Hello Yvette--
I am glad you have become a member of NAEYC-- it has been a great resource for me both in teaching at many age levels and in mentoring early childhood professionals.
My response to your question is that early childhood education is
absolutely about birth through age 8! In other words, it is very important that we apply what we know about young children to those in the 5 through 8 age bracket. This has been especially important for us to keep in mind in recent years, particularly as issues of academic expectations have ramped up in the younger grades. Children in the primary grades need us to remember that they do their best learning when we recognize the importance of their learning through their senses and through their own first hand concrete experiences. Additionally, any of the recent publications about cultural responsiveness and social and emotional learning are also very relevant for those who work with the primary grades.
A number of NAEYC publications in the last few years have specifically addressed learning in the primary grades-- the one that comes easily to my mind is the
Young Children from last September of 2020 on the general topic of "
FOSTERING CONTENT KNOWLEDGE: MEANINGFUL INTEGRATION IN THE PRIMARY GRADES." You might try searching on the NAEYC website for "primary grades" and take a look at some of the publication resources that come up.
Best wishes for your work with all the early childhood ages!
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Monica O'Gara
Woodbine MD
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-03-2021 01:56 PM
From: Yvette Lovell-Biggs
Subject: NAEYC age range
Hello,
I'm relatively new to NAEYC and FLAEYC. I always thought that Early Childhood Education included ages birth to age 8 (2nd grade). But it seems that most of the focus in resources, information, or discussions from NAEYC and its affiliates pertain to Pre-Kindergarten. Is birth to age 4 NAEYC's consideration for ECE? Thanks in advance?
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Yvette Lovell-Biggs
Teacher
St. Anthony Catholic School
Lakeland FL
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