Early Childhood Education Compare & Contrast Paper

Early Childhood Education
Compare & Contrast paper

As early childhood educators we all have our own philosophies and approaches to education. There are several types of early childhood programs. Each program has its own philosophies, methods, and program goals. Every early childhood educator is unique making each early childhood program experience special. Consistently, early childhood programs offer educational foundations that prepare young students for their educational futures. In this paper I will focus on comparing and contrasting two programs that stood out to me, Ridgeline Montessori and the Whitaker Head Start. When examining early childhood programs there are many similarities and differences across the board. After observing both programs, I noticed that both schools have benefited from tailoring the services and programs provided to their communities. It helps early childhood programs become more effective at reaching their students. These two programs focus on providing services to two different communities of families, however, they both have the same goals in preparing students for formal schooling. The environment of each of these two programs differs in many ways. Due to the different methods, curriculum, level of family involvement, resources, funding, and teacher’s available programs can differ in structure. Some programs are built on models based upon psychological theories and principals, while others are more focused on students’ interests and individual needs.

Ridgeline Montessori school is a free public charter school that is offered to any students in the community, through a lottery system. Students who don’t initially get in are placed on a wait list in the order in which they applied. Even though Ridgeline is a public charter school, many low-income families may not be aware of the opportunity or have the resources to send their children there. Head Start on the other hand is a national federally funded program,