It’s never too early to learn

The early years is a crucial time for children as they learn rapidly and develop skills to help them make sense of the world. It could therefore be suggested that it is never too early for children to start learning or to join an early years setting.

Young children are ready and eager to discover with a built in desire to explore and play. This should be encouraged and promoted; some suggest an early years setting is a great way to do this.

The foundation stage was designed to support all children during this period of rapid growth and development and to give practitioners the knowledge and skills to successfully support all children. The EYFS is a play based curriculum that allows all children the freedom to develop at their own pace, and in their own ways following and exploring their own interests.

Therefore this type of learning and support is much needed by children and allows them to develop new pathways in the brain. Each child will face a great deal of challenges in the first five years of their life, requiring them to gain lots of new skills and learn different ways of doing things. This is important in preparing a child for adult life; giving them the ability to overcome obstacles and life changing experiences.  The experiences a child has during these first five years need to be stimulating and engaging, giving the child all the time and space needed to learn and grow.

A mixture of experiences and activities as well as exposure to language, books and a range of skills is incredibly important during this crucial time.  Not only is it important that children have access to experiences that support development in areas such as mathematics and reading and writing skills; but also for learning and building social skills.

Developing social and emotional skills are very important in promoting a positive learning experience later on in life. Skills such as learning emotions, managing behaviour and separation are all important and these are often established during the early years. A great deal of these are learnt through being around children of a similar age and learning how to interact with others and express oneself. With the correct support from practitioners, during the early days when a child begins a new setting, children quickly begin adapting and learning from their new surroundings.