What worries you about sending your child to preschool? Introducing such long periods of separation? Do you think they’ll get lost in the shuffle of a classroom?
Naturally, a lot of parents worry about sending their kids to preschool. It’s a big transition and can be hard on both children and parents.
However, preschool will only help your child grow. They will gain so much from spending their days around peers and helping teachers, develop soft skills, and get a head start on things like numbers, letters, and shapes.
While it can be tempting to keep your kids at home for another year, here are 5 reasons you should consider enrolling them in Pre-K.
Learning Foundation
You’ve likely noticed just how observant and curious children are. They have endless questions, but not many answers. They are eager to learn and do and figure out the world.
Preschool is a great place to start fueling that foundation of learning. It can get them interested in small but valuable activities like assembling toys, learning the value of currency in a make-believe situation, or even get oriented with a musical instrument.
The games and activities used in preschools are specifically chosen to get little ones’ brains going. By spending their weeks in these learning environments, they’ll be able to absorb lots of useful information.
Introduction to Structure
Young children are pretty much used to doing as they please. When they don’t have a schedule to follow or activities to be present for, they’re missing the value of structure. Preschool is the perfect place to slowly introduce them to structured time.
They’ll learn to follow rules, share, take turns, and work with others. This sort of structured environment helps them understand the ways of the world without them even realizing it.
Preparation for Real School
Soon enough, it will be time for kindergarten and elementary school. At most preschools, there’s a focus on introductory literacy and arithmetic skills. This is so that when kindergarten does roll around, your child will be familiar with the concepts. By introducing these subjects in a playful, creative way, they’ll see learning as fun.
Stimulate Development
One of the best things about preschool is how it helps children grow cognitively, socially, and emotionally.
It’s easy to teach ABCs and 123s with the curriculum. Confidence, kindness, exploration, and independence, on the other hand, are much harder. Placing your kids in a preschool environment will help them grow in all aspects – not just academic subjects.
Through group play, arts and crafts, small responsibilities, and even music learning for kids, they can begin to develop their sense of self outside the home.
Preschool is a great way to kickstart their emotional and social development, so they shape up to be equally awesome adults.
Informal and Fun
Many parents think of preschool as a strict environment that is only focused on academic learning. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Preschools ignite joy and encourage lots of play. Most of the learning even happens through forms of play. Blocks, toys, games, and even outdoor recess are great ways to stimulate your child’s brain in ways that are fun and exciting for them.
There will be years of structured classrooms in their future – let them enjoy their informal play while in preschool!
All of this goes to say that a preschool is a great option if it’s available and accessible to you. Not everyone decides to take the preschool route for their children, and that’s okay! If you’re considering whether to enroll them, however, the points above make a strong case for preschool education.
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