Globally, it has been recognized that the period of early childhood comprises the period from birth to 8 years. There is developmental continuity in the period of birth to eight years and it is important to respond comprehensively to the child‘s health, nutrition, stimulation and learning needs simultaneously.
Also in terms of pedagogical principles underlying planning and transacting learning experiences, there needs to be a continuity in terms of adopting the play based and activity based approaches of the preschool years into the early primary grades, specifically classes 1 and 2.
The NEP, 2020, has given explicit recognition to the period of birth to eight years as the period for Early Childhood Care and Education and has called this period as the Foundation of Learning‘. Structurally the NEP has clubbed the period from 3 to 8 years as the Foundational Stage of Education