Early childhood education is characterized as formal and informal educational programs for children from birth to age five. This is where their growth and development are guided.
Some programs focus on school and academic readiness compared to other programs that take a “whole child” approach, which puts an emphasis on your child’s mental and emotional readiness. Children’s minds are like sponges, constantly soaking up information from their environment, interactions, and personal experiences, which makes early childhood education important.
What Role Does Early Childhood Education Play?
The purpose of early childhood education is to provide children with essential strategies that allow them to grow their emotional, social, and cognitive skills. These play an integral role in their journey to transforming into lifelong learners.
The following skills tend to be considered the most important:
- Language and literacy
- Thinking
- Self-control
- Self-confidence
These skills can be attained through a child’s environment and social interactions. Homework is not always necessary to obtain them.
Children can better absorb their lessons via different forms of playtime. These types of play time can be outdoor, collaborative or individual, domestic, sensory, constructive, and more. The experiences your child can gain from different kinds of playtime can leave a positive impact on the start of their education.
What Is The Importance Of Early Childhood Education?
A child’s young brain is creating millions of synapses every second. This is the process that creates neural connections that allow them to move their bodies, think, communicate, and understand the world that surrounds them.
Research reveals that children who have a quality education prior to turning five enjoy substantial medium and long-term benefits. The following are benefits that your child could gain from an early childhood education:
- Less likely to repeat a grade
- Not as likely to be seen as having special needs
- Better prepared academically from high school
- More likely to have a higher income in the workforce
Other great benefits include:
- Socialization
- Understanding cooperation
- Encouraging holistic development
- Instilling an interest in lifelong learning
- Respect
- Working as a team
- Resilience
- Concentration
- Patience
- Confidence and self-esteem
What Does A Quality Early Childhood Education Look Like?
The components of a quality childhood education program involve challenging and enriching elements for a child’s growth. The curriculum tends to include a great array of early learning activities from singing and reading to art, games, and nature exploration.
B attending an early childhood education program, your child will enjoy an engaging curriculum, fun atmosphere, diverse activities, and small class sizes, like a maximum teacher-to-child ratio of 1:11. Smaller class sizes help to ensure that your child is receiving attention, which can be especially useful if they require more help in certain subjects.
The following are regarded as vital elements of a quality learning program:
- Adequate learning time with a small student-teacher ratio
- Prepared teachers ready to provide engaging interactions and a fun, learning environment
- Early learning standards and curricula backed by research
- Assessments that are cognizant of a child’s academic, social, emotional, and physical progress
- Continuous support for teachers, such as coaching and mentoring
- Genuine and meaningful family engagement
Early Childhood Education In South Florida
Parkland Children’s Academy is one of South Florida’s most reputable learning centers for children. We offer a wide array of benefits in their free VPK program for early education. We pride ourselves on the passion of our staff for healthy child development.
Do you have more questions related to a voluntary pre-kindergarten program in Parkland? Check out our educational blog, follow us on Facebook, or call Parkland Children’s Academy at 954-688-5877 to learn more.