As parents await their child’s first school years, it is unclear what they should expect when they finally send their three- to five-year-old children to a preschool. Many parents come with preconceived ideas that are not anywhere close to what these centers accomplish.

For instance, some parents expect traditional academic learning, like writing, reading, and basic numbers. The opposite side of parenting believes that the academic approach is too strict and applies too much pressure on the child rather than cultivating their talents and teaching them how to interact. They would rather have a safe and stimulating play-based approach that is supported by educators who focus on their child.

What Should Your Child Learn?

Not only are parents conflicted about what is best for their children, but some teachers are also confused about how they should balance academic and play-based methods. Teachers work off of developmental milestones, which are made up of the five domains of learning: physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language development. The struggle lies in how to balance these needs and implement methods to encourage their advancement.

For example, children should be able to color and climb with alternating feet. They should be able to cooperate and socialize with other children. Emotionally, they should be able to identify when someone is hurt and understand affection between them and others. It is critical that they understand opposites and can count to ten. Children should also be able to answer and ask questions while using an adult form of speech.

The dilemma is whether it is best to use a academic or play-based approach to help children reach the aforementioned milestones. My answer would be to use a combination of both.

How Should They Learn?

We never want to break from the norm; we tend to adhere to our older traditions with the idea of “If it is not broke, why fix it?” but over the past few years and after intensive research, it has been discovered that children learn more from play-based preschool programs rather than academic based ones.. They flourish when they participate in activities, such as block building, compared to having academic centers.

Preschools emphasize the need for play-based learning and show that the children’s learning achievements are greater than those that focus on academics. Therefore, it might be in your best interest to find a childhood center that takes this approach and encourage your child to succeed.

Is Your Little One Learning?

Even though there are plenty of recommendations for how children should learn, there are still situations where children may more time to learn a skill. Parents should become concerned if their child is not being understood by others, has a speech problem (such as stuttering), is not socializing with other children, cannot have a conversation, or is not able to use the restroom or wash themselves.

Approach a professional to get help for any of these issues before they develop past the initial stages and become harder to overcome. If your child does not seem to be able to adhere to a play-based system, try an academic based one. All children are not the same, and it is important to make sure your child is thriving in their environment.