Just how important is early education?
It’s no surprise that when children are well-educated from a young age, they tend to be more successful later on in life. But what many people — parents included — often don’t realize is that “early education” actually starts before kids even enter a preschool program or pre-K program.
Don’t believe it?
Between the ages of three and five, the average child’s vocabulary is expected to grow from 900 words to at least 2,500 words.
Even if a child can’t form words and speak them coherently, kids typically start learning language at around 15 to 18 months of age.
By the time a child is six years old, his/her brain has grown to 95% of its total size.
At the age of two, many kids — over half of all American two-year-olds, in fact — are already spending nearly an hour every day watching TV or DVDs. Although these programs often contain positive messages and learning opportunities for young kids, it’s important to keep in mind that videos and TV shows are rarely as beneficial as books!
In various studies that analyze the performance of kids in preschool programs and other pre-kindergarten early education programs, these young students outperform their peers who didn’t receive early education. This doesn’t just last for a year or two; it can actually follow kids throughout their entire academic career.
So now it’s time to revisit that question: Just how important are early learning programs? Well, it depends — how much do you value academic strength and performance? Reference links. For more, read this link.