Early Education Encourages Child Development

Early Education Encourages Child Development

Dayton, OH – August 05, 2010 – As fall approaches, many parents are looking for educational opportunities for their preschoolers.   Tim Helm, President of the YMCA of Greater Dayton, offers the following suggestions for parents when choosing an early education program.
 
When looking for a preschool and/or child care program, Helm suggests that parents look for classrooms filled with books, blocks, music, art materials, puzzles, dress-up clothing, and writing materials for children to touch, manipulate, view, and experiment with.    “Be sure learning centers are stocked with interesting and challenging materials that will stimulate creativity.”

What some parents visualize as educational classrooms for learning are tables, desks, and chairs with worksheets to complete.   This is very different from the environment where children ages 3-5 learn the best.  “Young children learn through play and hands-on activities, positive relationships with adults, and experiences that are meaningful to them,” Helm adds.   Early experiences are good for children and help prepare them for entry into kindergarten.

Helm also recommends that parents look for positive relationships between the teachers and the children.  Parents should look for teachers who respond to the children by asking questions about their work, interacting with the children, encouraging their active participation, fostering independence and using positive guidance techniques.

Meaningful experiences relate to activities that correlate with things happening in children’s lives will help them to learn.   For example, Helm says, “A child may be more interested in baby animal books if his or her neighbor’s dog just had puppies or there is a nest of bunnies living in their backyard.”   Good communication between the parents and teacher as well as classroom observations will help connect meaningful experiences with early learning.

If you have a preschooler and are interested in a positive early childhood experience, the YMCA of Greater Dayton offers Early Education and Child Care programs at several locations across the Miami Valley.   The programs are available for children ages 18 months to 5 years and are currently enrolling for the upcoming school year.