Pre-schooling can have lasting benefits<\/p>\n
Simon Marcus Gower
\nContributor\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
It is a quite remarkable fact -- and it can be a constant
\nwonder to see -- that small children are natural learners. It is
\nin our very human nature that, as children, we learn.<\/p>\n
In a sense we must: Small children experience both an internal
\nand an external world, of which they need to make sense. In some
\nrespects, this \"making sense of the world\" can be seen as a
\nsurvival instinct.<\/p>\n
Pre-school aged children are effectively experiencing a time
\nwhen it is in their nature to learn about what is around them.
\nThis, inevitably, means they are experiencing times that are
\npotentially highly influential and formative for their future
\nbehavior and habits.<\/p>\n
Small children are not, as yet, weighed down by the \"baggage\"
\nof formal schooling. They have not yet reached an age at which
\nthey may encounter feelings of boredom, antipathy and even
\ncynicism, which are liable to be encountered in later years when
\nschooling is mundane and uninspiring. For them, the whole world
\nis a school, everywhere a classroom and endless learning
\nopportunities are to be had.<\/p>\n
But perhaps this highlights that, during those pre-school
\nyears, great caution needs to be taken because such children can
\nbe seen as highly impressionable and they could effectively
\ngather up and store the wrong impressions.<\/p>\n
Two simple and modest observations of children learning
\ntogether may illustrate this point.<\/p>\n
In the first instance, a child is patiently attempting to
\ntrace letters in a book. For her age, this behavior is really
\nquite advanced. Another child who had been quite boisterously
\nrunning around eventually found his attention drawn to this
\nchild, patiently and carefully trying to manipulate a colored
\npencil across the page of the book.<\/p>\n
Here, his natural learning instinct took hold, and a natural
\ncuriosity created a question in his mind: \"What is she doing?\"
\nThis question led to the further decision to go over and take a
\nlook. Within moments, he was looking for his own colored pencil
\nto duplicate the little girl's actions. He was effectively and
\npositively learning from her.<\/p>\n
In a second instance, though, we can see that the potential of
\nsmall children to learn from each other and from whatever
\nsituation can have a potentially negative impact.<\/p>\n
In this instance, a boy was maliciously chasing after a cat
\nthat had strolled into his domain. The cat seemed to be toying
\nwith the little boy, in that it did not immediately run away but
\nstayed around, as it were, to play with the boy.<\/p>\n
Another boy was watching these antics when the first boy
\npicked up a stick with which he intended to hit the cat. The
\nsecond boy soon joined in, and within moments, the two of them
\nwere violently lashing away at the cat. It should be noted that
\nthe cat was too quick and soon made his escape.<\/p>\n
In this instance, it would seem that violent behavior was
\nbeing observed and learned.<\/p>\n
This emphasizes to the need for small children to be given the
\nright kind of guidance, routines and examples from which they may
\nbe able to learn and so incorporate into their own being. The
\nmanner in which little children are able to mimic and duplicate
\nbehaviors they see can be something of a warning to parents, and
\nhighlight the need for the right kind of early childhood learning
\nexperiences.<\/p>\n
Another example illustrates how parents may have a rude
\nawakening about the way small children pick up what they see and
\nhear. One mother had a habit of using a particular four-letter
\nexpletive when something went wrong or was not to her liking. It
\nwas, then, with some dismay and embarrassment that she heard her
\nlittle daughter using the very same bad language one day.<\/p>\n
Small children will naturally pick up and often repeat what
\nthey hear and see without the self-censorship that distinguishes
\nbetween right and wrong, the acceptable and unacceptable.<\/p>\n
This, then, highlights the critical value of having a pre-
\nschool environment that assists the child in seeing, hearing and
\ninteracting with settings that are developmentally appropriate
\nand beneficial to their impressionable minds.<\/p>\n
In this sense, the benefits of pre-schooling is immediately
\nobvious, as a child may learn and incorporate socially acceptable
\nnorms in their behavior. Simple behavioral values such as sharing
\nand taking turns in a pre-school setting are an excellent early
\nlearning experience that has lasting influence over how the child
\ndevelops and behaves toward their peers and elders.<\/p>\n
The lasting influence that pre-schooling can have over a
\nchild's development and future is an area that should be
\nrecognized and appreciated. Indeed, research results have
\nconsistently highlighted how children who have attended pre-
\nschool have reaped benefits later in life.<\/p>\n
Published figures show that a child who has received some pre-
\nschooling is more likely to score higher on IQ tests later in
\nlife, is less likely to drop out of school and is more likely to
\nprogress to higher education, thus possess higher employability.
\nSuch results are indicative of the plus factor likely to emerge
\nwhen a child encounters good and positive pre-school learning
\nexperiences.<\/p>\n
But these learning experiences are not positive simply because
\nthe child happens to be attending pre-school. Any and all pre-
\nschools need an appropriately and well designed program that
\nprovides a sense of structure and routine for small children.
\nMerely having children coming to a class or group and interacting
\nwith each other without some reasonable degree of structure and
\npatterning to the day could prove counterproductive.<\/p>\n
The example above shows how easily a small child can gather
\nand replicate the wrong kinds of behavior, and this could and
\ndoes happen also in a pre-school setting. It is thus important
\nthat pre-schools have certain quality-related features, including
\n-- but not be limited to -- staff trained in early childhood
\neducation, a low teacher\/caregiver-child ratio so each child may
\nreceive their full attention, a solid curriculum and room for
\nparent involvement in their children's school day.<\/p>\n
Clearly, realistic expectations must be applied, as there is
\nonly so much that a small child can do, but with the right
\nplanning and implementation, the benefits of pre-schooling can be
\ndeep and lasting. -- The writer is a Jakarta-based education
\nconsultant.<\/p>",
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