Thursday, 14 April 2016

What is the Right Age to Start Preschool?

What is the right age to start preschool?

A three-year-old kid is out of diapers and love playing and running about with peers. But how would you whether your child is ready for a preschool? What are the benefits of preschool that your kids would miss sitting back at home? Experts suggest that for most kids attending a preschool is an experience that shouldn't be missed.

All kids should be given an opportunity and advantages of attending a preschool, states a child development expert. It is a valuable beginning of a child's life as now we are aware that children are capable of attending school at a very early age. Most people agree to 'the sooner the better' with regard to the structured privileges for learning.

When is your child ready : Most preschools normally accept kids at an age around 2 1/2 years but that never suggest the child is magically ready to join a preschool when he or she reaches this age. Readiness for attending a school has a lot to do with your child's individual development in all respects. So you should try to find out whether your child is psychological, socially, cognitively and physically ready to participate in a regular, structured educational program with a group of fellow children.

Though it is unwise to look for an easy and quick answer to this question and come up with saying that a child is ready for all these things, most parents tend to do this. The most suitable way to determine this is by thinking about the matter closely, and by consulting with others who know your child quite well such as your spouse, your parents, child's physician and the one who provides care for the child.

Is the child independent enough?

 A preschool will certainly need the child to have some basic skills like talking and potty training for examples. But it is better to help them develop a few more healthy habits like washing the hands before eating anything, eating a meal without anybody's assistance as well as sleeping alone.

Is the child habituated in staying away from you? If a child has been cared by a nurse or a relative, he shall be better prepared to be separated from you. Kids who are habituated to being apart from their parents can be better off with attending a pre-school hardly without a backward glance. If your child has not had enough opportunities to be away from the parents, then you should try to schedule something like a weekend at granny's place or a day out without parents.

A possible way out: But even if it is not possible for you to manage this, there's nothing much to worry about- there are many kids who leave their parents for the first time for school and they do quite well. The best solution to this issue could be to help the child adjust in short doses of separation from parents. Many preschools shall avail you the chance of leaving your child for an hour or two in the school during the first few days. As the child gets accustomed to his new environment, he or she can eventually work up to a full schedule.

As most parents feel, a preschool is quite a big leap for small children and this is the reason why most of the child education experts think that increasing the preschool admission age by a year could be a good thing for most kids and their parents. They feel that it would be advantageous to most children as they will be offered an extra period of growing and developing their language and communication skills before they join a preschool. This will invariably boost their confidence and make them absolutely independent when they reach school.

Many renowned educationists agree that the benefit of increasing the age of entering school should be increased to 4 years as it gives the privilege and opportunity to develop in all respects to the kids. It is because the common tendency of most parents is to compare their child with other children of similar age. But what they don't understand is a major proportion of a child's learning is dependent on their readiness and learning styles as well as opportunity to handle strengths and challenges. Thus, they should be given ample chance to reach their potential before they are made to carry the heavy load and face the competitive environment of the educational system.

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