At What Age Should A Child Start Preschool? Don't Just Look At Age, Says This Educator

Starting It Right at Preschool 

By Therese Pelias 

A few years back, I was teaching future early childhood teachers in the tertiary level. An often-asked question among parents I meet during those years who, in the round of small talks, find out what I do is about why kids need to go to preschool. I remember one such couple and it was the dad who seemed to have the greater need to understand and we presumably know why. It is usually the dads who pay for the school’s bill – the tuition.  

In a nutshell, as that was not a prepared lecture or talk, I explained what very young kids can get from being in a school at four to six years old and I remember how that dad’s face just lit up in enlightenment and said, “Right, Ms Pelias. Thank you for sorting out my questions and for affirming our decision to send our child to preschool.” So, what was my nutshell speech all about? It was about three things – 1) that learning does not mean academic and heavy stuff all the time, 2) that preschools’ learning environment is an important factor in a child’s learning and 3) the importance of parental engagement which starts with knowing the right things to consider when choosing for a preschool. Let’s take that down one by one. 

What Kids Need To Learn At Preschool Age 

Most adults tend to think about the schooling experience of their kids based on how they were schooled themselves. It is similar to how we parent children the way we were parented. In both, the tendency is to say, “But I turned out well, didn’t I?” Reading, Writing and ‘Rithmetic (short for Arithmetic) were just so heavily emphasized in kids back in the day because parents knew how the essential skills of reading, writing and counting meant a lot in their child’s eventual performance. Truth of the matter is that literacy and numeracy are indeed important. It is just that they are not the only things that should mark a child’s progress as a learner. 

A child’s development is anchored in what we call domains of development. Think of them like different facets of your child’s personhood. There are basically four – 1) cognitive, 2) physical, 3) socio-emotional and 4) language development. And when your child goes to a preschool, all of these are at play especially when… they play! 

Children learn while they are at play. Preschool teachers are likewise not levelled-up nannies who play stewards at the playground. They do a lot of interaction with kids and observation too. A child who is having difficulty pushing himself at the slide can be taught explicitly how to by a caring teacher and would eventually memorize what teacher said so he can repeat the same thing the next day. The child who is learning how to manipulate blocks is likely learning names of colors while training on fine motor skills and at the same time problem solving. And if that child is working with a partner, he or she is learning as well how to take turns, self-regulate emotions and work collaboratively – all the while learning how to talk and have fun. 

THE ENVIRONMENT IS THE TEACHER 

Preschool learning and teaching have a lot to do with the effective and deliberate placement of the right learning materials, furniture as well as psychological environment for kids. It is one of the reasons why preschools can be quite expensive. Not to mention that class sizes are at best kept at around 15 or less so that teachers can monitor more not just physical movement and safety of kids but their well-being in school in general. Preschool teachers do a lot of heavy documentation of children’s progress aside from planning for daily instruction. This is what makes preschool teachers different from teachers in the higher grades. Most preschools who see this as an important need do hire teaching assistants or aides and they can be very helpful in preparing instructional materials to helping kids at the washroom or when one kid just needs more attention than the rest. 

Learning materials may look like toys for most but they are actually also used for instruction. Montessori preschools, for instance, would have kids move around a kid-version of a kitchen. The child might be mimicking adult behavior in a real kitchen but is actually learning life skills. The drama center in progressive preschools is harping on a child’s wonderful and spontaneous ability to imagine. Creativity is at its best in a preschool classroom indeed. Certain preschools have made children’s theater a staple in their curriculum. A child’s confidence not just talent gets a great deal of boost even if playing a background character is all he did on stage.  

HOW TO CHOOSE THE PRESCHOOL BEST FOR YOUR CHILD 

When it comes to children’s education, it is best that the couple are on the same page in terms of what they value in schools. A unified decision and coordinated efforts in canvassing and observing will work best. Aside from considering curriculum and checking on feedback from other parents, parents can do visits during open house days and even bring their kids with them. Seeing your kids light up when they see a school and say, “Yeah, Mama, I think I like to study here,” can be a very good starting point.  

So there. The preschool years are not just add-ons in the basic education curriculum. These years are highly impressionable years where children leap from one significant child development milestone to another. It ought to be given much thought and attention to. As a teacher of future preschool teachers back in the day, I always tell my students to put the child at the center of their teaching. I say the same to parents who should think best about the beautiful benefits their kids would get when they get off to a good and positive start about themselves and what life, routines, play, people and schools are all about right there at the door of their preschools.   

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Ms. Therese Pelias used to be the Department Chair of the Child Development and Education of Miriam College. She is presently with Thames International as its Manager for Teacher’s Professional Development.