UK-Based Busy Bees Illustrates The Similarities and Differences To US-Based Early Childhood Education And Care Programs

A few weeks ago I had a great opportunity to visit one of our sister companies in the United Kingdom, Busy Bees, who operates over 100 nurseries in England, Scotland, and Wales. Busy Bees founded the company in 1984 because they felt that they couldn’t find quality care for their own children; the company has grown to be the largest provider in the UK. The company operates both community and workplace nurseries, including two that I visited, one for the University of Safford and one of three that they operate for the Land Registry, the government agency that registers land titles and transactions in the UK.  It is always fascinating to visit child care centers in other parts of the world and to compare our approach to early childhood education with theirs.

After spending time in these programs, I would certainly say that there are far more similarities than differences, and any parent who has been to a child care center in the US would find these centers very familiar. Interestingly, their curriculum is built around the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which is a national program for children from birth through five years of age, required at all nurseries, both private and government run, as well as smaller, organized programs. The program specifies that children must learn through play and have an individualized program to meet their unique needs. Parental involvement is also required under EYFS. The program is comprehensive, specifying learning objectives for children at 6 different ages from birth to five years of age, in six areas of learning including language and literacy, physical development, creative development, social/emotional development, problem solving and numeracy, and understanding of the world/general knowledge.

These early learning standards are aligned with national standards for students in primary and secondary school, so that there is an entire educational continuum in the UK that recognizes the importance of early childhood education as the foundation for long-term student success. In this way, I would say that the UK is years ahead of our country in recognizing these critical years and providing a framework to support quality each child’s early experiences. Frankly, our country has much to learn from the UK in their national focus on and recognition of early childhood education.

In addition to having a comprehensive program at their nurseries, there were many wonderful special features at the programs I observed. One great feature of the Busy Bees programs is the wonderful outdoor gardens they have introduced into their nurseries—some big, some small, where the children grow their own vegetables, ultimately to be used in cooking and eaten at the center. What a great way to teach children about nutrition and what a fun experience to grow their own food.

So, as I so often do after visiting children’s programs outside of the United States, I returned home with a renewed sense of the world community that is dedicated to enhancing the lives of children. There is such an amazing common commitment and passion among early childhood professionals that knows no borders of state or country. We have much to learn from each other to make a better world for all our children.