Top 5 Benefits Of Child Care Centers Offering Early Childhood Education

By Author: Amanda Bernard
Total Articles: 17
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Over the last decade, research has pointed to the importance of a child’s early education. Wikipedia defines ‘early childhood education’ as “the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home.” This highlights the time a child spends in a child care center. Young children may be enrolled in a child care setting from the time they are infants to the time they enter elementary school. During these early years, children go through critical stages of development, and consistent, high-quality care can have long-lasting, beneficial effects on the overall development of children.

Child care centers and programs that work to include early education activities are helping prepare your child for future school success. Here are the TOP reasons to enroll your child in an early childhood education program:

1) Early Literacy Development
Early literacy is what children know about reading ...
... and writing BEFORE they actually read and write. Research shows that children arriving at kindergarten with the following early literacy skills are more likely to succeed in learning to read and write. An early education program helps to ensure these early literacy skills are in place.

Vocabulary Development - Knowing the names of things
Narrative Skills - Being able to describe things, events, and tell stories
Letter Knowledge - Understanding that each letter is unique and has a name and sound
Print Awareness - Experience with different forms of print; knowledge of how to handle books and how to follow words across a page
Print Motivation - Interest in and enjoyment from books
Phonological Awareness - Ability to hear and play with the small sounds that make up words

2) Social and Emotional Development
After reviewing decades of early research, the National Research Council has concluded that social skills, emotional capabilities and dispositions toward learning that children acquire during early childhood are inexplicably linked to their learning and success later in life. In addition, a variety of research studies focusing on the perceptions of kindergarten teachers, consistently report that positive social and emotional skills are as important to school success as specific academic skills. Your child’s teachers and early education curriculum play a large role in ensuring these skills are fully developed.
3) Intellectual Development
An early education program helps to build brain power by supporting the development of judgment, perception, memory, reasoning, critical thinking, and language. Including age-appropriate cognitive activities, like reading, writing, and math let children learn by experiencing the world around them.
4) Enhanced Self Esteem
Child care centers and teachers share the responsibility to help nurture a child’s identity and feelings of accomplishment. Daily interactions, teaching methods and choices in an early childhood education program make an important impact on children’s development and self esteem.
5) Enhanced Creativity
A comprehensive early education program should promote creative thinking in young children so that they can grow up to make reasoned life decisions for themselves and with their families, colleagues and friends. Promoting creativity builds a sense of independence, thinking skills, and can be a joyful experience for your child.
As outlined above, it’s essential for parents to choose the right early education program. Daily activities that include a well planned and comprehensive child care curriculum can ensure your child excels at a lifetime of learning.