Friday, 17 August 2012

The Quality of Learning in Pre Schools


In addition to at home giving the child a learning experience for a variety of toys, games, books, music, many parents will consider whether need to give the child the external environment of different types of incentives. When a child should enter into kindergarten? Parents should let children before school to learn arithmetic?

Some learning programs today will urge parents to teach in its infancy children to read, do arithmetic, learning a foreign language to help children develop intelligence, whether you need to follow these plans? We may never be able to clearly resolve the dispute. In fact, some eye specialists warned that before the age of six children's vision is not fully qualified for the activity of reading a printed book, children too early to start reading may lead to vision problems. Some experts believe that there is no link between early onset of reading and visual impairment.

Most educators believe that for the pre-school children, imaginative games play much more important role than academic learning. Has been specifically designed to enhance child IQ for the purpose of the project may not have caused children any substantial harm, because the children are either boring or unknown or just having fun, and these have no special benefits on children. The results of a number of studies show that most children between six and seven-year-old, when is the official school, began learning to read.

However, parents should avoid setting the formal curriculum at home. Cutting-edge researcher Arnold Gesell suggested that child's school readiness and state of readiness to learn to walk is the same all need for the flexibility. That child learn to read before entering literacy is more harm than good, such thinking is outdated, in fact, some children can even read proficiency personally. This can promote children to build a strong and happy self-awareness, and its meaning is nothing more than a first step for children to be independent. If your child has raised various numbers and letters, you should try to answer his questions. As much as possible to provide children with the information he wants, but do not waste your time on the formal academic curriculum.

In addition, you should teach children how to think and memory. Whether the child is gifted or qualification flat, parents should help them learn to think and remember, this is the child of two necessary skills. By allowing the toddler to classify the washed clothes or according to the size and color to organize the beautiful stone retrieved by a walk or stack the plates in the cupboard to provide them with the opportunity to practice the comparison and classification ability. 

Friday, 10 August 2012

Preschool tips for you


Preschools that nurture a child’s mind are required to prepare a child for kindergarten and elementary school. Picking a preschool that is suitable for your child is a tough task. The right preschool will prepare your child both academically and socially to face kindergarten. Different children will find different schools suitable. Here are some important factors to bear in mind before settling on a preschool for your child.
The first thing to do is to start looking for a suitable playschool franchisee early as there is lot of rush in most preschool franchisees. Good preschools are in great demand and there is lot of rush when it comes to admission. You could settle for your neighborhood preschool, however before you decide to admit your child to the nearest playschool, check their curriculum. Does the school have a scientific curriculum to deliver the best education to your child? Some schools admit children after the child has attained two years of age. Call up preschools on your checklist and ask them questions to see if they meet the needs of your child. Visit the preschool you have chosen for your child and are comfortable with. Take your child along with you to visit the school. Take into account your feelings about the school. See your child’s response to the school environment. Take your child to all the schools on your list and see how comfortable he is with the school environment. Discuss the activities of the school with your child and ask for his feedback. This will give you an honest impression of what your child feels about the school.

Find out about the staff members of the school, their number and the student staff ratio. Find out how well-trained the staff members are to handle the children. Discuss the safety issues, the school curriculum, the activities they do at the school and the mid-day meal programs. Before you admit your child to a school please ensure you are comfortable with their schedule. Talk to the parents of other kids who are admitted at the school. Take their feedback seriously. Are their children happy at the school and are they learning there? Find out how the staff deals with parents who ask questions. How do the other parents find the school curriculum? Ask if they have any concerns about the school programs that they would like to share. Find out if the school will allow your child to try out the school before you finally admit your child to the school. Some schools offer a free day at the school or a money back guarantee. Some others offer a refund of the tuition fee after the first month.

Give your child enough time to adjust to the new environment.  Your child may not respond well to the new environment due to several reasons like he may not want to be separated from you or he may be apprehensive about meeting other kids out of shyness. Allow your child to be comfortable with the environment before you decide to withdraw.

Making your child ready for preschool


Preschools differ from day care centers. Don’t confuse between the two. Your child learns different skills in preschool and becomes ready for kindergarten and elementary school.  Day care centers care for your children while you are away at work or any other place. A day care center provides meals and some preschools too provide meals. Your child attending can be a source of anxiety for you and a daunting experience for your child. Your child may have difficulty in adjusting to the new environment. You can prepare your child by ensuring that he has a smooth transition from home to preschool. Please ensure that you keep all learning activity playful. Don’t make entering preschool a difficult chore for your child. Make entering preschool a fun activity for your child. Tell your child that there will be many fun activities in the school like making new friends, learning new skills and developing social skills. Find out the details of the preschool you are sending your child to. Does the school have many play activities? What mode of instruction do they use? Go ahead and talk in detail to the teacher at the play school.

