What’s in a Name?

11/22/2021

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and a talk beside the fire.
Edith Stilwell, British poet

A few weeks ago, many readers of ExchangeEveryDay shared comments about what our field should be called. Here’s a small sampling:

"A name must carry out the mission of what young children need...Quality care that offers age appropriate activities, nurturing caring, educators grounded in Child Development. All children deserve this!"

"It's an older catchphrase but worth repeating - we don't care for DAYS. We care for CHILDREN."

"I remember years ago a professor asking our class of graduate students what we called the place young children (under 6 yrs.) attended for care and learning. As we called out, she wrote on the chalk board: nursery school, preschool, childcare center, daycare center, lab school, home care, infant crèche, even nanny and baby sitter…Her point was it didn’t really matter what you called that place as long as the children were well cared for, the parents were respected and the environment was developmentally appropriate and fun."

"Universal early care and education are important to all children regardless of where they attend. My concern is that we need to continue to allow children to be children and learn in the best way possible, through play."

Carol Garboden Murray, in her popular new book, Illuminating Care, makes the point that we cannot separate care from education, and that indeed, care IS education. She writes about all aspects of how adults consider programs for children. In an article that provides the basis for an Exchange Reflections, “The Soundscape of Early Childhood Education,” she explains how important it is for adults to consider what sounds children hear all day:

“I am noise sensitive and did not like school. The cafeteria and hallways were painfully noisy places, but I loved my first-grade teacher’s voice…It was the tone of her voice that anchored me and made me feel safe in a big public school. I still have a hard time being in crowded noisy places, so as a teacher of young children…I have thought a great deal about how to create pleasant soundscapes for young children.”

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