Working as a Pre-kindergarten educator has shown me how critical learning is at an early age in a child. These children are capable of learning so many different things. Children not only learn social skills at this age but ,as the infographic says, by age five 90% of their brain development has taken place. It is remarkable to see first hand how learning occurs whether it is teacher directed or even student centered learning that is taking place. Our brains are able to take in and process a lot of information at a young age. This is why I believe early education does matter!
If this critical period of development is undervalued or seen as unimportant, the effects are, as shown above, detrimental:high school dropouts, crime, and even teen parents. Disappointment is the one word that came to my mind when I read the fact that : 35-40 % of children are not ready for kindergarten. I think that more public educational institutions should provide a pre-kindergarten and preschool that can emphasize learning,play, and value high quality early childhood education.
As the infograph states: Every child should be able to thrive. I think this should be the goal .
Here is an example from my classroom of just one learning experience that has occurred in the Junior Kindergarten classroom I work in.The children learn how to count in english,spanish,korean,Japanese and german during morning circle time.They are only 4 and a half to 5 years old.This is one way of allowing childrens minds to grow and develeop and promotoe this ealry learning.We are now in the second month of school and out of the 16 students in my class, teh majority can count in these 5 different languages. The brain is remarkable. Imagine how much more children are able to learn if placed in a high quality early education setting. So far i have seen that songs, hands on activities, Ipad, and videos are helpful tools that promote early education and am excited to see the learning process expand as the year goes on.
Here are just a few question to ponder about. Let me know what you think :)
What do you think about early education?What does high quality early education mean to you? How can early education be valued more in our society?
Cool infographic with lots of good information! I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about early education, being a secondary teacher and all, but I think it's the cornerstone from which we begin building a lifetime of learning. If we don't work on quality education from the beginning we're wasting some of the formative years with the children we want to educate.
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