Strategies on Early Childhood and Development During the Preschool Years

What is the importance of a preschool education?

A great preschool education is essential for the development during early childhood. Thinking skills which will be necessary for the child's entire life are developed during this phase of their lives. Research has shown that one of the factors for an adult not being able to think "ahead" and see certain consequences in situations is a lack of adequate learning activities in their early childhood years. Many adults make wrong decisions simply because of a lack of capacity to look beyond the immediate situation. They affect other people negatively around them because of their unthoughtful actions. "Grown ups" that have these problems usually didn't have these learning opportunities in their early childhood. Educational experiences in preschool help develop logical thinking skills that will be used in many situations in adulthood.

It's important to know the difference between how younger and older children learn.

Teaching small children is very different from teaching older children. Many adults who don't understand how small children think, feel frustrated when they can't relate to them. This is due to the fact that little kids have not yet had the experiences to be able to develop connections between their thoughts and organize them better. Older children have already developed their ability to interlink and relate thoughts because they have experienced many things and have been able to develop language. They have understood how one thing affects another. This is why early childhood education has to be taught differently from children of other ages.

Younger children learn best starting with concrete objects.

The ability to see beyond and understand consequences is a cognitive ability that needs to be developed. The foundation to develop this capacity later on in life is laid down in preschool. Children do not understand things like adults do. They need be able to first relate to the concrete. When children play with various physical objects and are stimulated in their thinking, they are able to understand cause and effect, spatial relationships, and classifications. Adequate preschool activities also stimulate various abilities such as creativity and language skills.

"Lectures" are not the best strategy for teaching preschool kids.

Small children do not yet have the cognitive skills to benefit from lectures. Their attention span is very short. And they don't yet have their language developed to be able to accompany a long "teaching time". Traditional "sit there and listen to me speak" kind of classes will not be positive for any child in their early developmental phases. There is a time to explain things and "teach" but it definitely can not take more than 15 minutes when kids are very young.

Using adequate age appropriate learning activities are essential for early childhood development.

A great way to develop thinking skills and other cognitive abilities in children is to provide many positive and fun learning activities. Games and hands on experiences will benefit them the most.

Here is a list of some positive learning experiences for young kids:

• creating sculptures with playdough
• playing in the sand
• building blocks
• putting puzzles together
• painting
• cut and glue activities
• playing memory games
• miniature toys
• kitchen play
• listening to a short story
• puppetry

By understanding how a small child thinks, teachers and parents can adapt their teaching to the preschool age. Much more can be accomplished in the developmental growth of preschool children.


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