Roles of Parents Teachers and Caregivers for the Early Childhood Care and

Development

Office of the Education Council, Ministry of Education

Preface

TheOffice of theEducationCouncil (OEC),Ministry of Education is organizing

anInternationalConferenceonEducationduring23–25June2013attheCentaraGrand

andBangkokConventionCentre atCentralWorld,Bangkok. This is an important venue

incorporating several events related to Education, for example, EducationResearch

Symposium,EducationPolicyReviewwithUNESCOandOECD,TeacherDevelopment,

EducationforAllandGlobalMonitoringReport,MeasuresofAchievements,ASEANandNational

Qualifications Frameworks, EarlyChildhoodEducation,CapacityBuilding in Science,

Mathematics,Innovation,EnglishProficiency,ExhibitionsandRoundtableDiscussions.

Thisdocument is contributed for the roundtablediscussion “Roles of Parents,

TeachersandCaregivers forEarlyChildhoodCareandEducation”onMonday24June,

2013.TheOfficeoftheEducationCouncilexpectsthatthisdocumentwillbeusefulforpeople

whoareresponsibleforEarlyChildhoodCareandEducationinThailandaswellastheones

relatedtotheissue(i.e.childrenandparents)

Dr.SasitharaPichaichannarong

Secretary-General

Contents

Page

SituationofEarlyChildhoodEducation 1

Agencies 1

NumbersofEarlyChildhoodChildren 5

Operation 6

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Role of Parents Teachers and Caregivers for the Early Childhood Care and Development

Situation of Early Childhood Education

EarlyChildhood’sdefinitionaccordingtoLong-TermPolicyandStrategyforEarlychildhoodcare

anddevelopment(0-5Agegroup)2007-2016ischildrenfromburnuntiltheage5years11months29

days(under6years)whereasNationalStrategicPlanforEarlyChildhoodDevelopment,Theyreferred

tothenewborntopre-firstgraders;theyincludechildreningeneral,thosedisadvantagedanddisabled

isaswellaschildrenofforeignoriginlivinginThailand.

Although the early childhood education is not the compulsory education, the government

agenciesalsoprovidethedevelopmentactivitiesforthemincludingprovideparentsandstakeholders

theknowledgeoftheearlychildhoodcare.Thegovernmentrealizesthattheearlychildhoodeducation

is the heart of human development which is important to the development in physical, emotional,

social,mentalandintellectual.EarlyChildhoodcouldbedividedinto2groups;FirstlyChildrenaged

0–3years,SecondlyChildrenaged3–5years

1) Childrenaged0–3yearswhichshouldberearedbythefamily.Inthecasethatthefamily

can’trearthemselves, theearlychildhooddevelopmentcentersareprovidedintermofHomecare,

Nursery,andInitialcarecenterfordisability.TheagenciesregardingthisgroupareMinistryofPublic

Health,MinistryofSocialDevelopmentandHumanSecurityandMinistryofInterior.

2) Childrenaged3–5yearswhichusuallyenrolledinthechildrendevelopmentCenterand

school.TheagenciesregardingthisgroupareMinistryofEducation,MinistryofInteriorandTheBorder

PetrolPoliceBureau.

Agencies

1) Ministry of Public Health (MPH):Itprovidesparentpreparation;pregnantcare;motherand

childhealthcare–physical,mentalandnutritional;vaccinationtoproduceimmunitytodisease;Iodine

supplementation,E.Q.andI.Q.enhancement.MPHhasthedepartmentregardingtheearlychildhood

developmentasfollowing

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-DepartmentofMentalHealth,itisresponsibleforcreatingtheknowledgeandunderstanding

anddevelopingtheskillsofteachersandparentstorearchildrenproperlyaccordingtotheirage.It

providesthedocumentsabouttheinnovationhowtodeveloptheintellectualofThaiearlychildhoodages

0-5years.Theseare1)TheguidelineofchildrenE.Q.&I.Q.developmentforteachersandCaregiverin

Childdevelopmentcenter.2)TheguidelineofchildrenE.Q.&I.Q.developmentforteachersinschool

3)TheguidelineofchildrenE.Q.&I.Q.developmentforparents3)Theguidelineforlecturerhowto

buildchildrenE.Q.& I.Q.developmentcourse.And5)Theguidelinehow tocreate theactivitiesof

childrenE.Q.&I.Q.developmentinschoolandChilddevelopmentcenter.