Before you send your child to preschool plan some activities where your child gets a chance to meet children his age, this will make your child learn the concept of adjusting with other children and being cooperative. Use the role play method to familiarize your child to the concept of preschool. Play the role of parent as well as teacher to totally make your child comfortable with preschool.

Introduce the concept of preschool gently so that your child feels he is on familiar ground when he goes to preschool. Make your child more comfortable by introducing the concept of preschool gently to him. Prepare your child by acting out all the activities your child will do at school, like singing songs, reading aloud, solving puzzles and playing with other children. Make all these activities fun filled so that your child participates in them enthusiastically.  Reassure your child that preschool will be fun and he will learn many new and interesting things there.

Discuss preschool with your child while playing with him. Introduce the concept that school will be fun and that he will learn many new things there. List out all the activities your child will do at preschool. Go to the preschool with your child before admitting him there. Show him what he will do there and ensure that he is familiar with the campus and is used to the concept that he will be separated from you for a few hours.  Act out all the activities your child will do when he leaves for school like wearing his uniform and shoes, make him pick his bag and play as if you are going to school. Tell him what he will be doing at school and play act all the activities he will be doing prior to going to school. Make your child thoroughly comfortable with preschool before you leave him there. 

Friday, 3 August 2012

Right to education for preschool


According to a recent news item, the education ministry is looking to bring preschool education under the ambit of Right to Education Act. This may be a good suggestion but the logistical and financial pressures of bringing about four crore children under the RTE is a cause of concern. It is however argued that bringing the early years of education under the free and compulsory education will improve the condition of early childhood education. The Prime Minister has said that a final decision on increasing the ambit of the RTE will be taken by the end of July. The inclusion of children between the ages of four and six will mean reworking the ambit of the ministry of women and child development which administers integrated child development schemes targeting children below the age of six.

While all said and done the RTE being applied to tiny tots is a good idea, the practicality of how it will be applied is under question. Do we have the infrastructure to send so many children to school? The National Advisory council is of the view that the Prime Minister’s anganwadi scheme should cover children up to the age of four.  Simultaneously the planning commission’s sub group on elementary education is trying to widen the reach of the Right to Education Act to include children between the age of four and six years. The advantage of bringing preschool children under the ambit of the Right to Education Act is more and more children will start learning and if they go to school early elementary education will be naturally covered though wherefore will the infrastructure come for such a herculean task is indeed something to be pondered over. The sub group of the Central advisory board of education, which is examining the possibility of extending the free and compulsory education law to cover secondary education, will be asked to look into the inclusion of preschool learning. In its present form the RTE covers children from classes 1 to 8.  The biggest impediment to including preschool children under the RTE is the logistical and financial pressure it will entail. The move will mean moving four crore children to the free and compulsory education recipients. It will involve setting up at least ten lakh classrooms and hiring ten lakh trained nursery teachers.

An approximate estimate suggests that it will cost at least two lakh per classroom to immediately implement the plan. There will also be other recurring costs such as teachers, salaries and learning materials.  The biggest cause of concern however would be to find trained nursery teachers or to train so many teachers to teach. Even if children are brought under the right to education act what guarantee is there that those children will attend the schools and even if the schools are run what guarantee is there that the children will have qualified teachers who teach them. There is also apprehension about bringing a new system of convergence with the health sector that the growth monitoring component of the integrated child development is not lost. 

Sunday, 29 July 2012

Your child’s personality development


You will notice your child’s unique personality when he makes a choice like picking the teddy bear and rejecting the rattler. Your child’s personality is growing and changing between the ages of 3 and 5. What sort of changes can you expect from your child between the ages of three and five? How can you help your child’s personality blossom? Here are some tips to help your child express his true personality and become a well-adjusted child in society.

From the age of 3-5 your child develops many new features. At this stage they become more comfortable at expressing themselves with words.  During these years children also gain greater self-control.  They begin to rely more on themselves than on others.  They start learning how to calm themselves when they get excited, frightened or upset.  They start becoming more attentive and less emotionally reactive.  Children also start building their self-confidence at this stage. They gain experience in learning how to treat others.  When kids reach the age of 5 they start showing a greater concern for mom and dad. They begin to understand that you have your own needs and feelings too. They also begin displaying affection and develop a fantasy life. They may swing between being demanding and being co-operative. Here are steps you could take to help your child’s personality develop fully and freely.

Keep in mind that your child is unique. Children differ remarkably from each other. Healthy personality development is possible by parenting that is sensitive to the individual needs of the child. 

Encourage your child to play. This hugely influences a child’s personality. Giving your child time to play is the most important factor in helping your child’s personality blossom. Play helps a child develop physically, mentally and emotionally.  It develops their skill at working in groups, settle conflicts, helps in developing their imagination and try on different roles. When children play they get to practice decision making. They also learn to stand up for themselves, create, explore and lead.

Avoid labeling your child as you want your child to develop his own individual personality without being influenced by yours or anyone else’s.  Don’t label your child as emotional, bossy or tough and create confusion in his personality.

