Determining the best age to begin schooling for your little gem is quite crucial. Parents go through lots of thought and consideration to make this momentous decision.
Parents often see different reasons for enrolling their kids in preschools. Some find pre-schooling an effective benefactor in child’s education hence, start off early. While there are others who struggle to decide if it is the right time to enroll the child. Starting age for kindergarten has thus varied widely in India but a majority of enrollments are between 1.5 to 3.
There is no predefined right age as there are other factors apart from children’s age which determines the appropriate age to start preschool for your kid. It depends on the child’s physical, social and emotional skills. However, a majority of preschools has set the age criteria for admission between the ages of 1.5 years to 2.5 years
It sometimes depends on how mentally and physically prepared the kids are. Research sayskids can start attending a preschool as young as 1 year. This is in relation to the fact that 90% of the brain development happens in the first five years of age from birth.
Educationist and psychologists define preschool as a structured educational environment that helps enhance social, mental, physical, and academic skills in kids in many ways.
To adapt to an environment away from home, a mother-toddler program is ideal to start with. It gives children the opportunity to interact with other children and boost bonding between mother and child. Having said that, it is also essential to have it restricted to an hour a day so as to not overdo activities when are really young.
What you will have to keep in mind is that, the child is at least 5 years old when they start with primary schooling – Class 1. This is as per government resolution (GR) norms.
PS: Every child’s growth is different physically, socially and emotionally. Age alone is not the key to decide the right age for preschool. The child’s experience outside preschool should have a value. It should add fun to your child’s development. Hence, all factors should be considered carefully to determine your child’s preschool readiness.