Pre-School-U

Pre-School U is a guide for parents and caregivers providing early childhood education for children under the age of five. This Detroit Public Television community outreach project is a multi-media book, meant to educate parents on the five domains of early childhood education through video tips and advice from experts.

The five domains of early childhood education are cognition, language and literacy, physical well-being and motor development, social and emotional development, and approaches to learning. By taking advantage of daily activities, chores and playtime, parents will learn how to make daily life a wonderful learning opportunity for their child.

"Early childhood education is not the same as education of older children, adolescents and adults. While we all learn best from our own self-initiated activities, as children get older, teacher-directed instruction becomes more appropriate," explains Larry Schweinhart, the former president of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

"Young children can learn from teacher-directed instruction of course, but they learn best when they initiate their own learning activities. Early childhood teachers are not so much instructors as they are learning coaches. They help young children learn from their own activities, rather than simply giving them the answers. In this way, children are not only provided with lessons, but with a love of learning and clear model for how to pursue self-education."

The tips, discussion questions and suggestions in Pre-School U instill life-long learning habits, which prepare children for school and life.