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Early Childhood Care and Development
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.
Explore the library for more education resources.
Photo: Jack Taylor/Save the Children
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RecommendedLaying the Foundations: Early childhood care and development
Early childhood care and education are vital to improving child survival and children's overall development. Programmes offering this support are a vital tool to reduce poverty. The report looks at the current state of play. Which children are accessing t
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RecommendedEnding the hidden exclusion. Learning and equity in education post-2015
Save the Children International’s new report ‘Ending the hidden exclusion: Learning and equity in education post-2015’, looks at how to ensure that all children are both in school and learning. Millions of children suffer from a ‘hidden exclusion’ from ed
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RecommendedFulfilling the Promise: Ensuring the post-2015 education agenda delivers on equity and learning
“Fulfilling the Promise” calls for an ambitious post-2015 education framework that strongly prioritises equity and learning. One unified post-2015 education agenda – one which aligns the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework with the Education
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RecommendedWalk the Talk: Review of donor's humanitarian policies on education
Education is a fundamental right for all children in all situations. Yet in the world today, about 58 million primary school aged children are denied their right to education (UNESCO, 2015). Half of them, 28.5 million, live in conflict and crisis affected
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RecommendedFutures on the Line: Yemen's children missing an education
The humanitarian situation in Yemen has deteriorated month on month since the current armed conflict escalated in March 2015. Today 21.2 million people (or 82% of the population) are in need of humanitarian assistance, including nearly 10 million children
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RecommendedWindows 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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Big leaps of success, one word at a time in Zaskok, Ferizaj
Read the success story of Nart, who was diagnosed with speech delay, but who has been able to receive help through Save the Children's Early Childhood Care and Development Center in Zaskok.
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Caregiver-Reported Early Development Index (CREDI): User's Guide
The Caregiver Reported Early Development Index (CREDI) was designed to serve as a population-level measure of early childhood development (ECD) for children from birth to age three. As the name suggests, the CREDI exclusively relies on caregiver reports,
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The Quality Pre-school Package
The early years of life constitute a critical period during which foundational skills become established. Offering quality early childhood care and development (ECCD) experiences provides young children with the opportunity to develop initial linguistic,
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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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Lessons in Literacy: 8 principles to ensure every last child can read
Over the last several decades the world has made incredible progress in getting children into school. However, there is more work to be done to ensure that every last child is learning. While the focus on access to school has been important, it has been p
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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