Preschool can work wonders for your child’s development. Interacting with their peers and teachers in an educational environment outside the home equips children with essential skills that will last them a lifetime. You’ll be surprised how quickly they pick stuff up!
Children grow and develop very quickly in the first five years of their lives, usually across four main areas: physical development, communication and language skills, cognitive development, and social and emotional development. Preschool helps with each of these areas, and more! By the time they finish preschool, your child will have the foundations of a range of skills that will carry them through primary school, secondary school, and the many years that follow.
If you’re returning to work, looking for the next stage after a toddler group, or your little one has never been to child day care and is just ready to spread their wings a little, preschool might be the perfect solution! Here at Little Acorns Day Nursery, we know how important your child’s wellbeing is to you. To set your mind at ease and make your decision a little easier, we’ve come up with a helpful guide to how preschool will benefit your child – they’ll always be in safe hands with us.
Physical development
Preschool provides plenty of opportunities for children to develop physically. The activities they take part in will boost your child’s coordination and strength so they can meet their motor development milestones. These activities could be things like skipping, running, climbing, threading beads, cutting shapes, and even painting. Improved motor skills will enable your child to explore their environment more, challenge themselves in new ways, and be more independent.
Health and wellbeing
Attending preschool can also boost your child’s health and wellbeing in a variety of ways – encouraging a healthy lifestyle early will serve them well in future.
While they may get a little sniffle from time to time, your child’s immunity will improve thanks to mingling with others. Being able to play and talk with their classmates will also be enjoyable for them, boosting their confidence and their mood.
Spending time outdoors is also beneficial. Letting them play, run, or just explore nature can help them burn off energy, which will not only keep them fit and healthy but will also aid their eating and sleeping habits. Again, being out in the fresh air is also sure to boost their mood.
Social and emotional development
Meeting a variety of new people will improve your child’s social and emotional skills. While at preschool, children learn how to compromise, be respectful, make friends, share, cooperate, listen, and converse with peers and elders. They will also gain a sense of self through the activities they participate in and their interactions with classmates and/or friends.
Preschools like Little Acorns Day Nursery will encourage and nurture warm, trusting relationships among children, teachers, and parents/guardians. These connections will help your child develop the social and emotional skills they need going forwards, such as empathy and an understanding of emotions. It’ll also help them feel more at ease in future social situations, such as making friends in primary school.
Taking care of themselves and others
Preschools often give children opportunities to develop a sense of care and responsibility. For instance, they may teach children when to wash their hands and trust them to put this into practice by themselves. Alternatively, your child might be expected to keep their personal belongings safe in a designated area or to put toys back where they belong.
Preschoolers also learn how to take care of others. Your child will be encouraged to help others with tasks that they are more competent at, show a new classmate where something is kept, or help the teacher with certain activities like giving out milk cartons at break-time or setting up the painting equipment. Class pets are also a great way of developing care and responsibility skills in children.
Language and cognitive development
Research has shown that preschool provides children with a cognitive advantage over those who don’t attend child day care, as it is a safe environment in which they can play, learn, experiment, explore and problem-solve. Cognitive skills are strengthened by engaging in a wide range of interactive activities that challenge your child to observe closely, ask questions, test their ideas, or solve problems.
Your child’s language development is also likely to be nurtured in a preschool environment, through activities like one-on-one reading sessions, class reading sessions, class discussions, role-playing, and singing. Teachers help children grow their vocabularies and cognitive skills by asking thought-provoking questions and introducing new, specific vocabulary that they may not come across otherwise, e.g. during science sessions, arts & crafts, or snack time. Interaction with other children will also be invaluable in developing language and conversational skills.
Basic academic learning
While your child won’t be tackling algebra or Shakespeare anytime soon, preschool will introduce them to the very basic principles of numeracy and literacy, and might touch on subjects like art, music, and science too!
Young children tend to show some interest in developing maths and literacy skills. They want to be able to do real-life tasks such as reading the instructions for a toy or selecting the correct coins to pay for a treat. To prepare children for academic learning, preschools employ a wide variety of games and activities that help them acquire the necessary skills.
Singing an alphabet song while seeing the letters on a screen or in a book can help your child make connections between the written letters and their sounds. Learning rhymes and songs helps them to notice the distinct sounds within words, which will aid their reading and speaking skills. Discussions encourage listening, comprehension, and language development.
When it comes to numeracy, games that involve counting, matching, and sorting can build your child’s understanding of numbers, sequences, and categories – these skills will provide a solid foundation for future mathematics education.