In this era of the common-core academic standards, early-childhood educators around the country are grappling with how to balance preparing the youngest learners for the challenges of the new standards in K-12 with their needs for strong social and emotional development.
The Erikson Institute, the nation’s only graduate school focused exclusively on improving care and education for children from birth to age 8, hosted an event last week to try and help educators work through this thorny issue.
Titled “High-Quality PreK-3rd in the Age of Common Core,” the forum features a number of speakers who talk about how early-learning standards can be aligned with the rigorous new standards without sacrificing the emphasis on the social and emotional skills that preschoolers really need.