-DepartmentofHealth,itisresponsiblefordevelopingtheknowledgeofthehealthpromotion

I.e.providethehealthknowledge,givetheconsultanttothemateandtheexpectingmother. It is in

chargeofthefamilywarm,familyplan.

-ChildrenHospital,Theprojectsrelatedtotheearlychildhooddevelopmentare:Theprojects

of theearlychildhood’sdevelopmentaretherolemodelof thebreastfeeding,thecallcenterfor the

consultantaboutthebreastfeeding,theAustitimcareanddevelopmentproject.

-RajanukulInstitute,Responsiblefordevelopinganacademiccenterforchilddevelopment

and intellectual disability, tertiary holistic service for intellectual disability. It is in charge of transfer

of knowledgeand technologies inpromotion,prevention, treatment,and rehabilitation in intellectual

disabilities.

2) Ministry of interior

-LocalAdministrativeOrganization,DepartmentofLocalAdministration, it isresponsible

forsupportingandpromotingtheoperationofLocalAdministrativeOrganizationtoreachthehighest

efficiency. It is useful for the quality of life in each local area. Early childhood children which this

department is in charge are the highest portion. This department provides the child development

centerforchildrenaged3-5years.

In thepast, thechilddevelopmentcenter is responsibleby thecommunitydevelopment

department,DepartmentofReligiousAffairsandministryofeducationuntilthedecentralizationtoLocal

AdministrativeOrganizationActhasbeenpromulgate.TheCentersfromallagenciesaretransfer to

localadministrativeorganization.Thereare2typesofthechilddevelopmentcenters,firstlyThecenter

establishedbylocaladministrativeorganization,secondly,Thecentertransferredfromotheragencies.

DepartmentofLocalAdministrationtakesactionontheearlychildhood’sdevelopmentasfollowing;

1) Developingtheguardianandcaregiverwith

- Training theguardian andcaregiver about the competency, skill, experienceand

suggestunderstandwhattheearlychildhoodrearis.

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-Promoting thecareerpathbyassigning thechilddevelopmentcenter tobeoneof

LAO’ssector.Allstaffsinthechilddevelopmentcenterarealsothelocaladministrationofficer.

- Organingatrainingseminareveryyear.

2) Selectingtheoutstandingguardiansandcaregiversandtheleaderforchilddevelopment

network;Department of LocalAdministration select the outstandingguardians andcaregivers from

everydistrictsandgivethemaward.Besides,thedepartmentchoosetheleaderofthestaffsinthechild

developmentcenterfrom75provincestocreatetheprovincialchilddevelopmentnetwork.

3) Rolemodelofthechilddevelopmentcenter;DepartmentofLocalAdministrationand

ThaiHealthPromotionFoundationorganizetheRolemodelofthechilddevelopmentcentertopromote

allcentertoreachthehighestquality.

- Bangkok metropolitan; there are 2 departments in charge of the early childhood

development,namely

1) Thesocialdevelopmentdepartment;responsibleforthechildrenaged2-6yearsinterm

oftheiractivitiesandwelfare.

2) Theeducationdepartment;responsibleforprovidingtheeducationtochildrenaged4-5

years.Thereare436Schools(61,000students)underBangkokmetropolitan.

3) Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS): theministry’smissions

abouttheearlychildhoodchildrenaretohelpchildreninthepoorfamilyandchildrenwhoareinproblem

andsufferadversity. Italsopatronizesorphans. Itpromotes theoperationof thechilddevelopment

centeraged0–5yearbysupportinglunch,Supplementaryfood,toys,andsportinstruments.MSDHS

hasthedepartmentregardingtheearlychildhooddevelopmentasfollowing

- Departmentofsocialdevelopmentandwelfare;responsibleforprovidingthechildcenter

andkindergarten.Thereare9centersand327children.Besides,itfacilitesthelicensetoestablishthe

childcenterandkindergarten.

