Why
do Parents Should Enroll Their Children to Preschool?
Early
age is often referred to as serious development or it can be said as the golden
age. When children are on their golden age, of course as parents should give everything
the best for them, especially in education. For parents, early education is
very essential. Through early education, parents can find out the talents also
interests and can monitor the development aspects of their child. In addition,
not a few parents trust educational institutions such as child care or
preschool to educate and develop the potential of their children. Then, why do
parents should enroll their children to preschool? The reason are children will
be trained to develop their social-emotional, cognitive, language skills,
behavior and readiness for future schooling.
Firstly,
in preschool, children will be trained in social-emotional development. It
ranging from the ability to understand the feelings of others, maintain friendships
with people around them such as friends and family and regulate their emotions
and thoughts. Because social-emotional development is formed through the
process of learning, children will be taught how to interact with others, solve
problems and express their feelings well. But not all parents can fulfill this.
Brown et al (2012) said that in the
survey there were 24% of children screened positive for social-emotional
problems. Among the various types of surveys found that 27% of children had no
parental child care. This is expected to be a reflection for parents to enter their
child to preschool and take part in the programs provided so that
social-emotional development of children does not experience problems later on.
Schonert-Reichl & Lawlor (2010) determined
that children who participated in the ME program compared to those who did not,
its effects was proven to be positive and significant in improving children’s
emotional. ME program is a program that focuses on facilitating the
socio-emotional development of children through "mindful attention
awareness" in which the designed to show optimism and positive affect
lessons. The existence of institutions such as preschools and educational
programs like this can help reduce the bad percentage of social-emotional
children.
Second,
to develop children's cognitive. Children aged 3-6 years have a high level of
curiosity and love to explore something. That is why parents need to facilitate
children with more professional educators in building their level of
intelligence. In Australia, cognitive development in children is still experiencing
problems. Many factors influence it such as children who have difficult
temperaments, low income and children who are read less than 3 times a year. Niklas,
Tayler & Gilley (2017) said that there are fifteen factors which is linked
to lower of cognitive abilities and the worst one were found that children
experiencing more risks factors. Whereas, Australia is one country that has a
strong policy in development and learning for children. Campbell et al (2001)
said that intensive early childhood education can have a long-lasting effect on
children's cognitive and academic development. Campbell also added, “Cognitive
growth curve analysis between ages 3 and 21 shows that children who get an
education at an early age have a sharp increase compared to children who did
not.” If a country can do such an equal education, build a child care and
preschool program in even the most remote areas, this problem will not occur.
Not only that, professional educators are also needed to be able to provide
direction that can develop children's cognitive.
Next,
children who study in the preschool can develop their language skills. Most
children acquire language from interactions that come from adults and peers
around them. In preschool, children will be taught how to master the language
to communicate and interact well. But on the other hand, a survey showed a
language skill error in children in a preschool that was tested through a
pretest using nine indicators. These indicators include the number of students
in one class, health programs and providing services to families. Mashburn et
al (2008) stated that out of these nine indicators, none has been positively
associated with child development during preschool. How could this happen? It
may be the people in the background of the program are not serious in carrying
out of it, even though the teachers already have a degree. This is contrary to
opinion from Wasik, Bond & Hindman (2006) who their data showed classroom
performed high-implementation children with better receptive language than
children who had low-implementation. Professional teachers should already know
what strategies can be used to improve children's language skills. For example,
by using the way teachers talk to children, both during their reading language
or not can affect children's language skills.
The
fourth, children will be formed in preschool behavior. Character formation and
behavior in early of age are very necessary so that in the future children can
have readiness to continue further education and have a good academic the value
of children who are not educated in their behavior is feared to have a negative
impact on themselves and others. Huaqing Qi & Kaiser (2003) stated that
there is a drastic increase in the prevalence of rates of behavior problems
from 14% to 52%. This can happen because of the children have low
socio-emotional, language skills and cognitive skills. Therefore, the presence
of preschools and other child care programs will greatly help parents in
preventing the occurrence of bad behavior of children and reduce the number of
problem behavior itself. For an example is the Dinosaur School as argued by
Webster-Stratton & Reid (2004) who said that this program works to
eliminate disruptive child behavior and to foster prosocial behavior. Even this
program is effective when provided with high loyalty, perpetuation the
integrity of the content, process, and methods.
The
last is, preschool can make children more ready to face for future schooling.
Preschool can prepare children for the transition from preschool to grade
school. After the important aspects that must be owned by the child have been
fulfilled, then he is more able to control himself and blend easily in his
environment for more formal education later. Palermo et al (2007) stated in
their findings that children who have conflicts between teachers will behave
more aggressively. This can be happened if the teacher is less professional in
educating these early-age children. Teachers should be able to establish a good
relationship with their students and know the nature of each of their students.
Of course this opinion is contrary to Dibello & Neuharth-Pritchett (2012)
who also explain the level of quality of the child care environment as well as
family contributions can guarantee success at the beginning of their school.
So, it depends on the quality of the preschool and as parents must be smart in
choosing preschool for their child.
In
conclusion, there are many benefits and a positive side if parents put their
child in preschool. There is no wrong for parents in trusting educational
institutions such as preschools to facilitate their children in early
education. As long as parents and educators continue to support and work
together to improve children's development, they will grow to be quality and
useful children for many in the future.
References
Schonert-Reich, A, K., Lawlor, S. M. (2010.) The Effects of a Mindfullness-Based
Education Program on Pre- and Early Adolescents’ Well-Being and Social and
Emotional Competence. Vol. 1. 137-151. (Online article).
Brown, M. C., Copeland, A. K., Sucharew, H., Kahn, S.
R. (2012). Social- Emotional Problem in
Preschool-aged Children. 166(10). 926-932. (Online Article).
Campbell, A. F., Pungello, P. E., et al. (2001). The Development of Cognitive and Academic
Abilities : Growth Curves From an Early Childhood Educational Experiment. 37(2).
231-242. (Online Article).
Niklas, F., Tayler, C., Gilley, T. (2017). Vulnerable Children in Australia : Multiple
Risk Factor Analyses to Predict Cognitive Abilities and Problem Behaviour.
61(3). 105-123. (Online Article).
Wasik, A. B., Bond. A. M., Hindmand, A. (2006). The Effects of a Language and Literacy
Intervention on Head Start Children and Teachers. 98(1). 63-74. (Online
Article).
Mashburn, J. A., Pianta, C. R., et al. (2008). Measures of Classroom Quality in
Prekindergarten and Children’s Development of Academic, Language, and Social
Skills. 79(3). 732-749. (Online Article).
Webster-Stratton, C,. Reid, J. M. (2004). Strengthening Social and Emotional
Competence in Young Children—the Foundation for Early School Readiness and
Success. 17(2). 96-113. (Online Article)
Huangqing Qi, C., Kaiser, A. P., (2003). Behavior Problems of Preschool Children from
Low-Income Families: Review of the Literature. 23(4). 188-216. (Online
Article).
Dibello, L. C., Neuharth-Pritchett, S. (2012). Perspectives on School Readiness and Pre-Kindergarten
Programs: An Introduction. (Online Article).
Palermo, F., Hanish, L. D.,
et al. (2007). Preschoolers’ Academic
Readiness: What Role does the Teacher–Child Relationship Play?. 22(4).
(Online Article).