THE BENEFITS OF EARLY EDUCATION FOR
CHILDREN
Childhood is
a time when the children are happy to play with their friends. Not only
playing but then parents should provide education from childhood to
children, one of which is to include children in early childhood education.
Early Childhood Education According to the National Education System Law no. 20
of 2003 explained that "Early
childhood education is an effort aimed at providing guidance to children from
birth to the age of six years through the provision of educational stimuli to
help growth and physical and spiritual development so that children have the
readiness to enter further education". Whereas according to Suyadi,
"Early childhood education is defined as one form of education that
focuses on laying the foundation towards physical growth and development (fine
and rough motor coordination), intelligence (thinking power, creativity,
emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence), socio-emotional (attitude and
behavior and religion) language and communication, in accordance with the
uniqueness and developmental stages that are passed by early childhood".
By providing education to children from an early age, there are many benefits
that can be obtained by children, because at this time character formation in
children are shaped and implanted so that children have a strong mentality, good
character, and adequate cognitive abilities. Here will be explained the other
benefits that will be obtained if the child gets an education early on, there
are :
Children who are given education from childhood will
be able to develop their vocabulary, this will make children understand the
meaning of a word and make it easier for them to talk and interact with others.
And can increase cognitive abilities in children. Rand Corporation wrote,
"Early education has lasting benefits, showing increases in IQ levels and
cognitive abilities “. However, this is a sharp contrast with the opinion of Shonkoff &
Philips, 2000 who said that "Early childhood is a very sensitive time to
promote their educational potential as a period of rapid growth in cognitive,
social, and emotional basic skills in children". This means that early
childhood education is not needed because at this time it is a period of growth
that is sensitive to early childhood so that it will have a negative impact on
children's growth. However, the differences between these two opinions
certainly have their own perceptions.
In addition, there are also other opinions which
state that "Childhood is the golden period for children, the cognitive,
social, and emotional development that occurs will affect health, learning
ability and also lifelong behavior" (Basilius). This means that education
in the golden period is very important because it will affect the level of
children's ability in the future. This agrees with Glen Dolman (expert on the
development of children's abilities) which states that "The most rapid
development of the growth of the human brain occurs at the age of 0-7
years". This means that it is very good for children to receive early
education for the growth of the child's brain so that the brain can work well.
Another positive impact of providing early education to children a blog written
by Childventures on April 3, 2017, states that "Children who receive a
quality education at an early age will be more confident and have a curiosity
that makes them perform better when in elementary school ". Of course,
this will have a good impact to increase the academic value of children in
school. In addition, a study from the Ounce of Prevention Fund shows that
"children who do not get quality early education have a 25% greater
likelihood of peers dropping out of school and 70% more likely to be detained
due to violence". This is because children who drop out of school and do
not receive good education early will have the potential to become children who
act as they wish and can even do things that are anarchic. Therefore, early
childhood education is very important and influences the character of children
in the future.
However, in a study written by (Nancy
Carlsson-Paige, Geralyn McLaughlin, and Joan Almon) mentioning that,
"these instructions can produce long-term hazards, especially in the areas
of social and emotional development". The instruction referred to here is
to provide academic education to children from an early age and can make
children look unhappy compared to children who are free to play. Meanwhile,
according to Nobel Laureate James Heckman, an economist from the University of
Chicago noted that "One of the most important long-term effects of early
childhood education is the development of emotions and children's social
abilities". This ability makes a person able to interact effectively,
well, and correctly with others.
From a number of expert opinions above, it can be
concluded that early childhood education has many benefits for children because
at this time it was a golden period for the growth of the brain and physical
condition of the child. However, not only has
positive impact, but early education also has a negative impact on
children if the education provided is forced so that children become easily
tired and dislike of the learning given. Of course, this depends on the portion
of learning provided by educators. Therefore educators must be able to provide
education that makes children feel happy while studying and does not make
children bored and too tired when learning, such as giving games and gifts that
can make children happy when studying.
REFERENCE
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