- Officeofwelfarepromotion,protectionandempowermentofvulnerablegroups;itprovides

the service for children, the disadvantaged, the disabled and the old people. In order to develop

children,itenhancesthechilddevelopmentcenterinthecommunitybypreparingthenationalstandard

ofthechilddevelopmentcenter.Thisstandardhasbeenapprovedbythecabinetsatitsmeetingon

May,32554anddeclaredtousethenationalstandardofthechilddevelopmentcenterasthecentral

standards.Andassignedtheinvolvedagenciestotakeactionuptotheirmission.

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4) Ministry of Education

- OfficeoftheBasicEducationCommission(OBEC)

OBECtakescarechildrenaged4–5years(kindergarten1-2).Ithastakentheprojects

according to thegovernmentpolicies in 5 issues, namely 1) theopportunities in education, 2) The

developmentofeducationalquality,3)Themanagementof teachersand theeducationalofficer,4)

decentralizationtotheeducationalserviceareaofficeandschooland5)Theeducationaldevelopment

inthesouthernborderprovince.Fortheearlychildhooddevelopment,OBECcreatestheprojectsas

following

- Thechildrensciencehouseproject;Itaimstodevelopthepedagogyofscienceinthe

kindergarten.

- The best practice of the learning activities for early childhood; they exchange the

experienceabouthowtocreatetheactivitiesforchildren.

- Thedevelopmentofthekindergartenmanagement;theeducationalserviceareaoffices

work together with provincial kindergarten school research the effective management of the early

childhoodeducation.

- Theworkshoponthedevelopmentof thestrengtheningacademicfor thesupervisor;

supervisorisoneoftheimportantpersonwhoguidetheknowledgetotheteacher.

- Theparentsandguardiansdevelopmentproject;theeducationalserviceareaoffices

andschooltrytoeducateparentstoknowthechildrenrearingandunderstandthechildren’scompetency.

- Theevaluationoftheearlychildhooddevelopment;theeducationalserviceareaoffices

evaluategraduatedchildren.Thetargetgroupsarechildrenintheprovincialschoolbothpublicand

private.

- Theevaluationofthekindergartenschoolsandtheirnetwork;theeducationalservice

areaofficesevaluategraduatedtherolemodelofthekindergartenschoolsandtheirnetwork.Thetarget

groupsaretheprovincialschoolbothpublicandprivate.

- Themonitoringoftheearlychildhoodlessonplan;theprojectobjectiveistoenhance

thequalityofthekindergartenschools.

- Thepromotionofearlychildhoodinnovativeresearch;OBECgivesachangetoschools

ineachregionchoosingvolunteertodeveloptheschoolquality.

- The project of 15 years free of charge education; the government announced that

allchildrenmusthaveachange togo toschoolwithoutanycharges fromkindergartenuntilhigher

secondarylevel.

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-OfficeofthePrivateEducationCommission(OPEC)

OPEChastakenanumberofstepstodeveloptheearlychildhoodeducation;

-trainingtheearlychildhoodteacherincentraltounderstandtheconceptofearlychildhood

educationandfocusonhowtofosterchildrenbecomingawareoftheenvironment.

- organizing the workshop for the teachers and the educational officers to understand the

conceptofearlychildhoodeducation.

- training theearlychildhood teacher in theprivateschool tobeable tocreate the learning

media.

