EDUCATION REPORT - U.S. Early Childhood Education

EDUCATION REPORT
–
August 15, 2002: U.S. Early Childhood Education

By Jerilyn Watson

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.

About forty years ago, only five percent of American children who were three or
four years old attended early education programs. Today, about two-thirds of the
children of that age go to preschools, nursery¹ schools or daycare centers with
educational programs. Many education experts say this is a good situation. They say
young children who have some kind of preschool education do much better when
they attend school.

Young children in preschool programs learn colors and numbers. They identify
common objects and letters of the alphabet² to prepare them for reading. They sing
and play games that use numbers and maps. They learn to cooperate³ with teachers and other children. Many
preschool programs include activities to help young children learn about the world around them. For example,
children visit places like zoos, museums and fire and police stations.

After preschool, most American children attend kindergarten in public schools. Most children start kindergarten
at about age five. Many American kindergartens now require skills taught in early education programs. So
children who have not attended a preschool program may not be ready for kindergarten.

Many families, however, lack enough money to send their children to private nursery schools or preschools. Such
schools may cost several thousand dollars a year, as much as a public university.

To help poor families, the government operates an education program for young children called Head Start.
Studies have shown that many children from poor families do not do well in school. Studies also have shown that
children in Head Start programs perform equally⁴ well or better than other children when they start school. But the
government currently⁵ is providing Head Start with enough money to serve only about sixty percent of the
children who need this program.

Educators have expressed concern that some early childhood education programs are not good enough. The
United⁶ States has about eighty-thousand preschools, nursery schools and daycare centers. The National
Association⁷ for the Education of Young Children studies these schools. The association says it has approved only
about ten percent of the preschools in the country. Experts say American children need more and better preschool
education.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Steve Ember.

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1 nursery   

n.托儿所；苗圃

参考例句：

• They have decided to start up a nursery in the factory.他们已决定要在工厂里开办一个托儿所。
• Her company ran its own workplace nursery.她的公司开办了内部的托儿所。

2 alphabet   

n.字母表，符号系统

参考例句：

• There are 26 letters in the English alphabet.英语字母表中有26个字母。
• The last letter of the alphabet is Z.字母表的最后一个字母是Z。

3 cooperate   

vi.合作，协作，相配合

参考例句：

• We hope we can cooperate even more closely in the future.希望我们今后能更加密切地合作。
• I hope you can cooperate on this matter.我希望你在这件事上能给予合作。

4 equally   

adv.平等地；公平地

参考例句：

• Divide the cake into quarters and share it equally.把蛋糕分成四份，大家平均享用。
• The blue sky belongs equally to us all.蓝天为人所共有。

5 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

6 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

7 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。