Aracele Melgoza

Child Development-120
4/09/2012

Early Childhood Education in Venezuela

The early childhood education in the country of Venezuela started on 1978 by the
initiative of school teachers (According to Maria Belen Reyna). The education system is based
on the German studies to help various children. The mission of the schools are to focused on the
childs socio- emotional, they lead their projects on self esteem like a principal base were in
areas the activities involved interaction and participation (According to Maria Belen Reyna).
First the emotional intelligence is where the child interacts and the arts are used as a tool of
education to form positive self esteems (According to Maria Belen Reyna). The teachers
qualifications in early childhood education are a college degree such as an Associate degree
(apply science or the arts), Bachelors degree, Doctors degree or PHD with sixty credit hours of
early childhood education. Some of the new programs that were established to help the young
children and the pregnant mothers were Simonsito and Bolivarian schools (According to the
Government). The Simonsito project was created to help educate and support mothers during
their birthing process and after their child birth. The Simonsito Project offered medical attention
for the infants until they reach the age of two years old. The Bolivarian Schools were established
to offer children the full meals which consist breakfast, lunch and snacks to keep a healthy
nutrition. The Bolivarian Schools also, provide other resources to children such as access to a
computer, medical assistance and provided the tools needed for sports (According to the
Government). The programs and projects that were created were form by the government to

create equal opportunities, social equilibrium and universalize the rights for the entire population
(According to the Government). There are about three thousand and five hundred Bolivarian
Schools in the country.
The Head Start programs are composed in three categories (According to Maria Belen
Reyna). The categories are the public schools, private schools and the particular schools. The
public schools offers free enrollment for low income families and the disadvantage is that it
offers a low quality education. The public schools are dictated by the government and the public
secretary of education (According to Maria Belen Reyna). The private schools guarantee a good
education and offer a free enrollment. The private schools are owned by companies and their
education system is one of the top highest than the public schools. The particular schools charge
a fee of $300 dollars to $400 dollars for the monthly enrollment per child plus an annual fee of
$500 to $1,500 dollars per family plus the books and uniforms (According to Maria Belen
Reyna). The particular schools also, guarantee a good education and its two or more levels higher
than the public schools (According to Maria Belen Reyna). The particular schools are owned by
independent workers. The Chavez administration has helped the population of poor parents to
enroll their children to school without paying a fee. Over one million children attend school due
to the free tuition.
All of the children are evaluated through psychological tests in the particular schools. The
public and private schools dont have any evaluation tests in order for the children to be
accepted. The public and private schools based their enrollment on the space and how many
children fit on the space ( According to Maria Belen Reyna) .The education system is structure in
three levels the maternal, preschool and the traditional. The maternal is design for infants

through the age of two years old. The preschool that last three years from the range age of three
to five years old were they are taught to read and write (According to Maria Belen Reyna).
The class is structure with ten to fifteen students of various ages groups with different
primary teachers in public schools. In private schools theres one primary teacher per ten
children. The particular schools have one primary teacher with eight different age areas
(According to Maria Belen Reyna). The class environment is design with colorful walls and
painted murals in the wall. The chairs and tables are at the height of the children. The toys,
dramatic area and games are also divided around the class room and at the height of children.
The supplies and materials are kept in a locked closet were teachers will manage the material
throughout the year (According to Maria Belen Reyna). Theres a magazine that is used by all of
the schools that is named Maestra Jardinera which is a magazine were teachers get ideas to
create art activities out of recycle items( According to Maria Belen Reyna) . The magazine was
published in Argentina. Teachers used this resource since they dont have many funding for
materials. The finances from the public schools come from the government funds but are
limited, the private schools funding come from organization funds and the particular schools
funds come from the enrollment fees.
The activities that are implemented for the children are writing, reading, math, art and
outdoor recess. The activity that they utilized as their main focused is music. They used music as
part of dancing as an important aspect because dancing involves interaction within the children.
The children dance folkloric dance in their class and later go to compete with other schools
(According to Maria Belen Reyna). The outdoor recess involves children to play football and
baseball. Baseball is one of the national sports that the country main focuses on (According to
Maria Belen Reyna). The school practices are to secure a safe environment, maintain a good

sanitation, prepare children for emergencies, maintain health practices and safety checks, limit
the spread of illness by following the safety practices, and maintain a healthy nutrition by
providing the right foods. Theres no activities design for the childrens socio emotional
development in public schools only the discipline and values such as no stealing or lying
(According to Maria Belen Reyna). For example, when a child is punished for misbehaving he
or she is punished in a quiet area to think of what he or she did wrong. Later the child beliefs that
thinking is also part of the punishment (According to Maria Belen Reyna). In the private and
particular schools they havent implemented any socio emotional activities but they are in the
process. The schools in Venezuela are very delicate while involving parents in the programs
since they dont want to involved favoritism or gossiping (According to Maria Belen Reyna).
Parents can visit the site as long as children dont notice them or as long as they are far away
from the reach of children.
Based on my research and interview I was able to learn the different strategies and
curriculums planned from a different country. The part that most caught my attention was the
interview with Maria Belen Reyna from Venezuela. She was able to provide me with information
and her own experiences, on how the system is at Venezuela and how things change over a
period of time as well as how things have change with the president Chavez. She explained to me
about the contrasts between the low class and the high class. How the high income people were
moving to another country due to the changes of the schools that the President Chavez changed.
The high income class was not satisfied when Chavez helped the poor income people by letting
their child attend classes at a free tuition and providing more resources for them. The poor
pollution is now enroll in class and achieving while the high income people are moving out of
the country. Since the fee of their enrollment was getting costly. I learn so many interesting facts

from Maria and now I have a better understanding of how the economy works along with the
government, the president and the population. The country of Venezuela and the U.S.A work
very similar except that in the U.S.A there are more funds and theres more programs provided
for both parents and children such as workshops and counseling.

References

www.bernardvanleer.org/files/crc/3.D%20Government_of_Venezuela.pdf
Contacted interviewee at Venezuela on 4/05/2012:
Maria Belen Reyna (interviewee) -Baby Boom Learning Center Head start

By: Aracele Melgoza

Child Development 120