Numbers of Early Childhood Children

EarlyChildhoodcouldbedividedinto2groups;FirstlyChildrenaged0–3years,Secondly

Childrenaged3–5years.Bothgroupsshouldberearedbytheirfamilywiththereasonthatallchildren

haverighttogetgoodcare,support,protection,anddevelopmentinfullpotential

1)NumberofEarlychildhoodChildrenaged0–3yearsandaged3–5years

Aged Group

2011

No. of Early Childhood

Children

No. of Children in

Child center/school Percentage

0 – 3 years 2,262,612 * *

3 – 5 years 2,690,592 2,805,537 104.3

* Thailand Educational Statistic in 2011 didn’t collect number of Children in Child center/school

2)Numberofchildrenaged3-5yearsinthekindergarten

Aged Group No. of children in the kindergarten Percentage

Total Public Private Public Private

3 – 5 years 2,805,537 2,176,869 619,364 77.5 21.5

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3)Numberofchildrenaged3-5yearsinthekindergarten/Public&PrivateAgencies

AgenciesNo.

Level

Aged 0-3

years

Child Care

center

kindergarten

1 - 3

Kindergarten

1 – 2

Ministry of Education 1,639,368 33,453 - 597,067 1,008,848

Ministry of interior

(Department of Local Administration)

1,073,352 1,033 933,720 95,277 43,322

Ministry of interior

(Bangkok Metropolitan)

86,464 - 27,334 - 59,130

Ministry of Social Development

and Human Security

327 - 247 80 -

Total 2,799,511 34,486 961,301 692,424 1,111,300

Note: The information came from Thailand Educational Statistic in 2011, Office of the education Council

Thereareotheragencieswhichisresponsibleforearlychildhoodchildreni.e.theBorderPetrol

PoliceBureauisresponsiblefor6,000pre-schoolchildrenlivinginthebordersofThailand,Ministryof

Labourspromotes51ofthechildcarecentersintheworkplaceswhichisinchargeof1,500ofchildren,

Ministryofindustriespromotes25ofthechildcarecentersintheindustriesthathave2,000children.

Operation

1. The role of parent teachers and caregiver

Parentteachersandcaregivershouldunderstandtheearlychildhoodchildreninfollowing

issues

1.1 They shouldunderstandabout the individualdifferencesandchildrendevelopment

thattherehaverapidlychangeinearlychildhood.

1.2 Theyshouldavoidthechildrencomparisonbecauseitaffectsthechildrensensibility.

1.3 Teachersandcaregivershouldavoidteachingortestingchildrentoclassifychildren

whereasparentshouldexplainwithoutcomplain.

1.4 Parents shouldn’tbelievechildrenaregeniuswhen theycananswerorunderstand

thingfast,inotherhandwhentheycan’t,parentshouldn’tbelievetheyhavethedevelopmentproblem.

Parentsshouldencouragethemtoshowtheircapabilityaccordingtotheirage.Parentsmayrecord

theirdoubtfulbehaviortoconsultthedoctor.

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1.5 They shouldaccept the individualdifferences for creating the learningenvironment

forthem.

2. HealthCareofearlychildhood

Ingeneral,Parentshouldteachchildrenabout thesanitation; itmakesthemhealthyand

promotestheirdevelopment.Whentheyaresick,theirdevelopmentregressandlackoftheopportunity

tolearn.Thebasicsanitationthatparentshouldconcentrateareasfollowing,

2.1 Eating : Children should get nutrient correctly by nutrition. Parents Should teach

childrentohavetherighteatingbehavioraccordingtotheirageandpromotetheireatinghabitsince

thebeginningofthelife.ItaffectsChildren’shealthinlongterm.

Propereatinghabitsare

1) Stop sucking up the bottoms of milk and use glass or tube because it makes

children’steethdecay.

2) Teachchildrentousesharingspoonwheneatingwithotherpeople.

3) Teach children to wash their container occasional according to their age i.e.

discardingfoodscrapsintheTrashcan.

Eatingsanitationis

1) Shouldwashtheirhandsbeforemeal.

2) Aftermeals,should teachchildren toclean theirmouthbygarglingorbrushing the

teeth.

3) Usethesharingspoonwheneatwithothers.

4) Eatonlythecookedandcleanedfood.Incasethattheyeatfreshfoodsuchasfruits

andvegetable,shouldteachthemhowtoclean.

Propereatinghabits andeating sanitationprevent children fromdiseases including spread

diseasestoother.

