Doctors agree that genes influence the personality of a human. But everything around a young child also impacts his/her development. A child’s brain is impressionable, so more emphasis needs to be given to early childhood development. As the world around us progresses at an incredible speed and the achievement gap widens, the difference between skills, resources, and privileges has a monumental influence on a child’s health, mind, and future.
Early child development sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behavior, and health. The experiences children have in early childhood shape the brain and the child’s capacity to learn, to get along with others, and to respond to daily stresses and challenges.
Author Jess Lair said: “Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded.” This belief is the basis of the Primary school Programme at GIIS that aims to shape students to grow into their personalities by providing them with maximum exposure in academics and non-academic arenas. Among many nursery schools in Dubai, GIIS Primary Programme is the one that has been structured to follow a three-pronged approach focusing on academics, add-ons, and activities that ensures learning is fun and interactive.
Subjects like maths and science are made fun to learn, and as knowledge increases, so does the intensity of the teaching process. Our spiral learning is designed to drill deeper into the knowledge pool as the awareness levels among students go higher.
Early Brain Development
Some important concepts help us understand early brain development:
● Beginning in the last trimester of the prenatal period, brain pathways are formed by developing new connections. This growth increases after birth and follows a predictable sequence.
● At birth, newborns start with very similar brains and brain structures. There are “sensitive periods” during a child’s development when the wiring of the brain for specific abilities is established.
● Providing responsive, nurturing, and stimulating experiences establish the wiring of the brain connections. Children who are well supported and nurtured physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually will develop a multitude of neural connections that will serve them well throughout their life course.
● A child’s interest and curiosity are the motivators that create new connections to acquire new skills. Each new skill builds on a skill already learned. The child’s environment can support and enhance his/her interest and curiosity.
● Early brain development establishes a child’s social competence, cognitive skills, emotional well-being, language, literacy skills, physical abilities, and is a marker for well-being in school and life resiliency.
Early Learning In the past decade, there has been considerably more interest and investment in the early years both in Canada and abroad. By supporting young children and families now, society will benefit later with “healthy, educated, confident, and productive adults.”
Supporting early learning is based on the following facts and premises: – Children are cared for as their families provide nutrition, shelter, nurturing, stimulation, and protection. The care they receive enables children to learn and develop to their full potential with increasing influence from the world outside the family. – Parents want to understand how their child develops and learns. Prenatal and parenting classes, drop-in programs, home visiting, and many other opportunities can be explored to support parents from various cultural, educational, geographic, and socio-economic backgrounds. – High-quality child care settings and pre-school education improve children’s developmental outcomes. – Parent participation in early childhood education and care settings not only improves children’s development but also strengthens families and parenting skills through connecting and sharing with other families.
When parent and family involvement is planned into early childhood education and care setting, and relationships between professionals and family members are built on trust and respect, the greatest benefits are reaped. Clearly, when children have access to quality early childhood environments and experiences, it can set the stage for positive trajectories later on in life.
Holistic Concept of Healthy Child Development
Many interrelated factors influence a child’s overall healthy development. Education, health, social status, access to quality health and social services, housing, access to stimulating early learning environments, adequate nutrition, clean water, and a secure and nurturing parent-child relationship all play a role. Given the importance of the early years in shaping a child’s brain development, every child has a right to an enriched and supportive environment to reach his/her full potential.
To meet the needs of children and families, an integrated and holistic approach to service delivery is essential. Families of young children need access to health care, quality and affordable child care, parenting supports, and education within their local community. The concept of a ‘community hub’ is not a new one. More than a decade ago, McCain and Mustard (1999) called for centers that operate using “a ‘hub and spoke’ model”, to provide “seamless support and access to early intervention for families in need”.
In a few communities, this holistic, seamless approach has been used with success. But the goal of “An integrated continuum of early childhood development and parenting centers to serve all children” is still a work in process. In keeping with this holistic approach to service delivery, care must be taken to address the needs of the whole child. Within this holistic concept of healthy child development, paying attention to the social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and language domains of each child’s development serves as a guide for professionals to ensure all areas of a child’s development are included. Although children’s development follows a sequence, there are many variations within the continuum of development. Children develop skills at similar ages and stages, but there are many growth spurts in a child’s development. With these peaks and valleys in growth, some children may reach some developmental milestones earlier than others.
Every child is different and unique, and the environment in which each child develops is also different and unique. Through careful and regular observation, professionals working with young children can monitor the child’s development over time.
Conclusion
Since the first years of life are the most formative, the brain rapidly develops. Hundreds of neural connections are formed through social interactions between the infant, adults, and the surrounding. As the child grows, the brain performs more complex functions, and its adaptability begins to diminish. The multi-faceted approach of our Primary Programme helps primary students set a solid foundation for themselves for being all-rounders. This NextGen Learning makes them ready for the challenges of the new age.
