As adults, we may underestimate what our children learn in their preschool years. We often think it is as simple as A-B-C. On the contrary, the preschool years are our children’s golden window of learning. They learn important social, emotional, communication, and academic skills that form the bedrock of their educational and character building journey. That’s exactly why, in spite of the current pandemic, preschool children should continue schooling. Read on to find out more.
Importance of Preschool Education
Preschool years are not called the golden window for nothing. As mentioned by Dr Robyn Anderson, a lecturer in Early Childhood and Education at James Cook University, Singapore, “The early years, from birth to age eight years, lay the foundation for all learning and development that will take place over a child’s lifetime. High-quality early childhood education can play a critical role during this important period of development¹.”
Understandably, you may be hesitant to enrol your young, unvaccinated children on school in the midst of a pandemic. But not enrolling your children in school doesn’t mean they aren’t exposed to the virus. Other members of the family go out to work and school, and children do go out as well. This means children are still exposed but thankfully, vaccinations for children four years and younger will likely be ready soon². As such, the benefits of high quality preschool education outweigh the risks!
Advantages of Early Childhood Education
Let’s take a closer look at some of the advantages of early childhood education and how a high quality preschool education ensures that your child doesn’t miss out on these:
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Positive Social-Emotional Development
Never mind the alphabet. In his or her early years, your child needs to build self-confidence, learn empathy and have the ability to develop respectful and meaningful connections with peers. Such things aren’t always learnt incidentally.
Children’s social emotional development needs to be nurtured by having meaningful interactions with those around them. This is a key area of early childhood education. High quality preschool education ensures that there are professional teachers and staff trained to intentionally develop your child in this area.
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Enhanced Cognitive Development
When children have strong social-emotional skills, actual learning can take place. When it comes to cognitive development in the early years, many parents and caregivers have the misconception that rote learning is the way to go. Thus the prevalence of flash cards! While these may be helpful in some ways, children need an effective curriculum that enhances their thinking, learning, reasoning, concentration and retention skills.
Here’s another interesting way to develop these skills – through a music-infused curriculum. Have you heard of Kinderland Academy and Preschool’s specially curated music-infused curriculum?
It has been proven to show a positive impact on language literacy, pre-math conceptualisation, social and emotional skills, gross and fine motor coordination and even helps to boost a child’s confidence in their early years. A music-infused curriculum has a host of benefits that will help your child uncover their fullest potential!
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Strong Communication and Language Skills
Communication is a vital 21st century skill and it is built through a solid foundation in literacy. As you can imagine, this starts with a good foundation in the preschool years. Preschool education plays a key role in equipping your children with listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills crucial for future lifelong learning.
Again, these must be taught in a fun, engaging and experiential manner instead of through textbook or rote learning. That’s why it’s important for your child’s preschool to use a wide variety of activities and resources to make learning fun, fulfilling and engaging.
In Kinderland, they offer the S.T.R.E.A.M. programme where kindergarteners hone communication skills by engaging in exploration and effective learning through inquiry-based project work.
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Intentional Motor Skills Development
Oftentimes we do not think too much about motor skills development. We assume that children will develop these skills as they go along. But did you know that many children go on to primary school and struggle with simple tasks such as cutting paper?
Moreover, they may struggle with gross motor skills such as balancing. The lack of proper motor skills development at a young age may result in children falling when walking or running.
Consequently, this dampens their confidence level and could cause them to lose interest in learning and challenging themselves with tougher tasks. Much like other areas of learning, motor skills can and should be deliberately trained through planned activities and it boosts a child’s confidence when they learn to accomplish certain tasks independently.
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Unleash Talent and Potential
It’s never too early for children to discover their talents. When children experience the true joy of learning, they also discover their strengths. This ignites their spark of learning and keeps them inquisitive.
Kinderland’s curriculum offers a wide array of activities that provides opportunities for teachers to help children discover their fullest potential. A great example is where our past graduates have discovered their talents in music through participating in the preschool marching band or preschool ensemble.
Through school enrichment programmes, keen-eyed educators have also encouraged children to further hone their skills in martial arts which they excelled in.
Kinderland – Preschool of Choice for High Quality Early Childhood Education
Now that you know the advantages and significance of early childhood education, it’s important to enrol your child in a preschool that offers a well-thought out curriculum that is deliberate in its approach to nurturing your child.
Kinderland Academy and Preschool is one of the leading pioneers in Singapore’s Early Childhood landscape providing quality preschool education for children from as young as 2 months to 6 years of age. It was founded in 1978 with a mission to provide quality music-infused curriculum for your child’s early cognitive development.
Kinderland believes in empowering children by stirring their curiosity, cultivating care, expanding their capability, promoting creativity, building their confidence and sharpening their communication skills. With this guiding philosophy, Kinderland’s curriculum is built around the K.I.N.D.E.R. multi-disciplinary lands to help your little one learn better.
Kineticland – strengthens motor skills and builds sharper minds
Intelliland – hones children’s language and literacy skills through a specially curated multi-sensory programmes, building confidence in reading and writing
Natureland – spurs inquisitive minds to explore and seek answers in nature through discovery of the world
Digiland – understand numeracy and build logical thinking for real-life application, comprehending the fundamental skills of programming through coding
EQland – develop character by refining social and emotional skills, growing a heart for the community
cReativeland – encourage creative expression through various forms of music and arts, honing children’s sense of aesthetics, rhythm and coordination
Contact Kinderland to learn more about how their music-infused curriculum can help in nurturing your child. Schedule a visit if you can, for seeing is believing!
Mums and Dads, if you want to nurture 21st century-ready, confident and versatile learners, it starts with a solid foundation in early childhood education. It’s something you don’t want your child to miss out on. Take the necessary precautions to protect your child during the pandemic and put your trust that your child’s school will do its best to keep your child safe! Remember, there’s a lot more than learning alphabets in early childhood education!
References
- https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/early-childhood-education-importance-of-learning-through-play
- https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/covid-19-vaccination-for-children-between-six-months-and-four-years-to-be-ready-around-year-end-moh