2.2 Sleeping :sleepingsanitationistheimportantfortheearlychildhoodchildren,mostofthem

needsleepduringdaytime.

1) Settheexacttimeforchildrentosleep.

2) Sleepandwakeupontimeeveryday

3) Don’tplaytheenergeticandexcitedactivitiesbeforebed.

4) Don’tsleepduringfullandhungry.

5) Environmentinthebedroomshouldbequiteandwithouttelevision

6) Don’tusethebedroomtopunishchildren.

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2.3 Excretion

Childrenhavethedifferentbladderandbowelhabit.Theuseofdiaperscausestheexcretion

problem.Theycan’tcontrolbladderandbowel.Theexcretionproblemistheriskfactoroftheinfection

intheurinarytract.Indaytime,childrenusuallycontrolurinateattheageof2–2½yearsafterthatthey

graduallycontrolbladderattheageof2½-3years.Innighttime,theirbladderandbowelcontrolstart

attheageof3–4years

Excretion sanitations are,

1) Teachchildrentoexcreteinthetoiletandshouldcleanthetoiletallthetime.

2) Aftertheexcretion,teachthemtowashtheirhands

3) Practicethemusingthetoileteverytimetheyfeelbladderorbowel,don’tholdbladder

andbowel.bladderandbowelcontrolpracticesbyteachingthemhowtouselavatoryorspittoon.

2.4 Illness

Thesanitationsaboutillnessthatparentsshouldteachchildrenare,

1) Whencough,sniff,snuffle,parentsshouldteachthemtoclosetheirmouthandnose.It

preventsdiseasetoother.

2) Don’tcloseortouchthesickpeopleespeciallyinthechildrencenter/school.Teachers

shouldseparatethesickpeoplefromthem.

3) Teachthemtoknowthebasicfactorthatmakethemhealthy,forexampleeatingthe

useful,cookedandcleanfood,Adequatesleep,exercise,Vaccination.

3. Childrensafety

Accidentsandviolentcausealotofchildren’sdeath.Torearchildrensafetyistheimportant

concernforparents.Thecausesofinjuryinchildrenareasfollowing,

3.1 Fall:parents,teachersandcaregiversdon’tleavechildrenaloneonthetable,chairor

bed.Theyshouldn’tusethego-cartforchildrenofallagebecauseitmaycausethemfallandinjure.

3.2 Shakechildren:parentsdon’tshakethemwhenmoodyorwanttostopthemcrying.

BecauseshakingmaycauseBleedinginthebrainandeye.

3.3 Airwayobstruction:Itcausesthebraindeathwithin4minutesthereforeparentsdon’t

allowthemtoplaythesmalltoyandleavethemalone.Parentsshouldknowhowtotakethefirstaid.

Parentsshouldforbidthemrunningandlaughingduringeating.

3.4 Sleep:bedshouldn’tbetoolargeandtoosoft.Tolieproneonthebigsoftpillowmakes

themindangerbecausetheymaynotbreathe.Parentshouldchoosethethinsmallbed.

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3.5 Scald:Don’tcarrychildrenwhentherearethehotthingonthetablebecausetheymay

sweeporcatch.Whentheyarescalded,putthescaldedpartintothecoolandcleanwater,itrelief

burn.Don’tcleanthewoundwiththetoothpaste,itmaycausetheinfection.

3.6 Animalbites:Don’tleavechildrenalonewiththeanimali.e.catordog.Shouldvaccinate

theanimal.Don’tteachthemtoannoyandharmtheanimal.

3.7 Trafficaccident:Don’tleavechildrenaloneinthecarbecausethetemperatureinside

causethedanger.Shouldinstallthebabyseatonthecar.

3.8 Drown: The accidentswhich often occur are drowning in the bathtub, canel near

home.Thereforebecarefulandputupafencetopreventthemfromcanel.Childrenaged1½years

shouldbetaughttoknowthedangerofnaturalwater.Childrenaged2yearsshouldbetaughttoswim.

3.9 Toxin:Childrenwould like to find things in thehouseandhave theability toclimb.

Theycanstandonthetableforpickingupthings.So,parentshavetokeepthepoisonousmaterial

completelyandawayfromtheirhands.

