Why Early Education Matters

Many people brush off early-childhood education as “just preschool” or “just daycare.”

It is so much more significant than that.

The most important brain development takes place before children even get to kindergarten.

The support a child gets for their early learning has a direct impact on that child’s life trajectory, family-life, and society at large.

It all starts with the BRAIN!

Did you know that two-year olds have twice as many brain synapses as adults?!

What’s a synapse, you ask? A synapse is a junction between two nerve cells or between a nerve cell and and a muscle. Why does it matter that kids have more synapses?

Because synapses are what allow our brains to send messages to our body and vice versa. Simply put - I’m not a scientist - connection sites are where learning occurs in the brain. Therefore, a two year old can learn things TWICE as fast as an adult.

This is something we can use to our advantage, if we know how to leverage it appropriately.

The brain undergoes a few critical periods of brain development. The first one of these happens around two-years-old and ends around age 7. (the other one, not surprisingly, is during adolescence).

This gap between 2 and 7 years old is the best time to be proactive in your child’s education and development. This does not mean that you are sitting your 3 year old down for “learning time” each day.

What we want to do, instead, is consider how we want to encourage our children developmentally. If we want them to be readers, we read to them. We play letter games, we play with sounds, we talk a lot and sing nursery rhymes. We tell stories and count.

By engaging them as the natural learners they are, we can do so much for these little BIG brains!

Quality early education now, benefits later

Research suggests that children who receive a high-quality education before they turn 5 reap long-term benefits. These children are:

• Less likely to repeat a grade

• Less likely to be identified as having special needs

• More prepared academically for later grades

• More likely to graduate from high school

• More likely to be higher earners in the workforce

Some argue that early academic gains can “level out" in elementary school. Whether this is true or not, it is clear that preschool has a positive impact on “soft-skills.” These are things like self-control, persistence, and self-discipline. As a former kindergarten teacher I know how important these "soft skills" are!

Self-controlled, persistent, and disciplined/eager to learn 5-year-olds are so fun to teach. Sometimes a kiddo that can read, but can't flush the toilet, try new things, or open their lunchbox. One group of kids is way more prepared to learn than the other, and I’ll let you decide which one.

Investing in early childhood education also has direct positive impacts on society.

According to Wired, “for every dollar invested in preschool for at-risk children, society at large reaps somewhere between eight and nine dollars in return.”

As parents, we need to reinforce concepts and lessons at home (which doesn’t always happen). Investing in preschool in general is a great investment in the future of our society.

Importance of parents and caregivers

Your relationship with your child in the early years sets a foundation for their learning and development.

Research shows that what parents do with their children in the home learning environment is much important than who parents are.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, parent involvement in a child’s education is important. The early work you do as a learning advocate supports transfer of skills between home and school.

Transfer of skills allows your child to be successful beyond grades and school projects. Transfer opens the door to true, life-long learning.

Your support develops self-esteem and cultivates a positive attitude towards learning and school. Read more about how you can become the ultimate parent coach and learning advocate here.

Implications for learning and “waiting”

I disagree with the “wait and see” approach to reading and language development. Based on brain research, young children are primed for language learning.

When I say a that we should support a child’s early learning, this doesn’t look like school. It looks like play - because it is play! This early learning happens through play. Play is how a child learns. Teaching a child in these early years should happen through play, conversations, discovery, and reading.

Sometimes a child gets to kindergarten or first grade and shows some struggles. By waiting to intervene, we risk them coming to the end of that first critical brain developmental stage.

When a child turns 8 (approximately), that critical period for language learning is coming to an end. It is much, MUCH harder to close gaps that have developed in reading and language.

Frequent practice and repetition is also important for young brains. This is one reason why I also think it is important to keep learning alive during the summer.

Young children are more susceptible to learning loss because their brains are at that critical stage.

“In general, kids learn a lot more in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade than kids in middle school or high school, because learning follows a curve where it’s accelerated early in life and then plateaus,” says James Kim, Ed.D., an assistant professor of education at Harvard University. “Things like decoding, letter knowledge, and word reading skills are very susceptible to decay without frequent practice, as are math facts like addition and subtraction.”

I’m a mom of a preschooler, toddler, and I’m a former kindergarten teacher. From that perspective, I feel like I want to do everything I can to prepare my children now. I see first hand the leaps their little (but mighty) brains take each and every day.

I want to foster that development, display a growth mindset at home, and model strong relationships. I also know that in a classroom with 18+ children, it can be difficult for every child to get the exact help they need.

Read more about teaching your child at home here, and how to be a strong parent learning coach here. Curious about the summer slide? Check that out here.

Go ahead and check out my NEW writing guide, full of tangible tips for supporting young writers at home.

Download for free here: Supporting Children’s Writing: A Parent’s Guide to Creating Lifelong Writers.

This guide will help you set your child up for success as a writer from the early days and beyond.