Early childhood education is the formal teaching and care of young children

Early childhood

For the video game rating with a similar age group see ESRBEarly childhood is a stage in human development. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterwards. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood.-Education:Infants and toddlers experience...

 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

National Association for the Education of Young Children

The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the largest nonprofit association in the United States representing early childhood education teachers, paraeducators, center directors, trainers, college educators, families of young children, policy makers, and advocates...

 (NAEYC) instead defines 'early childhood' as before the age of eight.
A child's needs during early childhood are different from those of older schoolchildren, because early childhood sees the greatest growth and development, when the brain develops most rapidly, almost at its fullest.