Early childhood education is the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home. ‘Early childhood’ is usually defined as before the age of normal schooling – five years in most nations, though the U.S. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) instead defines ‘early childhood’ as before the age of eight. For programming purposes, it has been decided to extend the concept of early childhood to about 8 years of age. This age range provides the opportunity to reinforce the view of the development as a continuum. It will facilitate the interaction between the pre and initial school years. The concept of basic education calls for the inclusion of early childhood and the key “survival” grades, that is, the first two or three grades of primary education.