Arab Educational Information Network

This is a study on the misconception parents and teachers have about early childhood education. In order to carry out the study, a sample of five teachers and ten parents was randomly drawn from each of five schools that offer early childhood education (random and stratified sampling) and a research instrument, based on a Likert-scale, was administered on them. The data was analyzed using frequency counts, measure of relative standing (%), and chi square (x2). The research findings revealed that the majority of the respondents perceive early childhood education as important; children are enrolled in too many early childhood education programs; both teachers and parents believe that children who attend early childhood education perform better than children who do not; children spend hours of study that are beyond their developmental stage; both parents and teachers opined that the scope of the early childhood education should include both the western and Islamic curricula; and children who are not mature enough attend early childhood education. The study, therefore, recommended that stakeholders in early childhood education, especially parents, should be made aware that even though early childhood education is important, children should be exposed to a related program only when they are sufficiently mature for it. (Published abstract)