Recent research on the amazingly complex and rapid development of young children’s brains has given insight into the importance of education in the early years.
Children have a very natural desire to learn, explore and discover the world around them. It is important that they are placed in a structured education program where their enthusiasm is nurtured and sustained and that they are exposed to developmentally appropriate activities. It has also been found that cognitive and social development are complimentary and children learn best through “shared thinking”.
Studies have shown that children who are exposed to high quality pre-school education in their early years benefit in the following ways throughout their lives:
- A good preschool experience encourages learning dispositions that favor lifelong learning and the early development of social and behavioral competencies.
- Children who have experienced a good quality early childhood education in a structured and caring environment learn at an early age how to become responsible and show consideration for others.
- All children deserve to feel good about themselves. The early years are a crucial time in this self-concept. In a quality preschool that is founded on consistency, trust and loving guidance children will gain high self-esteem. It is noteworthy that children who feel good about themselves seem to be more friendly and helpful towards peers, on the other hand low self-esteem is related to poor mental health, low academic achievement and delinquency.
Much of what you need to succeed in life is established before you enter kindergarten. During that time, the human brain undergoes rapid development; it’s a period when a child builds cognitive skills — the foundation for reading, math, science and academics — as well as character skills, social-emotional growth, gross-motor skills and executive functioning, which includes everything from impulse control to problem solving.
There’s an explosion of activity in the first five years of life, more profound than any future years. We at the British Private Prep School can capitalize on that and maximize the support and learning opportunities, and then we really stand a good chance of setting young children on a trajectory of success.
Academic achievement, of course, is one of the main benefits of early childhood learning, children who attend early-learning programs demonstrate higher levels of school achievement and better social adjustment than those who have no formal early education. They’re less likely to repeat a grade or be placed in special education classes, since learning issues can be identified and mediated early. Children who have had formal early-learning experiences are also more likely to graduate from high school. We at the British Private Prep School focus on a lifelong love of learning.