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Early childhood care and development (ECCD)
The first six years of a child’s life is a time of great promise and rapid change, when their developing brain is most open to the influence of relationships and experiences. However, millions of children across the world are at risk of not reaching their full potential because they do not get the care and stimulation they need in the early stages of life.
To achieve the SDGs and ensure that all girls and boys, especially the most deprived, are developmentally on-track we need to start early. Save the Children works with families and communities to help children to develop foundational learning skills in the years leading up to school. Save the Children also works with communities and partners to advocate for policies and practices that recognise the value of starting early and investing in cost-effective, inclusive quality approaches to ECCD.
Our goal is that all children will access quality inclusive early childhood care and demonstrate improved child development outcomes.
Save the Children’s experience shows that to reach the most vulnerable children, we need to go beyond preschools. High quality caregiving must be supported both in homes and in early learning centres to build strong foundations for young girls and boys. Moreover, rural, linguistic minority and refugee children need urgent support as they are falling behind. Save the Children works to address these gaps through targeted interventions, such as early learning programmes that support children’s learning at home in emergency and post-disaster settings, among remote and nomadic communities, and in areas where preschools are not available or accessible.
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Care for Child Development (C4CD) Plus: A pilot project for 3-5 year old children
Save the Children, in partnership with the Ministry of Health of Bhutan, implemented an innovative intervention to provide a quality parenting program which is “The Care for Child Development Program (C4CD) Plus”. The program aims to empower parents and
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International Development and Early Learning Assessment Technical Paper
Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs help ensure that young children fulfill their right to healthy development and education, and ultimately assist them in reaching their full potential. In the ECCD field, there are few international tool
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International Development And Early Learning Assessment: Qualcomm project
This study uses the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) tool to measure the developmental status of children who enrolled in Play for Learning Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) centres and those enrolled in Non-interv
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Windows into Early Learning and Development
Windows into Early Learning and Development sheds light on what can be done to give all children the best chance in life in their first five years. Poverty, stunting, and lack of cognitive stimulation mean that nearly half of 3- and 4-year-old children in
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Emergent Literacy and Math (ELM) Mozambique- Midline report 2016
One of Save the Children’s programmatic priorities is supporting children around the world with quality early childhood care and development (ECCD) programs. The focus is on strengthening school readiness skills so that young children are ready to enter a
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The Lost Boys: How boys are falling behind in their early years
Every child deserves the best start in life. But in England now, many children aren’t getting the support they need to reach their potential. During their pre-school years children learn so much – discovering through play, and starting to speak and unders
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Inclusive Education: What, Why, and How: A handbook for program implementers
Inclusive education is one dimension of a rights-based quality education which emphasizes equity in access and participation, and responds positively to the individual learning needs and competencies of all children. Inclusive education is child-centered
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Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD): Various modalities of delivering early cognitive stimulation programs for 0-6 year olds
Before young children can start to learn reading and math, they need to develop the physical, cognitive, language and social skills to use a pencil, follow a story and listen quietly to a teacher. That’s why Save the Children (SC) places such a high prior
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Lighting Up Young Brains: How parents, carers and nurseries support children's brain development in the first five years
Lighting Up Young Brains looks at the science behind young children's brain development and its relationship to children's language development. It shows how parents, carers and early years workers can support this process- with a set of top tips for pare
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0-3 Parenting Program Innovations in Bangladesh: Follow up study 2015-2016
Since 2011, Save the Children has been programming and evaluating early childhood development programs for children aged 0-3 years in Bangladesh. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible lasting impact of 0-3 programming on parents and childr
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Improving Child Nutrition and Development Through Community-based Childcare Centres in Malawi- The NEEP-IE study: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
The Nutrition Embedded Evaluation Programme Impact Evaluation (NEEP-IE) study is a cluster randomised controlled trial designed to evaluate the impact of a childcare centre-based integrated nutritional and agricultural intervention on the diets, nutrition
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Save the Children's Education Strategic Direction, 2016-2018
Every child has a right to education as written in international law, and Save the Children will not rest until all children enjoy that right. In addition to being a right, good quality education is the means by which we equip our children with the knowle