Early Childhood Education and Care Practices: A Comparative Report

This report provides a comparative analysis of early childhood education and care (ECEC) practices between Australia and Canada. The introduction emphasizes the importance of early childhood education for children's development, highlighting its positive impact on mental growth and social interaction. The discussion section delves into the ECEC systems in both countries. In Australia, it distinguishes between formal and informal care, detailing preschools and long-day care options, as well as the role of parents and grandparents. The report references the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) for data. In contrast, the report notes that Canada mandates preschool entry by age 5, with optional programs in Ontario for two-year-olds. The conclusion underscores the universal importance of education, referencing UNESCO, and emphasizes the crucial role of family in a child's development. The report is supported by references to key research papers that explore various aspects of early childhood education and care.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION 1
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE

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Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Discussion:.......................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction:
Early childhood care and education are of utmost importance and very much effective for the
growth and development for the children. It has a positive impact on children’s mental growth
and learning as well. The children belonging to the age group from 1-8 years need special care
and early childhood education for their brain development. With the help of this children can
learn how to build social interactions and this will also become helpful to build their cognitive
learning and important lifelong lessons.
Discussion:
In Australia, this ECCE is divided into two parts which are formal care and informal care. In
terms of formal care, the children belonging to 2-4 age groups are being sent send to preschool
where they learn about building social interactions and communications (Cumming, Sumsion &
Wong, 2015). The long day care schools are also available for Australian children belonging to
the 2-4 age groups. In Australia the informal care education means the learning and education
which are given by the parents and grandparents which are important for the children who
belong to 0-12 age group and research points out about 16% children in Australia are being
taken care of by their parents and grandparents (Cloney, Cleveland, Hattie & Tayler, 2016).

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION 4
Source: https://aifs.gov.au/publications/child-care-and-early-childhood-education-australia
Source: https://aifs.gov.au/publications/child-care-and-early-childhood-education-australia

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In contrary to Australia the children of Canada must enter into the preschool for early childhood
education until the children come to the age 5 (Perlman et al., 2016). Though in Ontario the
preschool education is optional for the children who belong to two years age group.
Conclusion:
Childcare education systems and policies are almost the same in every country around the world.
According to UNESCO education is the basic right for all the children around the world. The
mental, physical and cognitive development is also very important for the children as a result of
experiencing both formal and informal care as a family always plays a very crucial and important
role for a child’s mental and behavioral development.
References:
Cloney, D., Cleveland, G., Hattie, J., & Tayler, C. (2016). Variations in the availability and
quality of early childhood education and care by socioeconomic status of
neighborhoods. Early Education and Development, 27(3), 384-401.
Cumming, T., Sumsion, J., & Wong, S. (2015). Rethinking early childhood workforce
sustainability in the context of Australia's early childhood education and care
reforms. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 9(1), 2.
Perlman, M., Falenchuk, O., Fletcher, B., McMullen, E., Beyene, J., & Shah, P. S. (2016). A
systematic review and meta-analysis of a measure of staff/child interaction quality (the

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classroom assessment scoring system) in early childhood education and care settings and
child outcomes. PloS one, 11(12), e0167660.