Is Early Childhood Schooling Important?
Early Childhood development is putting kids through an education program before they enter a formal school. Should pre schooling, or programs like ‘Head Start’ be used to teach kids in their early development stages? I personally think so, and I am not alone in this.
There are tons of research stating that, putting kids into a pre schooling program like Head Start does serve a lot towards the purpose of education for kids in their early development stages. New Zealand believes very strongly for early childhood development. Their website that is dedicated for education in their country has several pages just listing the benefits of putting their child in a pre-school. They bring up topics like getting along better with other people by ‘teaching’ them how to make friends, listen to others, and be independent. Now while some people may not need to learn how to make friends, some do need to learn how to get along better with other people. My nephew for instance, He is in kindergarten at the time of me writing this.
Whenever I see him, He talks about his friends from school a lot. Yet when he was younger, he was very selfish, he would try to keep all the toys for himself, and if he didn’t have a toy, he would cry and throw a fit. He would be someone who might want to be put into their pre-schools. The website also says how pre-school helps kids be more prepared for the future. It does this by exposing them to letters, numbers, shapes, etc. before they enter kindergarten.
James Heckman, he is the nation’s top economists studying human development, or at least one of them. He has won a nobel prize for economics in February of 2013. He showed data taken in 1980 from tests on several hundredlow birth weight 3 year olds. They were then tested at ages 5,8, and 18. The data showed that the children’s intellect who had mothers who had passed college far surpassed the children who had mothers who dropped out of highschool.
He even said that the difference was just as large when the children were 18 as when they were 3. Another chart he shows says that research shows that, kids starting with a disadvantage benefit the most from early education attention the most. This means that, even if your kid is struggling to learn the basics, he/she can still do well in school later on in life. However, preschool isn’t just good for the kids who are starting at a disadvantage. It can also help the kids who are starting, intellectually, better off. This is because it helps the children learn how to have respect for their teachers, and the stuff they have.
It can teach them the concept of Cooperation by having them take place in team games, having them share their toys, etc. This comes from huffington post, and it was posted by Vicki Palmer. All of this, the child may not get in a home setting. A child may also not get very much exposure to diversity, which is very crucial seeing as how sensitive race is in America. Almost anyone can get offended by the matter of race now.
Preschool is important. It has its drawbacks but overall, it will help someone’s child in the long run. Their child will not only be more prepared intellectually for school, but also socially since it teaches the child respect, cooperation, how to make friends,. Et cetera. However it is not a many problems one solution type situation.
There are many things that may need a different type of environment to help the child learn and grow. It all comes down to the parents though and their decision on whether their child needs preschool or if he/she is fine the way they are.
