Mutia Sari Nursafira 1788203015 (Early Education)

Why do Parents Should Enroll Their Children to Preschool?

Early age is often referred to as serious development or it can be said as the golden age. When children are on their golden age, of course as parents should give everything the best for them, especially in education. For parents, early education is very essential. Through early education, parents can find out the talents also interests and can monitor the development aspects of their child. In addition, not a few parents trust educational institutions such as child care or preschool to educate and develop the potential of their children. Then, why do parents should enroll their children to preschool? The reason are children will be trained to develop their social-emotional, cognitive, language skills, behavior and readiness for future schooling.

Firstly, in preschool, children will be trained in social-emotional development. It ranging from the ability to understand the feelings of others, maintain friendships with people around them such as friends and family and regulate their emotions and thoughts. Because social-emotional development is formed through the process of learning, children will be taught how to interact with others, solve problems and express their feelings well. But not all parents can fulfill this. Brown et al (2012) said that in the survey there were 24% of children screened positive for social-emotional problems. Among the various types of surveys found that 27% of children had no parental child care. This is expected to be a reflection for parents to enter their child to preschool and take part in the programs provided so that social-emotional development of children does not experience problems later on. Schonert-Reichl & Lawlor (2010) determined that children who participated in the ME program compared to those who did not, its effects was proven to be positive and significant in improving children’s emotional. ME program is a program that focuses on facilitating the socio-emotional development of children through "mindful attention awareness" in which the designed to show optimism and positive affect lessons. The existence of institutions such as preschools and educational programs like this can help reduce the bad percentage of social-emotional children.

Secondly, to develop children's cognitive. Children aged 3-6 years have a high level of curiosity and love to explore something. That is why parents need to facilitate children with more professional educators in building their level of intelligence. In Australia, cognitive development in children is still experiencing problems. Many factors influence it such as children who have difficult temperaments, low income and children who are read less than 3 times a year. Niklas, Tayler & Gilley (2017) said that there are fifteen factors which is linked to lower of cognitive abilities and the worst one were found that children experiencing more risks factors. Whereas, Australia is one country that has a strong policy in development and learning for children. Campbell et al (2001) said that intensive early childhood education can have a long-lasting effect on children's cognitive and academic development. Campbell also added, “Cognitive growth curve analysis between ages 3 and 21 shows that children who get an education at an early age have a sharp increase compared to children who did not.” If a country can do such an equal education, build a child care and preschool program in even the most remote areas, this problem will not occur. Not only that, professional educators are also needed to be able to provide direction that can develop children's cognitive.

Next, children who study in the preschool can develop their language skills. Most children acquire language from interactions that come from adults and peers around them. In preschool, children will be taught how to master the language to communicate and interact well. But on the other hand, a survey showed a language skill error in children in a preschool that was tested through a pretest using nine indicators. These indicators include the number of students in one class, health programs and providing services to families. Mashburn et al (2008) stated that out of these nine indicators, none has been positively associated with child development during preschool. How could this happen? It may be the people in the background of the program are not serious in carrying out of it, even though the teachers already have a degree. This is contrary to opinion from Wasik, Bond & Hindman (2006) who their data showed classroom performed high-implementation children with better receptive language than children who had low-implementation. Professional teachers should already know what strategies can be used to improve children's language skills. For example, by using the way teachers talk to children, both during their reading language or not can affect children's language skills.

The fourth, children will be formed in preschool behavior. Character formation and behavior in early of age are very necessary so that in the future children can have readiness to continue further education and have a good academic the value of children who are not educated in their behavior is feared to have a negative impact on themselves and others. Huaqing Qi & Kaiser (2003) stated that there is a drastic increase in the prevalence of rates of behavior problems from 14% to 52%. This can happen because of the children have low socio-emotional, language skills and cognitive skills. Therefore, the presence of preschools and other child care programs will greatly help parents in preventing the occurrence of bad behavior of children and reduce the number of problem behavior itself. For an example is the Dinosaur School as argued by Webster-Stratton & Reid (2004) who said that this program works to eliminate disruptive child behavior and to foster prosocial behavior. Even this program is effective when provided with high loyalty, perpetuation the integrity of the content, process, and methods.

The last is, preschool can make children more ready to face for future schooling. Preschool can prepare children for the transition from preschool to grade school. After the important aspects that must be owned by the child have been fulfilled, then he is more able to control himself and blend easily in his environment for more formal education later. Palermo et al (2007) stated in their findings that children who have conflicts between teachers will behave more aggressively. This can be happened if the teacher is less professional in educating these early-age children. Teachers should be able to establish a good relationship with their students and know the nature of each of their students. Of course this opinion is contrary to Dibello & Neuharth-Pritchett (2012) who also explain the level of quality of the child care environment as well as family contributions can guarantee success at the beginning of their school. So, it depends on the quality of the preschool and as parents must be smart in choosing preschool for their child.

In conclusion, there are many benefits and a positive side if parents put their child in preschool. There is no wrong for parents in trusting educational institutions such as preschools to facilitate their children in early education. As long as parents and educators continue to support and work together to improve children's development, they will grow to be quality and useful children for many in the future.

References

Schonert-Reich, A, K., Lawlor, S. M. (2010.) The Effects of a Mindfullness-Based Education Program on Pre- and Early Adolescents’ Well-Being and Social and Emotional Competence. Vol. 1. 137-151. (Online article).

Brown, M. C., Copeland, A. K., Sucharew, H., Kahn, S. R. (2012). Social- Emotional Problem in Preschool-aged Children. 166(10). 926-932. (Online Article).

Campbell, A. F., Pungello, P. E., et al. (2001). The Development of Cognitive and Academic Abilities : Growth Curves From an Early Childhood Educational Experiment. 37(2). 231-242. (Online Article).

Niklas, F., Tayler, C., Gilley, T. (2017). Vulnerable Children in Australia : Multiple Risk Factor Analyses to Predict Cognitive Abilities and Problem Behaviour. 61(3). 105-123. (Online Article).

Wasik, A. B., Bond. A. M., Hindmand, A. (2006). The Effects of a Language and Literacy Intervention on Head Start Children and Teachers. 98(1). 63-74. (Online Article).

Mashburn, J. A., Pianta, C. R., et al. (2008). Measures of Classroom Quality in Prekindergarten and Children’s Development of Academic, Language, and Social Skills. 79(3). 732-749. (Online Article).

Webster-Stratton, C,. Reid, J. M. (2004). Strengthening Social and Emotional Competence in Young Children—the Foundation for Early School Readiness and Success. 17(2). 96-113. (Online Article)

Huangqing Qi, C., Kaiser, A. P., (2003). Behavior Problems of Preschool Children from Low-Income Families: Review of the Literature. 23(4). 188-216. (Online Article).

Dibello, L. C., Neuharth-Pritchett, S. (2012). Perspectives on School Readiness and Pre-Kindergarten Programs: An Introduction. (Online Article).

Palermo, F., Hanish, L. D., et al. (2007). Preschoolers’ Academic Readiness: What Role does the Teacher–Child Relationship Play?. 22(4). (Online Article).