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Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Advantages Of Early Childhood Education

By Adriana Noton


Among the many changes in our world over the last several decades, few have been as dramatic as the increased need for early childhood education. Gone are the days when children could delay their education and still hope to be competitive with their peers and others around the world. The fast-paced nature of today's economy and the increased use of technology now require an even greater emphasis on educating children at a very young age.

The genesis of the change

For most of human history, children had the opportunity to spend their youngest years of life engaged in childish pursuits. While the demands of agricultural society always seemed to ensure that children had chores to do, that never stopped them from focusing most of their time on play. In addition, the physical nature of most work resulted in a greater reliance on physical development than on any type of formal education.

Computerization has altered all that. The rise of the technological age has created a world in which employees are valuable for their ability to utilize technology to maximize production and increase profitability. This has resulted in an increased emphasis on high-level technical expertise, an emphasis that is sure to increase as time goes by.

The earliest learning

Children typically begin to learn the most fundamental lessons at the feet of their parents or guardians. These caretakers educate children in all of the most fundamental areas of life, including the spoken word and basic social development. Then, at about the age of three, most children become eligible for the somewhat more formalized world of preschool.

These programs are designed to give these children a head start on critical skills that will be needed when they enter the educational system a few years later. Teachers focus on basic socialization skills, as well as alphabet and numerical recognition exercises designed to familiarize the children with the important elements of language that they will use throughout their lives.

Additional help

The new competitive nature of the world has caused many parents and guardians to look for even more innovative ways to educate their children. The whole goal is to ensure that the child develops in such a way that he is ready to begin formal education in earnest when the time comes. This desire for a competitive edge has led many private companies to develop educational systems to fulfill these parents' dreams.

These programs include basic language skills, early math, reading, and even foreign language study. They take a variety of forms, ranging from computer software and internet learning to traditional tutoring programs and other types of formalized instruction. Though the overall benefits of these types of supplemental instruction are not yet fully understood, there can be little doubt that these programs provide at least some advantages to the children who participate in them.

Of course, one would have to be living in a cave to believe that even these efforts will suffice in the future. The world keeps growing ever more competitive, as workers in the East and workers in the West all compete with one another for what sometimes seems to be an ever shrinking supply of available jobs. Parents who want their children to be among the truly successful people of the future would do well to provide them with early childhood education today.




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