Importance of Early Childhood Education

Early childhood refers to a child’s age starting from birth till about age 6, A child’s early years are the foundation of their future development. During this time a child’s brain is said to be growing and developing rapidly. Early childhood education plays a vital role in the child’s ability to develop cognitive skills and social experiences including learning to interact with others and developing interests thereby building a strong foundation that will help them in their school and life.

When Should You Enroll Your Child in Pre-K

Pre-Kindergarten is a classroom-based preschool program for children below 4yrs of age. It provides a year of education to prepare a child to enter Kindergarten. During this time a child learns to interact with their teachers and fellow students through play, talks and work thus helping in building their character and creating a love for learning. Pre-kindergarten programs help build social, physical, emotional and cognitive skills. Through these programs a child is introduced to classroom learning experience to make them familiar when they enter kindergarten.

Benefits of Enrolling in Pre-Kindergarten

Pre-Kindergarten is not mandatory; hence many parents wonder about the benefits of enrolling vs staying at home, enrolling a child in early childhood education is beneficial for the child in the long run, a child benefits tremendously in their future academic endeavors, whatever a child learns in their first years sets the stage on how they will think and behave in the future.

The long-term benefits of enrolling a child in a pre-kindergarten program are:

• ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Children who have attended early childhood education show improved academic performance in reading, counting, number sense, math and science excellence in later years.

• SOCIAL INTERACTION

By Interacting with other children and teachers, teaches a child how to effectively communicate, develop and maintain friendships. In the long-term children learn by watching and interacting with other children and form friendships to stimulate healthy development.

• NEW ROUTINES

Attending Pre-Kindergarten allows a child to learn new routines outside of a family setting. Routines help children to learn what to expect on a daily basis thereby reducing childhood tantrums and preparing them for the higher classes.

• COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Through activities like problem solving games and challenging puzzles, children develop cognitive skills like problem solving, using language and symbols and logical reasoning.

• MOTOR SKILLS

By engaging the children with fun activities like threading beads, cutting with scissors and drawing, they develop physical coordination and fine motor skills. Children learn to control finger movement through these challenging activities.

• INDEPENDENCE

Children learn to be more independent and figure things for themselves as they are given many opportunities and challenging activities to engage with, which in turn helps build self-confidence.

Difference Between Preschool and Pre-K

The main difference between both the programs are the age at which they accept students into their curriculum. Preschool accepts students from the age of 2 and 4 yrs., whereas a pre-k program accepts children around 4 to 5 yrs. Usually children in a pre-k program are taught advanced learning skills focusing on math, science and critical thinking whereas in preschool children learn basic things like alphabets, colors, numbers and shapes.

While pre-k prepares the child for kindergarten, preschool is more like a daycare.

Understanding Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum

In pre-k a child gets introduced to many learning concepts for the first time which helps them develop and grow in a more structured learning environment. Children are taught to ready them for kindergarten focusing on group learning and teaching them to work together and develop at their own pace.

Academic skills

At pre-K children are introduced to both uppercase and lower-case alphabets and their sounds, they learn phonetics and to manipulate sounds. They learn to listen to stories and engage with books and learn to retell them. Children are taught to hold books the right way and learn to turn pages. The teachers help the students to hold a pencil and practice writing their names thus helping them with fine motor skills which helps strengthen the muscles in their fingers to enable writing in the future.

Math Skills

Pre-K math skills focus on introduction of numbers till 10, children are taught the various shapes based on the number of sides, sorting different objects based on their characteristics like color, size and shape and matching them. The concept of measurement using non-standard units are introduced and children develop an understanding of less, more and equal to.

Hands-on Science

Most Pre-K curriculums in science are designed to be more interactive and hands-on since children at this age tend to be more curious and show interest in exploring. Children are taught to plant seeds and watch every stage of plant development. They are taught about understanding colors and mixing them to create new shades. Children are taught about the five senses and so on.

Other

Outside academic’s children learn to develop social and communication skills by participating in activities and group discussions and learning to express their thoughts and feelings. Children develop fine and gross motor skills by taking part in physical activities at school through organized sports like running, playing ball thereby improving coordination.

Steps in Pre- Kindergarten Enrollment

Enrolling a child in Pre-K typically involves the following steps.

1.Research

In order to decide which school is the right fit for you and your child one must consider factors like

• Location

Preferring a school that is in close proximity to the house or work is important as it saves time spent travelling which can be tiring for both the parent and the child.

• Reviews

It is necessary for any parent to know what to expect from the school they are applying to by making an enquiry about it through the online reviews, fellow parents, reading about the school on the school website.

• Curriculum

Every school differ in curriculum as they have different methods of teaching like Montessori or the Waldorf system. It is important for a parent to know which method of teaching best suits them and their child’s needs.

2. Application

Once the parent has decided on the chosen which pre-k program is the right fit for their child, the next step is to visit the school website to fill out the application forms provided online. Filling out the form may require submission of certain documents like child’s birth certificate, address proof, immunization records and proof of income. One must keep these documents ready to avoid late submission of applications beyond the deadline.

3. Registration

After filling out the forms, they should be submitted well before the deadline date, it is to be noted that many schools have limited seats available, hence early submission of registration forms may help secure a spot for the child in the desired pre-k program.

4. Evaluation

Some schools require evaluating the child to determine if the child is ready for school by testing their language, cognitive and motor development based on their age. Parents may be required to supply additional information which could be helpful in securing a placement for their child.

5. Acceptance

If accepted, the pre-k programs typically notify parents via email, phone, mail, online portal.

Looking for a pre-k enrollment? Ready to give your child a head start in education?  Look no further than WESTON SCHOOL. Our experienced educators help children develop their skills and make them kindergarten ready emotionally, academically and socially.

Click now to enroll in our kindergarten program and set them on a path to success.