By Liam Jacob
The best that preschools have to offer
Once you’ve made up your mind that’s it’s time to send your little one off to school, the next step inevitably so, is to find a preschool that offers learning activities that resonate with your intellect, culture and background. There are various preschool programs, each devised to educate toddlers in the most practical and simplistic way. They have been designed and perfected over years to simplify and make the process of learning flexible and easy. And are adapted to meet the requirements of each toddler as an individual.
However, a few key points that you need to keep in mind while selecting a preschool are –
Accessibility – distance wise and also with access to teaching staff and availability.
Qualifications – most preschools have well qualified teachers adept at handling toddlers but it’s always good to check.
Reputation – word of mouth can often be the best publicity. Conversing with parents who are already a part of the organisation can offer good insights.
Professionalism – the level of professionalism of the organisation will reflect in your child’s upbringing and ensure peace of mind for the parent.
Experience and Maturity – how they handle crisis can often depend on the maturity of the staff and experience at hand, which is always a good teacher.
Apart from social and behavioural development activities preschools offer fun leaning activities specifically designed to inculcate basic concepts while engaging the brain. Toddlers and young children have to develop concentration skills, which becomes a tedious task if children are not involved in the task at hand.
Creative and academic skills are key. However different languages like short Spanish Immersion courses, yoga sessions, art, dance and music lessons, animal care, basic vegetable gardening, nutritional cooking are just some of the activities modified for little minds and on offer at various institutions. Basics like self care and care for the environment are also some key topics of current importance that are covered in some preschool programs.
We live in a multicultural and multilingual society, hence making it important to introduce children to the various cultures that they are exposed to.
The goal behind choosing the program best suited to your toddler should be the achievement of the following.
Inculcate trust and develop confidence in themselves.
Nurture and ignite the intellectual curiosity and spirit of inquiry in developing minds.
Develop a sense of self – personal knowledge of the body and mind.
Develop a connection with all living things and the environment.
A growth mindset, focussed on abundance coupled with determination and discipline.
There are various preschool programs that focus on achieving all these goals. The widely used amongst these being the Arthur Gillingham Approach and the Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf alongwith parent co-ops and religious faith based programs.
Montessori allows children to decided their pace of progress and activities that spark their interest. Arthur Gillingham focuses more on a multisensory structured approach while Reggio Emilia focuses more on the freedom of expression. The organisation, founded in Italy, has based it’s structure around the involvement of families and creative space and emotion. Waldorf attempts to create an all round development. Meanwhile parent co-ops are also popular among parents who prefer home schooling and opt to hire a teacher to educate their children at home. Religious organizations also offer preschool programs where the focus on religion depends on the school.
