Pre-schools
The preschool age (between the ages 3 and 5 years) is important in the developmental milestone of human beings, where any intervention will serve as foundations for future gains. It is at this stage when the blossoming curiosity and eagerness to learn of young children manifest in their growing interest on just about anything.
Preschool age children and scientists have one thing in common – their insatiable quest to discover. However, preschoolers discover things without regard for the consequences. They may cut their own hair, or worse of their siblings, in trying to emulate what they witnessed in the salon during one of your appointments, yet don't see anything wrong with it. Hence, a thirst for learning greatly helps parents and teachers to come up with age-specific preschool lesson plans and preschool games that help them develop to their optimum.
Debates are still brewing as to what fields of study a preschool curriculum or program should contain at this age. The development of preschool children is often not the same across the areas of development. Should Mathematics enter the picture, or will it cause stress on children instead? Child experts themselves are still overwhelmed with this wide topic that haunt pre-schools. Children's development during this time of their life is greatly influenced by the environment surrounding them – their home, community or neighborhood, and school environments.
On this regard, many experts believe that enrolling young children in pre-schools is not necessary at all. Some studies conducted on grade school children showed no difference in aptitude between children who entered pre-schools and those who did not. Some studies, meanwhile, suggest that early education has lasting benefits. For one, young children's skills and competencies have been found to be higher among grade school students who were able to attend preschool. In fact, even IQ's are enhanced by pre-schools education, with a noted increase of five to ten points.
No matter how families or parents look at pre-schools, one cannot negate the fact that the classroom environment provides a social atmosphere where young children learn teamwork from preschool activities, learn to follow instructions from authorities, follow a routine, and learn manners such as asking permission when going to the restroom. All these are invaluable to the emotional and social development of young children that they can certainly benefit from in the coming years.
With pre-schools, young children are now more than ready to enter into some sort of formal learning process, which was only possible for first grade students 10 years ago. The task of finding a place in a classroom community is getting more important now and needs to be resolved before a child enters the first grade.
Child development studies have lauded the role of pre-schools since children enjoy the greatest learning curve between the ages 0 to seven years. At this stage, any parent would probably be awed at the development of their child from infancy to that age when he begins to communicate his own opinions and ideas in a self-confident and self-assertive way.
There is no better time to give formal education to a child whom, at three years of age, is more than eager to learn than a high school sophomore who's getting bored with his studies. Preschool age children are likened to sponges – they quickly absorb and discern everything in their surroundings. Their quest for learning is unintimidated, which makes it a viable stage to start education. They begin to learn patterns, rhythms, and sequences that are, in fact, the fundamental principles of math.
As a parent, what you can do aside from enrolling them in pre-schools is to aid their eagerness to learn by stimulating their mental development with activities at home. Young children at this age are said to add about 3,000 to 6,000 words into their vocabulary, which is why it is so important to read to them at least 20 minutes a day.
The preschool age is another developmental milestone that your child will be trekking. Help him to the ladder of success by being supportive of his needs and desire to learn.