Expat Living Guide in Jakarta | Importance of Early Childhood Education [2]

Things to Look for in Preschool Curriculum

It is important that when considering an early education facility, caregivers and teacher in the facility have knowledge of the cultural supports for the language and literacy learning of the children and families they are serving. They need to have sufficient skills in guiding small groups of children in order to give full attention to individual young children’s language and literacy efforts. They need to be able to draw out shy children while they help very talkative ones begin to listen to others as well as to speak. Caregivers or teachers need to arrange environments that are symbol rich and interesting without being overwhelming to infants and toddlers. Even the simplest exchange becomes a literacy lesson when it includes the warmth of a relationship coupled with words, their concepts, and perhaps a graphic symbol.

Expat Living Guide in Jakarta | Importance of Early Childhood Education [1]

Early childhood is a crucial stage of life in terms of a child's physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. Growth of mental and physical abilities progress at an astounding rate and a very high proportion of learning takes place from birth to age six. It is a time when children particularly need high quality personal care and learning experiences.

Education begins from the moment the child is brought home from the hospital and continues on when the child starts to attend playgroups and kindergartens. The learning capabilities of humans continue for the rest of their lives but not at the intensity that is demonstrated in the preschool years. With this in mind, babies and toddlers need positive early learning experiences to help their intellectual, social and emotional development and this lays the foundation for later school success.

First Three Years 
During the first three years parents will be the main influence in the child’s learning experience and education. What parents do and expose their children to have a vast impact on the development of the child. Parents sometimes forget that an interested parent can have a tremendous impact on a child’s education at any age.

Strategies for Guiding Children Towards Self Direction

"One evening, I was watching the interaction and listening to the conversation between my husband and my daughter. She was only five years old then. She had taken a story book and was flipping the pages and trying to read it. Not long after that, she sighed, looking sad and putting the book aside. I could see that she was feeling disappointed. Clouding around her was a sense of self defeat and acceptance that she could not read.

My husband saw her situation; in his wisdom, he quietly came along side and gently put her on his lap. He reached out, selected an interesting story book with big words, and suggested to our daughter, “Let’s read together.” With a smile, he started. Soon, my daughter encouraged by her daddy’s enthusiasm started reading. When they finished reading, her daddy with absolute joy said to my daughter, “Carina, you can read. There are some words you still have to learn but you can read. You are a reader!”  My daughter was delighted, from her expression, I could see that she was amazed at the realization that she could read. It was a pivotal moment for my daughter, within minutes there was a transformation of the mind from “I cannot read to I can read”."

Choosing a Preschools in Indonesia 2

Location

Not to be ignored is the actual location of the school in proximity to your residence. Driving by the area on a Sunday afternoon is not indicative of what traffic patterns will be like during the week.

Will your child have to ride through rush-hour traffic to get to school each morning or can you find a good school closer to home? Try timing the run to the school in the morning rush hour and see how long it takes. If the school is located near a major intersection, near a market or other large school, traffic may be a major problem at drop off and pick up times.

While the 'perfect' school for your child may not be conveniently located in relation to your home, you may find an alternative good school where the location won't necessitate a lot of time spent transporting your child. The convenience of the location may outweigh other factors.

Choosing a Preschools in Indonesia 1

Within large cities in Indonesia you will find a wide variety of preschool options for your young children. From informal play groups with friends, to neighborhood kindergartens (taman kanak-kanak or TK), to international standard preschools - your needs will be met.

Some preschools organize Moms and Tots programs for 1-2 year olds who are preparing to enter a preschool program. There are also many extracurricular activities, including physical play, music, art and other social opportunities for young children which are organized by community organizations or through commercial entities.