IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Fall 2018 | Page 34

Education Special Section
improve, and communicate the level of
quality in early and school-aged care and
education programs. In Pennsylvania, the
Keystone STARS (Standards, Training/
Professional Development, Assistance,
Resources, and Support) program
focuses on the importance of employing
quality staff, professional development,
early learning programs, partnerships
with family and the community, and
leadership and management of facilities.
Within these structured guidelines, the
state aims to ensure that quality care is
provided to preschool-aged students at all
facilities. But some educational daycares
are working to “up the ante” on the level
of education students receive.
According to the National Association
for the Education of Young Children,
there are a variety of ways to implement
effective classroom practices involving
technology and interactive media. As
preschoolers are immersed in the use
of technology at home—with their
parents on their phones, siblings on their
tablets, and watching others use the
computer—they are curious about the
technologies around them. From a young
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age, they are encouraged to communicate
using a variety of expressions; whether
it is through coloring, painting, creative
movement, singing or talking, children
look to the world of possibilities to be
creative.
Digital technology is another outlet
for learning and creativity, and with
its inherent use throughout homes
in the U.S., children are learning to
explore touchscreens and other forms of
interactive media. Educational daycares
are utilizing digital technologies to
explore e-books, watch educational
videos, and explore places and things that
children may not see within their own
environment (videos about visiting a
factory, or pictures of people and places
that are foreign to them). Programs that
allow students to freely explore these
types of digital media are designed to
facilitate active and creative use and
are encouraged to be done with other
children and adults as a form of social
engagement.
Use of technologies is only one of the
variety of options that figure into the
aspects of choosing a classroom that
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is right for a young learner. Parents are
playing a larger role in shaping their early
learners with the choice of play-based
learning programs versus academic
learning programs. Play-based or child-
centered programs focus on the current
interests of the child. Classrooms are
set up in different sections, such as a
kitchen, home, science area, reading
nook, or water area, for kids to engage in
social interactions with others and learn
valuable skills based from play. Academic
or didactic, teacher-directed programs are
structured with a curriculum involving
planned activities guided by teachers
and designed to prepare students for a
kindergarten-type setting. Either method
for learning prepares young children for
their future interactions, both socially and
educationally. Finding the learning style
that best suits your own child’s needs will
set him/her up for success.
K-12 Education
It is early in education that
students start to become
competent in utilizing the tools needed in
our society. Reading, writing, math and