Children are best prepared when their developmental readiness and what they wish to learn is respected Nurture Child’s Curiosity Nurture Child’s Curiosity
The early part of a child’s life is vital to shape their mental development and learning ability. The first few years of education and preparedness in kindergarten/preschool classrooms (ages 3-6) are the most crucial for young learners to establish a deep love of learning and to nurture their innate curiosity. Too often, schools focus on rote learning and drilling the alphabet at ages too early for young minds to retain, only to be retaught at older grades. By doing so, schools often crush young children’s inherent curiosity rather than nurturing this critical aspect of inspiring lifelong learning.
There is no struggle with getting young children to explore their world. By incorporating foundational skills necessary for growth with their natural curiosity for exploration, children learn about the world on their own terms. Too often in the quest to push students towards academic learning, we ignore the most important tool for their learning – their innate sense of wonder – the thirst for learning and curiosity!
Children are best prepared when their developmental readiness or what they are able to learn at each age, is honoured and strongly considered at each phase of learning. This means paying attention to aspects that interest them, weaving opportunities for social-emotional learning and academic learning like numeracy and literacy, and problem-solving skills into what they do each day. Strong support for curiosity at home also supports young learners in their next phase of learning.
Families that ask questions, read aloud with their children regularly, include children in family activities like making grocery lists, and limit screen time, enable their children to adapt to school and educational learning much more easily. As children enter Pre-Kindergarten (3 years), they have greater control of their bodies, are toilet trained, and can eat and drink by themselves. Families that support this independence at home see much greater success as their children then move into Junior Kindergarten (4 years), where socialization continues to drive learning and more complex ideas begin to flourish. This helps students prepare for Senior Kindergarten (5 years) and then to Grade 1 (6 years) where students truly take on more academically complex ideas related to language, literacy, mathematics, the sciences, and human interactions.
Communication between teachers and parents is imperative towards the growth of a child. A set of prepared guidelines share most of the required skills that showcase personal readiness and independence by children at each stage. These include the ability to eat and drink independently, focus, think logically, recognize important words, demonstrate some self-control, and speak clearly. Along with reading, writing, and counting, readiness also focuses on social and emotional development at each stage of learning. As we communicate expectations based on physiological, mental, and emotional development, parents become better partners in learning and help each child be ready and independent for each phase of early childhood they pass through.
For instance, a child is showing deep inclination towards painting, and then the teachers and parents could arrange for painting materials and encourage creativity in the child.
Overall intellectual development of children is vital. This fosters learning in children sets the foundation for a positive and engaging school education.
Families that ask questions, read aloud with their children regularly, include children in family activities like making grocery lists, and limit screen time, enable
their children to adapt to school and educational learning much more easily
