It Takes a City to Raise the Children: The 2002 Shouguang City Early Childhood Education Initiative

Abstract

Through the 2002 Early Childhood Education Initiative, Shouguang City in the Shandong province of China expanded its early childhood education program to include children below the age of three. The strategies which were applied to ensure the successful implementation of the program included: (1) creating a three-tiered professional development program for preschool teachers to enhance their knowledge and skills in infant and toddler care; (2) opening activity centers for infants and toddlers cared for at home and their parents to provide them with professional early education services; (3) reaching out to families of children cared for at home by offering parental education and individualized consultation; and (4) utilizing local resources in the community to allow more young children access to much-needed learning materials. This Initiative has achieved its goal of raising the community's awareness of the importance of early childhood education. As a result, parents and teachers in the community have gained knowledge of child development and skills in early childcare, and more local children are receiving quality early education, which has consequently brought positive changes to the entire community.