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In the article "Early Childhood Trends Around the World" in the May 2007 issue of Exchange, Liana Ghent, executive director of the International Step by Step Association, outlines recent trends in early childhood in the former Soviet Republics:

"Under the educational system of former communist countries, the care and teaching of children 0-7 years was a service provided by governments in kindergarten financed and run by the state or by big enterprises. After the political and socio-economical system changed, many kindergartens either closed down or started charging parents significantly higher amounts for their services. All of the above has had the unfortunate effect of reducing access to child care and leaving it and school readiness in the hands of non-professionals in early childhood. The families that have been most affected by these changes are those with low socio-economic status, language differences, from rural areas, and with challenging personal issues.

"In an attempt to improve the situation, in some countries a compulsory pre-school year has been introduced in primary schools. However, it usually focuses largely on cognitive issues related to readiness for school. This year is not quality early childhood practice; moreover, it is not always accessible to children from disadvantaged families. Other problems include the high number of children in classrooms, and the fact that in some cases day care is viewed as a business and provided by private non-professional individuals."

This entire article is available for review in the Exchange Ideas for You -- FREE section on our home page at www.ChildCareExchange.com.

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One of Exchange's newest publications, Dibujando con Niños / Drawing with Children can now be purchased on our website!

This creative guidebook was developed for the World Forum by Roxana Salazar and Maria Carmen Schulze based on the work teaching children to draw with extremely limited resources.

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