Early Childhood in Spain and Canada

The topic of discussion for this week’s blog is what is happening in early childhood in different countries around the world. I talked to both of my friends, in Spain and in Canada, and here is what they had to say. My friend Gail said that in Calgary, in recent years, they have kept their focus on learning through play. Literacy, math, and science activities done through fun playful learning experiences are still very important, as well as teaching acceptable social behaviors such as listening, respect, sharing, turn taking, etc. She explained that school readiness is important to all public school early childhood programs because they do have a literacy focus, but they still introduce things in a fun, playful environment where center choices are important. Estephanie, from Malaga, says it depends on the age of the child. From ages zero to three, the emphasis is to keep children in places that are safe and provide social interaction. She explained that social interaction is very important for Spaniards, and they want children to behave well and appropriately when in groups and family settings. There is not a lot of academic push during this time and parents are happy if children are in safe clean and caring environments. Once they turn three, the focus change to school readiness. Children are expected to be very independent by this time; no bottles, no diapers, and basic self- help skills are expected. She said that 4 year old children are expected to be engaged in learning and getting ready for school. A lot of elementary schools host preschool classes for three year old children and preschool for four year old children is part of the mandatory education system. 

I think this information is very interesting in lieu of what seems to be the focus here in the U.S. In other parts of the world early childhood policy and practice seems to be focused on school readiness, but there is a foundational system in place that has supported social-emotional development so that children are ready to learn when they get to formal schooling.