Early Children Education

From the moment we come kicking and screaming into this world, we are learning. We learn to cry to make our needs known. We learn to hold our heads up, to sit, to crawl and then finally to stand and walk. We learn what tastes good or terrible by putting things into our mouths. We learn that falling down hurts and try to learn how not to do it anymore. We struggle to learn how to use the potty chair and then to move up to the big toilet. Every day we, itty-bitty humans learn, but it does not count as “formal” education.

Some children do not begin school until they reach the age of five, and these are the ones that usually come to kindergarten, unprepared, and inconsolable. Education was not discussed with them, they had no idea of what to expect and then all of a sudden, they are dropped off at a strange building filled with children that they do not know. They are not properly socialized to being within such a large group and overwhelmed, they weep.

State law says that every child must be involved in some form of education beginning at the age of five, but some parents opt to start their children’s education at a far younger age. Preschool programs can teach children how to share with others, as well as some of the basic learning skills that they will need for their further education. These children will be better prepared to start kindergarten – school is not a big mystery to them, they have already been there.

If finances are an issue, Headstart is available for lower income children. Basically the same as other preschool programs, this government funded program provides early educational experience to children who may have otherwise not been able to afford it. All three of my own children went to Headstart and loved it. I loved it too, it taught them that education was not something to be scared of, and that it could really be something fun. When it was time for kindergarten, each met the prospect of going to school with excitement and joy rather than with fear and apprehension.

It doesn’t really matter which program your children are enrolled in, education at an early age can set them on the path that will have them seeking and receiving the best for their whole lives. You do not spark the fiery passion of learning in the senior year of high school- you have to excite these children early and hope that they stay excited.

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