The right of the child to develop and learn in quality environments

Katz reminds us of the lasting and important effects of early experience for cognitive development, social development, the development of communicative competence and the early formation of cultural identity. She highlights strategies for early childhood educators all over the world and reminds us that even children from the same country can experience vastly different early childhood environments. She points out that even though educators in relatively low resource environments hope for more resources, some in relatively high resource environments do not necessarily actively engage young children's minds. In order to provide high quality environments for early child development and learning, she suggests that teachers focus on their interactions with children so as to provide them with experiences that are rich, interesting, engaging and meaningful. She recommends that those concerned with the development and education of children, who are outside the classroom context, support those within the classroom and allow teachers to focus their energies on their interactions with children. Katz reminds us that these very interactions will have long term effects on a child's development.