You are the person your toddler sees and imitates the most so set an example by being polite, courteous and well-mannered.

Allow your child to be himself and not a replica of you. You may want your child to imitate your ways but it is more important to allow your child to develop his own individual personality. Many experts recommend reading to your child and broadening their perspective. Support your child’s interests and help them develop their personality. You can allow your child to be himself and still encourage new interests and hobbies. Instead of trying to change your child’s personality give them support in directions that help their personalities grow.

By the time your child reaches the preschool years the major part of the personality is already stable and on display. 

How to make your child ready for Kindergarten school


Times are changing and most preschool franchises expect children to have some basic skills. Your child should be ready for kindergarten school. Most kindergarten teachers expect the children to know some letters and some sounds before they join kindergarten school. Here are some kindergarten readiness skills that your child should possess before he joins kindergarten. The first skill that your child should possess is the writing skill. Help your child practice writing by writing the letters in her name.  Teach your child to write her name the first letter in uppercase and the rest in lower case. Let your child scribble on the slate or write her name with sugar to make the learning more fun. Reading or letter recognition is the second skill that your child should possess. Play games to help your child recognize the letters of the alphabet.  You can play hide and seek with refrigerator magnets.  Don’t drill your child with flashcards instead use them to play some games like ask your child to fetch the right cards. Teach your child the sound of each letter by picking objects beginning with the same letter of the alphabet.

Emphasize the first sound in each word to teach your child the word. The next skill that your child has to learn is counting of numbers. Count all the objects you use throughout the day like the number of socks your child is wearing or the number of crackers he is eating. Point out to the numbers you see in your environment and make your child read them. Your child should also recognize shapes and colors by the time he or she reaches kindergarten.  If your child is having trouble recognizing some colors you can add some food colors to cookies and other food items to emphasize the colors. Show your child how to recognize different shapes by cutting them on paper and helping your child recognize them. Play a game where your child recognizes objects of certain shape and color in the neighborhood as you walk or drive together.

Your child’s motor skills can be developed by giving him different writing options like crayons, colored pencils and markers. Giving your child play dough to play will strengthen the muscles of the hand which will be used to write. Cutting is also a skill that your child has to learn. Purchase a pair of child safe scissors and allow your child to practice. Give your child old newspapers and magazines to cut up. Encourage your child to create a collage. You could also teach your child to cut play dough. For developing the reading skill run your fingers under the words as you read them. Play games with rhyming words to help your child identify similar sounding words. You also have to develop the attention span of your child read lots of stories to your child and see how long your child remains focused. Develop the social skills of your child. Give your child the opportunity to interact with other kids in various places. Also teach your child to express her feelings if he likes or dislikes something.  By practicing the above mentioned skills your child will be just ready for kindergarten school. 

Friday, 20 July 2012

Increasing the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Childhood Education


Education is vital to survive in this world. The Indian educational system is divided into various levels. Nursery school education is one of them. It is the first level of education that a child receives in this world. It is essential for a child’s proper growth.

Education is a necessary part of everybody’s life. It makes a great impact on everyone’s life. The educational background of a person decides the direction which his life is going to take. Education is a powerful weapon and stands by us against all odds. One must always value one’s education. A person’s whole career depends upon the education he possesses. A person’s real aim in life is the success he achieves in life and this is dependent on the education he has. Just as education is important in an individual’s life, the schooling he gets is an essential part of the education. Schooling in India is divided into primary, middle and secondary school education. Primary and pre-primary refers to the education a child receives from the age of three till the time he attains the fifth grade. Middle school refers to education a child has from the sixth grade to the eighth grade. Secondary refers to standards of ninth and above.

Earlier the educational bodies followed the concept of primary, middle and secondary school only, but today everybody is aware of pre-primary or nursery school education, most parents want to send there children to pre-primary schools to start their education early. Earlier when a child attained the age of five or six he was admitted to the first grade but today the child has to clear nursery and kindergarten before he is admitted to the first grade. The nursery level of education which is considered very important is two to three years of education which teaches a child several important skills. In a pre-school a child learns to identify colors, shapes, write alphabet, numbers and most important of all a child learns to adjust and socialize. A child who has attended nursery school and kindergarten school adjusts to primary school fast. To attend a nursery school the child has to begin school at the tender age of three and four. 

The present child starts his education very early as compared to the child of yesteryears who started his education at the age of five or six. Today because of the high demand of nursery school education you can find preschool franchisee mushrooming everywhere. For getting a child admitted to a kindergarten school, the child has to be taught the basics at home. This effort has to be made as a part of getting the child admitted to the best pre-primary school in town.  Different people have different views for pre-primary education. Some people feel it is not required while others recommend it highly. Most educationist today believe that children who have attended pre-primary school are better prepared to attend primary and secondary school and showed better math and reading skills. Such children were also socially well-adjusted children. Many educators believe that the pre-primary education provides a solid base to the child.