1.1 Introduction
Early childhood education is the term commonly used to describe the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) the developmental definition of early childhood education, spans the human life from birth to age eight (Osakwe (2009). Chemistry is an exact and a core science subject in Nigerian secondary schools. Its teaching often requires creativity and improvisation. To make chemistry concepts comprehensible to students, chemistry teachers must employ creative teaching methods and be prepared to respond to queries and explain concepts in an atypical manner (Nbina, 2012).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
The historical development of early childhood education coincided with the historical development of science education. The contributions of many early childhood educators stimulated awareness in the relevance of science to the education of the young child. Early childhood is referred to as a period between two to six years. This is sometimes referred to as pre-primary stage. Growth at this state proceeds at a very fast rate although slower than that of the baby.
Early childhood education involvement according to Barnard (2001) positively affects home and school participation in education at the long run. A child who fails to acquire early education may suffer emotionally, socially, intellectually and even physically if he or she is trusted into the primary school without a sustainable early childhood education involvement that will give him a solid foundation in the primary school. Infact, for the effective and efficient unfolding and development of a child’s latent abilities, attitudes and other forms of behaviour of positive values in the society in which he lives, early childhood education becomes very imminent. This is of utmost importance because researches on early childhood education have shown that early childhood education involvement have great impact on every facet of a child’s development and had suggested that the first teacher is an extremely important person in the child’s life, hence he becomes a role- model to the child.
Anderson (2002) is of the view that when children are exposed to early childhood education, they develop superior communication skills, necessary physical ability and social unity needed in adult life and an increased cognitive and effective educational balance. Researchers in the field and early childhood educators both view the parents as an integral part of the early childhood process. Early childhood education takes many forms depending on the beliefs of the educator or parent. In today’s world, parents and families contribute as much as teachers, students and administrators to the educational process or even more. More than any other time in history, involving community players represents a high priority of most school settings. The measured and researched positive effect of parent involvement on student academic achievement pushes this area into focus of most school district and early childhood programme goals.
Nwagbara (2000) is of the opinion that the vocabulary acquisition during early childhood spans from 12 months with an average number of 3 words to 72 months with an average number of 2562 (two thousand, five hundred and sixty two) words. So, children to speak without any deliberate instruction needed to read or write. Much of what they say, have their own rules and often not the same as in adult and speech. Research in this area supports the theory that children do not acquire grammar through practice or imitation like adults do. They have their own rules of grammar.
The effectiveness of the chemistry instructor in the classroom is highly dependent on his or her readiness for the instructional process. It has been observed that the majority of secondary school chemistry teachers is not professional chemistry teachers and have not even completed a teacher training program. Occasionally, those who teach chemistry are graduates of pure physical sciences such as chemistry, engineering, or occasionally biochemistry. And, of course, many of these teachers do not hold a degree in education (Arisekola, 2007).
Therefore, in Edo State Senior Secondary School where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Effect of Early Childhood Education on Academic Performance of Chemistry Students.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that most children these days do not develop cognitively due to lack of early childhood education which is mainly given to children firstly by their parents and secondly by their teachers who are also regarded as surrogate parents in the school. Majority of students in primary one in the Nigerian school system did not pass through the pre-primary schools where children are taught basically through the methods befitting to the children’s learnability and comprehension in the early stage of life. Because of this lapse, most children in the primary schools fail to grasp the content of their lessons due to the fact that they started their early education from the stem instead of from the root.
Also, most of the teachers who are employed to teach at the secondary schools, do not apply the correct teaching methods that are comprehensible to the child, hence most children do not have high academic achievement in the early stages of their primary school education. Due to low cognitive development of the children, there has been poor academic performance virtually at all stages of our educational system. This is because what a child could not achieve during the early education will be difficult for him/her to achieve at the apex stage of his/her educational life.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to investigate the Effect of Early Childhood Education on Academic Performance of Chemistry Students in Edo State Senior Secondary School. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To investigate the effect of early childhood in the study of science on the academic achievement of Chemistry Students;
- To investigate the role played by parents on the academic achievement of their children especially on chemistry class;
- To determine the methods that could be applied on the academic achievement of Chemistry Students; and
- To assess the relationship between the early childhood and the study of Chemistry in Edo State Senior Secondary School.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Is there any relationship between the early childhood and the study of Chemistry in Edo State Senior Secondary School?
- What is the effect of early childhood in the study of science on the academic achievement of Chemistry Students?
- What is the role played by parents on the academic achievement of their children especially on chemistry class?
- What are the methods that could be applied on the academic achievement of Chemistry Students?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There will be no significant relationship between the early childhood and the study of Chemistry in Edo State Senior Secondary School.
- H1: There will be a significant relationship between the early childhood and the study of Chemistry in Edo State Senior Secondary School.
Hypothesis Two
- H0: There will be no significant relationship between educational background of parents and the student’s academic achievement in chemistry.
- H1: There will be a significant relationship between educational background of parents and the student’s academic achievement in chemistry.
Hypothesis Three
- H0: There will be no significant relationship between parental educational background in science and academic achievement of chemistry students.
- H1: There will be a significant relationship between parental educational background in science and academic achievement of chemistry students.
1.7 Significance of Study
The relevance of the research study serves as a guide to improve the general academic achievement of a child. The finding on the study will help the policy makers to realize the importance of early childhood on the academic achievement of chemistry students.
The report on the study will also encourage the parents to be conscious of encouraging their children to develop interest in the study of science.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research focuses on the Effect of Early Childhood Education on Academic Performance of Chemistry Students in Senior Secondary School using Edo State as a case study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Pre-primary: Pre-primary education as defined by Omozeghian (1995) is the education meant for children between the ages of 3 to 6 years.
Early childhood education: It is the term commonly used to describe the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home.
Chemistry: Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds composed of atoms, molecules and ions
Students’ Academic Performance: the level of response of learners to evaluation by teachers on the particular subject at a particular time.
