Early Childhood Education – Do Children Really Need It?

Are you putting your kids at a disadvantage by not enrolling them in any early childhood education?

During the first few years of life, a child’s exposure to learning opportunities is extremely important. By the time a child reaches the age of two, they have as many brain connections as an adult does, and this number will increase even more by the time the child reaches the age of three.

There probably isn’t any other time in a person’s life when there is such a potential for rapid learning. Therefore, maximizing this stage in a child’s life can be very important for building the foundation on which all future learning will be based.

Early Childhood Education – Do Children Really Need It? Are you putting your kids at a disadvantage by not enrolling them in any early childhood education?

One important concept to remember is that in order for a child to be enthusiastic about learning, their experiences must be fun, engaging, and relevant to their interests.

Fortunately, small children are notorious for being curious and interested about almost anything, and this tendency should be encouraged and capitalized upon.

Activities For Toddlers

Most of the learning that a child experiences early in life is actually based upon play activities.

Play activities, in addition to being fun, help a child learn about the world around them, as well as their own identity and place in the world.

Children also learn a lot through their social interactions with their parents and other close family members, with positive personal relationships providing many opportunities for discovery and learning.

One to Two Years Old

From birth until about age two, a child primarily works on sensory skills and motor skills, with their knowledge of the world around them being based on their physical experiences and interactions. Even when a child is a very small baby, opportunities exist for learning through play. Even simple acts such as holding a toy and touching surfaces can provide rich stimulus for learning.

Providing a baby with plenty of sensory experiences to explore will encourage their curiosity, which in turn helps a baby learn.  After their first birthday, a child will also start to more deeply explore the spoken language, with a child’s first words usually being spoken around the time of their first birthday.

Two to Eight Years Old

Between the ages of two and eight, a child starts to use their imagination, memory skills begin to be developed, and language becomes important.

During this timeframe, a child will begin to develop a spoken vocabulary, with the average five year old being able to use approximately 1,500 words in sentences.

There is more of an emphasis on mastering physical skills, such as hand-eye coordination and gross motor skills, as well as the fine motor skills that enable a child to write, draw and use scissors.

Reasoning skills are still fairly concrete in nature, and abstract ideas are still difficult for children in this age group. However, they begin to develop a sense of right and wrong, and their emotional attachments begin to branch out to include peers.

Learning Through Early Childhood

Children who are given advantages for learning during early childhood will be able to enter their next phase of development, middle childhood, with many advantages.

A healthy curiosity and early learning opportunities will grow into a love of learning and achievement that a child will carry with them for the rest of their life.