Early Education – How to Support Child Development and School Readiness

early education

A young woman with black hair in front of a yellow background.

How education grows in everyday life

Education is a key resource that we acquire throughout our lives and with which we shape our everyday routines. This enables us to solve problems, make good decisions, and grow personally. For children, education is a living process of learning when they observe adults, play, or ask us questions.With curious eyes, they explore their surroundings, try new things, and soak up impressions like a sponge. Especially in the early years, childhood education plays a central role. As this is the time when children develop their language, cognitive, social, and emotional skills. It is crucial that parents and caregivers listen, answer questions, and provide guidance in everyday life. Time and attention are the key to supporting children in their development and teaching them values such as respect, helpfulness, and empathy. Education happens in everyday life when you talk and laugh with your child and give them valuable moments of closeness.

A boy with a screwdriver together with his father.

Enriching children's experiences

As children grow up, they learn to deal with challenging situations. They do this by actively perceiving their environment, thinking about it, acting and communicating. These processes are closely interlinked and assist children in engaging with their surroundings and finding their place within it. The language of parents and other caregivers plays a significant role here. It aids children in understanding their everyday lives. Children are fascinated by everyday things and situations, which naturally leads to learning. They acquire knowledge playfully and joyfully, without the need for specialized teaching programs. Even days when nothing extraordinary seems to happen are significant for a child. These quiet times are crucial for children to process their experiences and learnings. The role of adults is to offer age-appropriate stimuli that enhance a child's natural curiosity. For instance, if your child enjoys drawing, offer them a variety of drawing tools such as crayons, finger paints, wax crayons, brushes, and chalk. These tools promote creativity as well as the development of fine motor skills. If your child shows an interest in screwing and building, a construction set is an excellent way to nurture this interest. It is advisable to refrain from intervening in a child’s play. If your child enjoys playing with farm animals, they deepen their knowledge of the animals' appearance, learn to distinguish the different sounds and better understand the importance of the animals in their habitat. In this way, children build a connection to nature and its inhabitants and develop empathy for other living beings. It is advisable to refrain from intervening in a child’s play. This preserves the child’s innate curiosity and sense of discovery.

A little girl wearing a wreath of wildflowers in summer.

Childhood passes quickly. Use every day as a valuable opportunity to accompany your child on the path of development.

A smiling preschool boy with curly hair against a yellow background.

The foundation for a happy childhood

A loving bond between children and their caregivers lays the foundation for healthy development in all areas of life. This positive connection promotes children's emotional health as well as their social, cognitive and language skills and prepares them for future challenges. Find out how important time together and loving interaction are for children's development.

Motor skills

Between the ages of three and six, children improve their gross motor skills by climbing, balancing and riding scooters. From four to six years of age, children expand their fine motor skills by drawing in greater detail and cutting with scissors with increasing precision. However, important school skills like good fine and gross motor skills are not acquired only one year before starting school through a special preschool program and numerous worksheets. Particularly in the first years of life, children need lots of opportunities to move regularly and in a varied way so that their gross motor skills develop well. Activities such as running, swinging, balancing, climbing or playing ball games strengthen their muscles and coordination, while activities such as building with Lego or kneading develop their hand and finger dexterity. Good hand and finger dexterity makes it easier to draw and later to learn to write. Children improve their fine motor skills in everyday activities such as getting dressed, keeping things tidy, kneading or playing with small parts. You recognize problems in fine or gross motor skills, for example, if a five- or six-year-old child has difficulty grasping small objects or finds gross motor activities such as riding a scooter, climbing or balancing challenging.

Language skills

Alongside motor skills, language development plays a crucial role in a child's life. It forms the foundation for both communication and later learning. In the first few years, a child’s language skills develop rapidly, from individual words to complete sentences. This development enables children to express their thoughts, feelings, and needs and to communicate with others. When parents take time daily to talk with their children, such as by reading stories, discussing everyday experiences, or singing favorite songs together, they lay the groundwork for a vast vocabulary. This linguistic interaction also helps children get a better sense of proper sentence structure. Particularly, regular reading aloud significantly aids language development. During regular reading times, children encounter a variety of words, sentence structures, and expressions, which enhance their understanding of text and communication skills. Moreover, reading aloud boosts the ability to listen attentively, which proves highly beneficial later in school. Regular verbal communication is crucial to prevent potential language delays and to actively support the child’s language development over the long term.

A mother is baking with her children in the kitchen.

Engaging activities together enhances your child's development and strengthens your bond with them.

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