t’s no secret that parents want the best for their children. Whether it’s getting them involved in sports or extracurricular activities to boost the child’s confidence and sense of independence, or if it’s ensuring that they receive the best education possible, one great way a parent can truly set their child up for success is by enrolling them in a high quality early childhood education program, or, for older children, high quality before school care or after school care.
Early childhood education is no joke. Research shows that the R.O.I. on good quality early childhood education is 10%. When you consider that the stock market’s R.O.I. is only 7.2%, 10% is pretty impressive. And parents agree, which is why more and more of them are hopping on the early childhood education bandwagon. in recent studies conducted by the National Institute for Early Education Research, over two-thirds of 4-year-olds and over 40% of 3-year-olds were enrolled in preschool in 2005.
More and more parents are deciding to start their child’s education off at a young age, setting them up for success years before their peers. This is especially true since a recent analysis and evaluations of 84 preschool programs discovered that children tend to gain a third of a year worth of additional learning in math, reading, and language. Starting children off in early childhood education programs as young as three isn’t wasting anyone’s time, either. In fact, according to recent studies, an estimated 80% of children enrolled in quality programs outperformed their peers not enrolled in a similar program.
A child’s brain is a sponge. They’re engineered to learn, and learn quickly. Starting as young as 15 to 18 months, children begin learning words. By ages three to five, the vocabulary of a child explodes from 900 words to an impressive 2,500, and they begin communicating in more complex sentences. By age six, a child’s brain is about 95% of maximum size.
All of this means that it’s imperative to introduce children to early childhood education programs at a young age. Their minds are ready to learn math, language, and reading as young as three years old! And for older children who have already started kindergarten, it’s never too late to supplement their education with quality before school care, or after school care. Parents owe it to their children to offer them the best they can. In terms of education, it’s never too soon to start!