3.10Eyesinjury:don’tallowchildrentoplaygunorsharpobject.Becauseithasachange

todamagetheireyesandmakethemblind.

4. EducationforEarlychildhoodChildren

Parentsandguardianshavetofocusontheireducationandneedtoknowaboutthecorrect

basictheoryoftheearlychildhoodeducation.Theappropriateeducationdon’tobstructtheirlearning

anddevelopment

Childrendevelopmentsineducationare

1. Childrendevelopmentsgrowindividuallycontinuallyfromthestageofbeingafoetus.

Their development won’t stop and go step by step for example the physical developments start

fromlyingprone,crawl,sit,untilrun.

2. Theirphysicaldevelopmentsbeginwiththeirbodytootherorgans.Itmeanstheycan

movetheirbodyfirst,andthentheycanusehands,fingersrespectively.

3. Therateofthedevelopment ineachchildrenaredifferentuptotheheredityandthe

environments.

4. Therateof thedevelopment ineachorgansaredifferent,Braingrowsrapidlyduring

earlychildhoodperiod.Thecreativitythinkingdevelopveryfastwhilecriticalthinkingdevelopslowly.

5. Thedevelopmentsineachagearedifferent.Theunusualperformanceaccordingtothat

ageoftenistheproblem.So,wecanpredicttheirperformanceandbehaviorfromtheirage.

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6. The development on each side i.e. physical, emotional, social, and intelligence are

relatedeachother.Forexampleifchildrenhavetheproblemabouttheemotionaldevelopment,iteffect

thephysicaldevelopment.

Rearingearlychildhoodchildrenneed tounderstandabout theirdevelopment.Parentsand

guardiansneedtounderstandabouttheindividualdevelopment,ifnotthecomparisonoccurs.These

make them in pressure; they will be lack of self-confident. These understanding help parents and

guardianscreatingthesuitableactivitiestodeveloptheirability.

Rearingandeducationforearlychildhoodarenottoforcethemreading,writing,calculating

numbers. It is theeffective learning to thebrain.Childrenhave to learn throughplayinganddoing

the activitieswith happiness. The content or skill they get should come from the activities and the

experienceproperlyandaccordingtotheirage.Thelearningenvironmentshouldbewarm,friendly,

andsafety.Theactivitiesshouldencouragethemtothinkandimagine.Theycansolvethedailyroutine

throughtheactivities.FinallyChildrenhavebeendevelopedin5domain(physical,emotional,social,

moralandintelligence)correctlyproperlyandaccordingtotheirage.

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Project Advisor

Dr.SasitharaPichaichannarong Secretary-General

TheEducationCouncil

Ms.ChurairatSangboonnum Secretary-General

TheEducationCouncil

Dr.SuthasriWongsaman Secretary-General

TheEducationCouncil

Mrs.TipsudaSumethsenee DirectorofEducationalStandardsandLearning

DevelopmentBureau

Presenter Ms.KornkamolChuengsamran TheOfficeoftheEducationCouncil

Speakers Mr.SomkiatBangsai Chairman,BangsainoiSub-district

AdministrationOrganization,Mukdahan

Province

Mr.ChalermkiatToonkaew Director,ChiangRaiRajabhatDemonstration

School

Mrs.NongsudaChansiri UbonRatchathaniKindergarten

Mrs.ChalemasHarabutr UbonWittayakomSchool

Officersresponsiblefortheproject

Mrs.ArunsriLaongkaeo Chief,EducationalStandardsandLearningUnit

Mrs.PraweenaAusayo Educator,SeniorProfessionalLevel

Mrs.PatcharapanKritsadajindarung Educator,ProfessionalLevel

Ms.KornkamolJuengsamran Educator,ProfessionalLevel

Ms.ManeeratKrungsaenmuang Educator,PractitionerLevel

Mr.WeerapongUjarean Educator,PractitionerLevel

Ms.WipadaWanich Educator,PractitionerLevel