Sending your child to preschool for the first time can be nerve-racking for both parents and the child. But it is also a significant milestone.
Parents have to deal with new environments, teachers, and having to leave their child at school for the first time. Some parents may not realize what to expect when sending their children off for the first time.
Preschool is for more than learning your alphabet or numbers. It’s also about social development, which is just as important.
Here are 7 reasons why you should enroll your child in preschool:
1. Prepares Children for Primary School
Preschool offers children the opportunity to learn phonics, richer vocabularies, and basic math skills than those who do not. Many preschools offer educational activities such as:
- Basic math concepts like shapes and sizes, counting numbers and recognising patterns. These lessons help them excel in math throughout their school years.
- Reading skills such as identifying letters of the alphabet
- Science concepts such as the life cycles of animals
- Social studies concepts such as geography by having them read stories about other places around the world or visit museums where they can see artefacts.
2. Helps Your Child Adapt to a Structured Learning Environment
Preschool is a great time for your child to understand how to behave in a classroom setting.
Preschoolers can engage in challenging, hands-on learning experiences that help them deepen their understanding of a subject or skill.
Adapting to a structured learning environment makes it easier for your child when they join primary school.
At this point, they’ll already be familiar with following rules, sitting still, and paying attention. So they won’t have as much trouble transitioning into the new school system.
3. Builds Their Literacy Abilities
A child’s early years are crucial for building strong literacy skills. Children learn to read, write and speak during preschool, and these skills help them succeed in school, work and life.
Building strong literacy skills is important for children as they grow up. Literacy skills are the foundation for all other learning.
Children with strong literacy abilities are more likely to succeed in school, be successful in the workplace, and lead fulfilling lives.
Developing strong literacy skills helps children learn to:
- Listen and respond to others in their world, including family members, teachers and friends
- Understand the world around them through books, stories and other media
- Express their thoughts and feelings using language in a variety of ways
4. Children Improve Their Fine and Gross Motor Skills
Preschool helps children learn important skills, such as writing and drawing, and how to use everyday items like toys or utensils. They also learn how to interact with others and follow the rules.
While preschoolers are learning these skills, they also develop fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are the small movements made by your fingers, hands, wrists and arms. These skills help your child learn to eat on their own as taught by their teachers.
Fine motor skills develop between two and five years old. They include:
- Hand-eye coordination
- Fine finger movements (for example, picking up small objects)
- Tying shoelaces
- Brushing teeth
Preschool can also help children develop gross motor skills. Gross motor skills involve large muscle movements such as running or jumping. For example, a preschooler may learn how to balance on one foot while playing with friends or participating in an activity like jumping rope.
5. Boosts Their Self Esteem and Confidence
Preschool helps your child to develop social-emotional competence, which improves their confidence. Having confidence makes it easier for your child to develop critical skills such as learning their voice.
Children learn how to be confident unconsciously in an environment with friends and instructors.
Additionally, preschool helps children develop problem-solving skills by exposing them to situations requiring solutions, such as cleaning up toys, going on field trips and playing games.
The repetition and encouragement of these experiences from their teachers help children build confidence in their ability to solve problems independently.
6. Children Build Their Cognitive Skills
When preschoolers use imagination to play and interact with others, they develop creative problem-solving skills.
Play is an important part of a child’s development. Play allows children to use their imaginations, build self-confidence and explore the world around them.
Play also helps children learn how to interact with people and can help them develop new skills such as sharing, taking turns, and communicating.
7. Children Learn How to be Independent
When you think about preschool, you probably picture children playing with blocks, painting and singing songs. But there’s a lot more to it than that. Preschool helps children learn how to be independent.
Children learn important life skills like preparing food—decorating pizza, spreading jam, cleaning, and dressing themselves. These simple daily activities help them become independent adults later in life.
Preschool can play a big role in helping your child develop strong social skills. It allows your child to explore their world and develop new interests.
Conclusion
Preschool is important for learning and developing important skills in young children. Young children get the chance to explore, learn and develop in a safe and secure environment.
Preschool is no replacement for quality time with your children at home, but when combined with family time, preschool can help provide a solid foundation for their early schooling years.
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