play it was seen in a setting that children enjoy playing using their imagination in many different ways. It is important practitioners promote children;s development through play by using various play activities on a daily basis.
It has been thought that children learn more efficiently and gain more knowledge through play based activities such as dramatic play art, and social games. This theory play stems children's natural curiosity and tendencies to make believe mixing in education lessons.
Researchers and early childhood educators both view the parents as an integral part of the early childhood education process. Often educators refer to parents as the child's first and best teachers.