Program design options

Young children develop in the home, in day care centers, and in the community. But whether home-based or center-based, all preschool programs can consist of a combination of the following complementary approaches:

· Delivering services to children. Although usually center-based, this approach can also be used in the home. Its goal is to attend to the immediate needs of children. Examples include the U.S. Head Start program, Bolivia's Integrated Child Development Project, Colombia's Community Child Care and Nutrition Project, and India's Integrated Child Development Project.

· Training caregivers and educating parents. This approach seeks to show parents and caregivers how to improve their interaction with young children and how to improve the quality of care these children receive, enriching their environment and thereby enhancing their development. Examples include Mexico's Initial Education Project and Chile's Parent and Children Program.

· Promoting community development and helping women to achieve development objectives. This strategy stresses community initiative, organization, and participation to create a basis for the political and social changes needed to correct conditions adversely affecting child development. It usually requires extensive involvement and assistance from nongovernmental organizations engaged in the community and considerable sensitivity to local cultural needs. By providing safe and affordable child care, these programs allow mothers the opportunity to pursue work

Table 1 Complementary, program approaches for early child development

· Increase monitoring of and compliance with international human rights conventions outside the home. Some mothers earn income by establishing child care facilities for community children in their homes. Examples include the Colombia Community Child Care and Nutrition and Promesa projects and the Bolivia Integrated Child Development Project.

Source: Adapted from Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development 1992, p. 22.

· Strengthening institutional resources and capacity. This approach seeks to strengthen the institutions responsible for implementing early child interventions. Examples include Kenya's early education centers, and World Bank-supported projects in Bolivia, Mexico, and Nigeria that have as a secondary objective strengthening institutional capacity for early child development interventions.

· Building public awareness and strengthening demand. This approach focuses on producing and disseminating the information needed to create awareness of-and demand for-early childhood services. It targets parents, community leaders, and policymakers-as in Nigeria's Development Communications Project.