From local to international levels, leaders in education, science, medicine, government, and business have acknowledged the value – indeed, the imperative – in adopting and implementing early childhood education and development initiatives for all preschool aged children, especially three- and four-year-olds.
In the U.S., this movement has received recognition and support at the highest levels of government, through Good Start, Grow Smart: The Bush Administration's Early Childhood Initiative. Good Start, Grow Smart makes clear that "there is a strong connection between the development a child undergoes early in life and the level of success that the child will experience later in life."
Internationally, the World Bank has funded extensive research on the links between proactive early childhood education, and its essential role in enabling developing nations to establish tangible, sustainable advances in their social, political, and economic stability.
Exceed Preschool Curriculums were designed and developed by highly educated professionals with lifelong practical classroom experience, and then classroom tested in diverse settings, based on the knowledge that:
- Development of the human brain begins soon after conception
- Learning begins at birth and, if properly supported, continues throughout life
- The optimal environment for maximizing the potential of a child's brain is in a combination of settings that includes the home, and in more diverse environments such as quality day care, pre-kindergarten early childhood education settings, and programs such as Head Start
The most effective preschool curriculum should:
- Be based on a judicious combination of the relevant, available research, and practical classroom experiences
- Be suitable for teachers with all levels of experience, education, and training
- Provide a clear and consistent format that ensures appropriate transitions from one activity to the next
- Utilize appropriate educational materials already in the classroom that are familiar to the teacher in implementing the curriculum that has been selected
- Be highly intuitive for the teacher and quickly integrated into the flow of daily activities in the classroom
- Effectively prepare young children to enter the next phase in their learning – whether in a public or private setting – with a smooth transition and all of the necessary knowledge to exceed