Organizing early childhood education in Saudi Arabia

Abstract EN

Early Childhood education is recent phenomenon in the Kingdom.

Much attention is needed for the early childhood programs on systematic basis.

These programs have many facets, viz, administrator preparation, teacher training, paraprofessional education, facilities and equipment, parent involvement, curricula, pupil personal services, building and architectural design, transportation, and food services.

This work deals only with four areas, namely, curricula, parent involvement, facilities and teacher education.

Curricula are organized in detail under five areas, 1) religions, personal and social development, 2) sensory motor skill development, 3) language development, receptive and expressive, 4) mathematics and science skills, and 5) the creative arts.

Parents are the child’s primary first and most important teachers.

The work studies the factors affecting and encouraging the continuation of parent involvement.

Facilities and resources needed for preschool program that must correspond to the needs of children, are studied in this research; indoor and outdoor spaces, manipulative materials, furniture, toilet, qualified teachers, trained paraprofessionals, social workers, nurses, psychologists, food services, and medical services.

Teacher is the most essential element of early childhood program and, hence, selection and education of teachers should be of prime importance.

The research illustrates a prototype program for teacher’s selection and education.