If you have a young child or children and you really want to give them a head-start before they commence their formal school years, then you might want to consider enrolling them in an early learning centre.
In this post, you’ll discover just what a childhood early learning centre is and does, what the advantages are of sending your child to one, and how to find an early learning centre near you.
What Is A Childhood Early Learning Centre?
As alluded to in the introduction, a childhood early learning centre is aimed at children below the official school age. They differ from a preschool as the curriculum is more varied and there is more focus on learning and education. Infants through to age 5 is the most common age bracket attending early learning centres.
Australia boasts thousands of these facilities located all around the country in major metropolitan areas.
Let’s now list some advantages of having your child or children attend an early learning centre.
Get Your Kids School-Ready
One of the main functions of early learning centres is to prepare young children for their school years, often referred to as getting kids ‘school-ready’. One major way this is achieved is by providing a basis in education in the main subjects they’ll be learning when they do start school.
A number of early learning centres utilise the following education systems:
- THRASS
- STEM
THRASS involves teaching children the art of handwriting, spelling and reading. Since 1998 it has been a highly-effective tool in education systems.
STEM encompasses – Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics. Part of the curriculum is computer gym, which helps young kids get a firm grasp on computers (highly important in the modern world), and even experience with basic coding and a variety of different software programs.
In fact, practically everything your child learns at an early learning centre helps prepare them for their school years.
Your Children Learn All About Nutrition
These days everyone is trying to live healthier, which includes eating nutritious food and getting regular exercise. Well, early learning centres also focus on living a healthy lifestyle and promote this each and every day.
Many centres have chefs on their staff that prepare delicious meals that kids love, except all the ingredients are natural and healthy. Some early learning centres even have vegetable gardens, where children learn to grow and harvest their own food. These vegetables – that they grew themselves – are also included in their meals.
It’s a very hands-on experience and kids will not only learn about good nutrition, but where their food actually comes from. It’s extremely rewarding.
Along with healthy eating, there will be regular exercise, as well as fun games that promote physical fitness and development.
Your Child Will Gain Confidence and Improve Their Social Skills
Childhood early learning centres are very interactive and social environments. With many group lessons, fun activities, exercise programs, arts and crafts and more for kids to get involved in, they learn how to interact with other children, get along with different personality types and develop important social skills that improve their self-esteem and confidence.
Having the ability to positively interact and speak to others is an important skill that will serve your child well for the rest of their lives.
Brain Development
Many activities at an early learning centre are devised to promote brain development in young children. The preschool age is a time when much development takes place that can help shape a child’s future and how well their brain functions.
Things like music therapy, art classes, and even learning a foreign language are all available at many childhood early learning centres.
How To Find A Childhood Early Learning Centre Near You
As mentioned at the start of this article, early learning centres are located all across the country. If you live in a major town or city, chances are there is at least one early learning centre near you.
Possibly the quickest and easiest way to find some options is to go online and do a Google search for your area. As an example, if you live in and around Concord in NSW, you could try the following search terms to bring up a list of possibilities to research further:
- Child care Concord
- Concord daycare
- Concord early childhood centre
Give your child a head-start in life. Enrol them in a childhood early learning centre.
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