Early Education

Just as literacy is a form of communication, numeracy too is a way to represent and share information of the world around us. These are life skills and children need opportunities to use them and see them being used in real life situations which help them to make meaning of it. Worksheets and other formal teaching strategies make learning abstract and dry. This approach decontextualises learning and some children find it difficult to make connections with mathematical concepts in this way. Children can better internalise them when they are exposed to number concepts used around them as part of everyday experiences.

The literacy goals and outcomes for toddlers and preschoolers have changed dramatically over the years. The emphasis is definitely on pushing the literacy outcomes associated with formal schooling down to the early years. To hothouse children into becoming ‘literate’, we have seen over the years the emergence of flash cards for babies, spelling lists for preschoolers and the expectation to read and write earlier than developmentally appropriate. There is plenty of evidence to support that when children are pushed into reading, often times you have a child who struggles with a lack of interest, stress and rebellion and is ‘put off’ by reading.

Early Years education cultivates a joy of learning in children from a young age and has proven to have a positive impact on lifelong education. Inquiry-based learning complements a child’s innate curiosity and helps them develop confidence in their abilities by creating the best possible learning opportunities.

Literacy derives itself from oral skills as much as from reading and writing. The ability to communicate using language and articulate one’s thoughts and feelings lays the foundation for oral language skills.

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