Preschool education is a phase, just before the start of compulsory regular education, normally meant for children between three and five years of age. In fact, this is a period between the toddler and school stages. Preschool education is just the beginning of learning process for a child when for the first time child steps out in all together a new ambience, away from his mother’s lap.
Preschool also referred as nursery school day care or kindergarten (except in the USA, where kindergarten forms a part of regular education) is just an ideal platform for a child between three and five years of age to kick off the learning process. It is at this stage that the child can easily grasp new things and expresses interest in new things, which marks the beginning of an elementary or formal education.
Things you need to understand as preschooler
As a preschooler, you must help a child to become more independent. You might wonder how to make a child more independent at this tender age! At preschool, your child is taught the basic things – like basic hygiene, toilet training, to dress, to tie shoe-laces and other necessary things that will make him more independent. These small things will inculcate confidence in a child and thus prepare him for the challenges that come ahead during formal education.
Children at the preschool level have the potential to learn quickly. It is a proven fact and not merely an allegory. Teach children alphabets, numbers, and colours; help him to recognise different shape. However, it is important to understand the fact that you must introduce these lessons not as a formal teacher, but your approach must be quite casual. You can combine games along with education to make the learning process smoother and interesting.
Significance of preschool education
The entire education system has drastically changed in these recent years. When a child steps into preschool education, it is expected from him to know the alphabets, numbers and other basic things. If a child knows all these, he/she can easily adjust with the class and thus would not lag behind from his/her other counterparts. By the end of his kindergarten class, a child would learn addition, subtraction and be able to read out short sentences.
Preschool education is more about preparing child mentally and emotionally. During this preschool period, emphasis is led on for the holistic development of a child in a more casual way.