What is preschool education

There are many stages in human life, according to development and maturation. The most important stage is childhood. The age from two and a half years to five years of childhood is accepted as pre-school age. Since the pre-school period is crucial in one’s life, separate educational norms are set apart to help the total development of the child, during pre-school age. This special method of education is declared as pre-school education.

Why pre-school stage is crucial to a child? Children are born to this world as helpless beings. They learn and socialize through sensory organs within the first five years of their lives (sensory motor stage). Mostly, learning occurs through experience and observation, when a child of this age starts learning to interact with his environment. Hence, providing them the necessary experiences through activities is very important. The child receives these experiences through different types of activities, at pre-school. The proper experience ensures the child receives total development of mind, and this acts as a scaffolding to reach higher planes in his socialization and development.

How can pre-school education provide total development? There are many aspects in child-development, such as physical, mental, moral, social, aesthetical, intellectual and emotional development. A preschool provides an appropriate environment for teaching and learning. In addition, the child is free to interact with peer groups, which is lacking at his home, as most of the present day families are nuclear families (parents and children only). The well trained pre-school teacher can provide necessary activities through utilization of the teaching-aids, specially constructed for this purpose. This can enhance the physical and cognitive developing process of the child. Even though the parents have the knowledge to provide necessary pre-school education at home, the lack of availability of time and (sometimes) resources hinders providing elements for total development at home.

Why pre-school education is difficult to provide at home? Other than the non-availability of time, the home is a place which the child sees as the whole world from the beginning of his/her life. The pre-school has many aspects which are different from a home environment. From apparatus for develop gross motor activities such as swings, climbers, hinging tires, sand pit, water play, slides to activities such as choral singing, group dancing, religious activities, group play activities, as well as controlling emotions and bodily needs a proper pre-school is well equipped for providing the child a professional ‘pre-schooling’ experience. It is also a more controlled orderly environment, with the availability of a trained teacher, with suitable teaching methods according to the level of the development of pre-school child. In addition, going out of the home, just like other formal school students, could heighten the child’s personality development. Through all the above facilities, the child learns important socialization skills, which cannot be provided at home.

Finally, it can be concluded that pre-school education is not mere developing the language skills and cognitive skills, but total, overall development of a child, which is an important foundation for later life.

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What is preschool education