Every parent of young children will face that dreaded day: the day their child goes off to school. The real question is when the day should arrive. Should your child attend preschool? If so, at what age should they begin? Is it worth the trauma of sending them away, or should you keep your child with you until he or she is ready for kindergarten? In some ways, no one can answer these questions for your family but you. As you make your decisions, though, consider these five ways that preschool can benefit your child.
- Preschool can provide structure that your child really needs. It may not seem that the preschool environment has any structure at all, but in reality what’s going on has been planned by professionals and is overseen by people who know what they’re doing. The structure is actually supposed to be invisible to the children, but they are nevertheless learning how to interact with other people in a positive way. This can be an especially beneficial lesson for children with no siblings or whose siblings are very different in age.
- Preschool can help children with their social and emotional development. Learning how to control one’s own emotions and how to interact with others in the right ways can be very difficult lessons. One of the benefits of preschool is that children gain experience in building relationships with people outside their family in a safe environment. As they interact with other children, they learn social skills. Teachers and helpers are also trained in ways to help the children manage their anger and learn how to resolve conflict effectively. At the same time, the adults stand ready to step in when necessary to make sure that everyone stay safe.
- Preschool prepares children for elementary school. Kindergartens are becoming more and more difficult, and many parents are finding their children are not ready to enter kindergarten and elementary school life straight out of the home. Choosing a private school when the child is young can help to bridge the gap by giving children plenty of essential playtime while still providing pre-math and pre-literary skills that will help the children excel when they enter the regular school setting. Typically, these skills are strengthened through games and activities the children naturally want to take part in. This increases the children’s excitement and motivation and provides a context that is meaningful to them.
- Preschool can help children with their language and thinking skills. Many children can benefit from an environment where they’re surrounded by language, however in many busy homes families cannot provide this kind of stimulation. A good preschool provides children opportunity to listen as well practice their own linguistic skills. They get practice in understanding and utilizing complex sentence structures and questions. Also, activities are deliberately designed not just to be fun, but also to teach young children to think. They begin to learn very basic things about the foundation of physics as well as cause and effect.
Whether you intend for your child to go on to private elementary schools or public, finding good private education for their preschool years could be a great way to set them on the path to success. Top preschools will certainly let you look around and see what they have to offer. They will be able to tell you what to know about day schools, and give you a chance to see if your child would be a good fit in their establishment. If you want the best start in life for your child, it’s worth looking into preschools that might help them on their way.
