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When your child is old enough to start school, you should put them in a preschool that caters to their requirements while offering the best education. Most preschools provide specialized curricula in line with their educational philosophies. While there are several approaches to preschool curricula (some emphasize discovery learning while others are solely academic), each program aims to shape kids into better individuals by teaching them vital skills they’ll need in the future.
It would help if you were looking for a preschool that offers a curriculum that best suits your child’s learning preferences as a parent.
WHAT ARE PRESCHOOLS?
In a programme for young children called preschool, children integrate learning with play under the supervision of people with the appropriate training. Preschool enrollment is typically restricted to children between the ages of three and five, while some institutions will accept children as young as two. In contrast to typical daycare, preschools place more of an emphasis on learning and development than on allowing parents to work or engage in other activities (Preschool – Average, Definition, Description, Common Problems, n.d.).
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THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESCHOOL
Preschool education is important because it allows youngsters to explore their surroundings while learning physical coordination abilities. Hand-eye coordination, fine and large motor abilities, and activities requiring running, climbing, beading, and art and craft are all beneficial.
Albert Einstein was right when he said, “Play is the highest form of research,” which is especially true with this age group because they discover the answers to their many questions through experimentation, exploration, and conversation. While engaging in guided and scaffolded play in environments explicitly designed for play by adults. Young minds are naturally curious and always willing to learn more due to these encounters.
Another crucial cognitive development that takes place in the preschool years is symbolic thought. The capacity to cognitively or symbolically depict actual concrete objects and events is known as extended cognition. Examples include role-playing or pretend play, portraying or drawing things, and talking about them.
Most of our child development theorists have also emphasized the significance of early social, behavioral, and cognitive development.
Early experiences have been shown to positively affect children’s development and willingness to learn when they are positive, consistent, developmental sound, and emotionally helpful.
THE MOST WELL-LIKED KINDS OF PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS ARE LISTED BELOW.
1. Waldorf
The preschool curriculum at Waldorf schools combines discipline and creative learning. The system prioritizes intellectual exploration. Mixed-age classrooms use a play-based learning method.
Rudolf Steiner developed the Waldorf curriculum to hone students’ artistic and practical abilities. Its guiding principle advocates for developing a well-rounded person.
Instead of traditional academics, the Waldorf curriculum strongly emphasizes the outdoors and creativity. There are no evaluations, tests, assignments, or grades. Instead, they are subject to ongoing testing through a variety of activities. Therefore, students don’t have to tell their parents, “can you please do my homework for me” because they won’t need to worry about their homework.
There are many ways to teach. Each educational setting that uses the Waldorf method does it, especially with its teaching strategies. A typical school day involves personal participation and collaborative learning in small classroom settings where the teacher monitors every student.
Youngsters develop self-motivation in their daily tasks through creative learning. Most of their lessons are practical.
One early childhood curriculum program that promotes the child’s intellectual, physical, and emotional development is Waldorf. Students can attend a Waldorf school from kindergarten through the 12th grade.
2. Montessori
Teachers serve as learning guides in the child-centered Montessori curriculum. The learning process for kids in a mixed-age classroom is self-paced. The five main study topics included in this curriculum are language, culture, real-world application, and sensorial mathematics.
Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian doctor who intended to promote cooperation among children, established the Montessori Method. With unique instruments, it encourages children’s cognitive, social, and emotional growth.
In a Montessori environment, kids can learn either individually or in groups. Because they select their activities, students are more responsible, independent, and passionate. Then, through extracurricular activities and question-and-answer sessions, teachers assist pupils in developing these skills.
Moldable learning materials are use in classrooms to encourage students to engage in hands-on learning as they discover new interests, ideas, and abilities. It’s not like they have to ask someone to make my assignment. The students often have uninterrupted sessions in a classroom frequently devoid of desks.
This teaching strategy involves social justice, global leadership, and encouraging amicable dispute resolution. It stresses personalized learning to foster self-motivation.
Children are nurture in Montessori schools from early childhood through adolescence.
3. HighScope
Popular academic-based instruction, known as the HighScope curriculum, is primarily use in community centers. Children pick up various academic skills here, such as telling the time, counting, and working on other practical projects.
A HighScope environment uses educational resources to foster a child’s curiosity. It offers a comprehensive learning environment with interactions between peers and adults. To have fun while learning, students place a greater emphasis on play than on formal instruction.
Children are expose to a setting that encourages the growth of cognitive abilities and the formation of social, emotional, and cultural ties. Everyone in the classroom starts looking out for one another, creating a community.
Key developmental indicators are use by HighScope early childhood curriculum programs to direct teachers in selecting projects and activities that are acceptable for students of various ages. Because of this, it is simple for teachers to comprehend and interpret the needs of their pupils and adapt their instruction to meet these needs precisely.
Play is at the heart of this paradigm. The youngster will work with a teacher as their partner in a “play, do, review” pattern. Students get to choose a project, plan for achieving their objectives, and collaborate with the teacher to evaluate the results.
4. Parent Co-Ops
Parents are involved in their children’s education through the Parent Co-op program. When like-minded parents band together to employ teachers who complement their children’s learning styles, co-op preschools are the result.
The system strengthens the link between parents and children while highlighting the importance of education.
Teachers and parents collaborate through the Parent Co-op program to ensure effective learning processes. During lessons, parents are frequently present and will keep an eye on their kids.
Typically, parents give suggestions or contributions to the curriculum. They occasionally take on administrative responsibilities and help teachers with lessons.
5. Bank Street
A non-traditional curriculum emphasizing social sciences is called a Bank Street curriculum model. This active, imaginative approach allows kids to learn from their surroundings.
Lucy Sprague Mitchell, searching for a model that would emphasize the development of the entire child, created Bank Street. It employs an integrative approach to subjects so students can become emotionally involved in learning.
The preschool programs at Bank Street employ a development interaction method, which strives to help children grow cognitively, emotionally, physically, and socially. Students study in settings that accommodate their many phases of life using various materials.
CONCLUSION
The surroundings of mixed-age classrooms are now evolving with Ai and technology (helpwithdissertation, 2021), which is designed to meet the needs of the coming age. Children interact and collaborate with various classmates under the direction of their facilitators.
There is no rivalry among the students; they choose whether they want to learn actively or passively. Teachers provide individualized instruction while keeping the learner’s interests in mind.
References
Preschool – average, Definition, Description, Common problems. (n.d.). http://www.healthofchildren.com/P/Preschool.html
HWD, (2021). Artificial Intelligence. Online Available at https://www.helpwithdissertation.co.uk/blog/artificial-intelligence/ [Accessed on 20th January 2022]
