When kids are young, they soak up everything they can. Every new thing they do, every new word they learn, and every new way they act is an investment in a better future.
You can never make a bigger mark on someone than when they are young.
Most parents have always known this, and now the government is beginning to understand it too.
President Obama agreed in his 2013 State of the Union address. Study after study comes to the same conclusion: schooling in early childhood has a huge effect on how people turn out in life. Still, only 51% of three- and four-year-olds in the US are in full-day preprimary programs. This number hasn’t changed in the last 15 years.
In early childhood education, the whole child is honed and shaped, which will be the base for the rest of their lives.
From my work as a preschool teacher for more than 35 years, I have found 13 important perks of early childhood education:
1. Enthusiasm for Lifelong Learning
Lessons should be taught in a way that is fun and interesting so that kids will want to learn. We need to get people excited about learning and ready to learn.
Preschool is where a love of reading, learning, making discoveries, and being in nature takes root.
2. Socialization
Socializing with people outside of the child’s family in a safe setting is a key building block for the following areas.
As parents, we know that it’s important to introduce our kids to other kids and help them get started with their own groups of friends.
The earlier we start, the better, because it helps kids get over being shy and build up their self-confidence. If we wait too long, we might actually hurt their social growth.
3. Concept of Cooperation
Children learn how to share, work together, take turns, and keep going in a safe setting with the help of adults who have their best interests at heart.
This is especially important for the first child, who may not be used to sharing with their peers at home. Sharing can be a hard lesson to learn, but it’s so important to learn it early.
4. Encouraging Holistic Development
The steps that are done to help a child develop emotionally, socially, physically, and mentally in a way that will set them up for life.
Early childhood educators are taught how to figure out where each child needs help and build activities and programs around those needs. Peers are also very important in this way, since toddlers tend to be helpful, cooperative, and accepting of everyone.
5. Convey the Value of Education Through Experience
Understanding the importance of learning and education by setting a good example and giving real-life experiences.
Even though parents will always be the most important people in a child’s early life, putting them in a preschool gives them a new view on how important education is that they will keep with them as they go through school. It also shows that you care a lot about their schooling.
6. Respect
Teaching people how important it is to respect others. This doesn’t just mean respect for people and their things. It can also mean respect for their local and global environment.
There is no better place to learn this trait than in a busy preschool, where everything is shared and good manners are both taught and learned naturally.
7. Teamwork
Showing and teaching the importance of teamwork can teach people to respect the views of others, listen, work together, and treat everyone the same.
Because of this, many preschool activities focus on working as a team. A person who learns to work in a team at a young age will be more socially aware and more likely to get a job.
8. Resilience
It’s important for parents and early childhood teachers to work together to help kids learn to be strong as soon as possible. Children can learn how to control themselves and their emotions if they live in a consistent, safe, and fair social setting with clear expectations and predictable results.
It’s the job of a teacher to create a challenging setting where kids can learn by doing. They might get bumps, bruises, or lose a game every now and then, but this is how they learn to deal with bigger problems later in life.
9. Concentration
During preschool, kids explore every chance they get to learn about new things, meet new people, and see new places. Their brains are so full of life and ideas.
As teachers of young children, we need to find a balance between their energy and their ability to listen, follow directions, pay attention to tasks, and take part in group activities. This helps them develop the important life skill of focus.
10. Patience
As adults, we face events every day that test our patience. Children need to have lots of chances to interact with other people so they can learn and practice the social skill of patience.
Children can learn to be patient and wait for their turn by being shown how to do it and by going through social situations. Sharing a teacher’s attention, a toy, the field, or a spot in line for a game are all examples from preschool.
Children need to know that everyone is different and valuable in their own way, with their own culture, beliefs, and race.
There is a lot more to preschool than just playing. Even though the basic educational benefits of preschool, like learning to read and count, are clear, the real value lies in the progress children make toward becoming well-rounded people.
Please don’t let your child miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
