What Is Early Childhood Education and Why Is It Important?

By:Makeblock • 2019-11-06

Early Childhood Education has been around for quite some time. You’ve probably heard the term before, but this blog can give you more information about what it means, how it applies to your child, and the role you and Makeblock can play in fostering a strong start in life.

What is Early Childhood Education?

Early Childhood Education represents a significant amount of learning that takes place over the first eight years of a child’s life. It includes the cognitive, physical, and emotional development that occurs quite rapidly in these formative years. A lot of this learning can take place at home, things like learning to walk and speak simple words. But Early Childhood Education settings and classrooms can provide things that home cannot, like structured activities and socialization with other kids.

It’s within this structure of Early Childhood Education settings that kids learn to apply what they’ve learned at home to new situations and new people. These Early Childhood Education opportunities surround you every day, and the professional educators who work at these centers understand how to help kids learn and grow.

Why is Early Childhood Education Important?

1. Learning Starts at Birth

As soon as your child is born, she begins the process of learning. Think about all the things your infant learned to do in just a few months: hold her head up, smile at you and other loved ones, and communicate in cries or babbles or gestures. In just a few years she could walk, have a conversation, make her preferences for certain foods known, do puzzles, and put on her socks.

It’s amazing how much kids pick up through imitation and play, and it starts as early as their first look at the world. This means it’s never too early for kids to learn and grow. Early Childhood Education is important because educators know how to engage kids in activities that help them reach milestones in communication, cognitive functioning, and motor skills.

2. Early Childhood Education Impacts Children’s Social and Emotional Health

Learning isn’t just about what content you know; it’s also about the skills you have. Sure, Early Childhood Education helps kids learn letters, numbers, shapes, and colors, but it also helps them learn vital social and emotional skills. The importance of Early Childhood Education is that it teaches kids how to share, how to cope with frustration, how to make new friends, and how to form relationships with new people. Kids also learn to problem-solve and be creative. They build emotional resilience and learn how to find solutions within their world.

3. A focus on Early Childhood Education Lays a Foundation for a Child’s Future Educational Career

Education is a value that you can help build on from a young age. When young kids believe that learning is important, and that it can be fun, they take those beliefs with them as they get older and continue their education. They also learn the social, academic, and behavioral skills that they’ll need to help them find success in later educational settings and in life, with plenty of years to practice and develop those skills. Early Childhood Education can be a great way to boost a kid’s confidence in taking on educational challenges.

4. Early Childhood Educators can Help Parents Identify a Child’s Learning Outcomes

Not every kid develops at the same pace or in the same way, but professional educators know what to look for to see if a kid is falling behind. As difficult as it may be to hear that your kid needs some extra support, the earlier an intervention starts, the better it is for you and your child.

For example, a child struggling to read may feel some initial frustration, but, if the struggle continues, the child may start having some behavioral problems or shut down in school. With Early Childhood Education and support, this child can have help overcoming any difficulties and continue to have a positive attitude toward learning.

What Role Can Parents Play in Early Childhood Education?

We’ve just talked about how learning doesn’t just take place at home; Early Childhood Education is important. But learning doesn’t just take place in these settings, either. The importance of Early Childhood Education extends into the home, and one of the best things you can do as a parent is to find ways to connect what your kid learns at school with what your kid learns at home.

This doesn’t need to be difficult. If your kid is learning about the seasons, go outside and point out either the snow or falling leaves or flowers. If your kid is learning about transportation, read a few books about cars and trucks. This helps your kid make more connections. It also shows that you value what happens at school, and supports Early Childhood Education efforts.

How STEAM Robotics Supports Early Childhood Education

1. Why Robotics for Young Children Today?

Robotics is an effective way to incorporate knowledge with skills for young kids. It fits great with Early Childhood Education programs that incorporate STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math), teaching kids about important concepts within these fields. And robotics also inspires important skills that can support kids as they get older and move through their educational careers: innovation, creativity, problem-solving, and communication.

Plus, it’s hard to ignore how technology-driven our world is today. Young kids engage with technology when they get to play with it, and robotics is a fun and interesting way for them to explore and interact with technology tools and languages, like coding. When part of the importance of Early Childhood Education is to make sure kids have the knowledge and skills they need for their futures, incorporating STEAM Robotics is a no-brainer.

2. What is mTiny?

mTiny, made by Makeblock, is an Early Childhood Education robot. An interactive storybook helps kids learn the basic skills they need to use mTiny and engages them in the learning process. Kids develop the ability to use coding cards to control how mTiny moves along an interactive map. Plus, mTiny has controllable facial expressions and offers positive feedback as kids learn.

mTiny is simple to use and supports multiple curriculums and skill sets. Kids can easily use the tap pen controller in three different modes, and mTiny allows kids to collaborate with multiple players. Plus, mTiny’s games and interactions relate to coding, English, math, and music, and promote creativity, problem-solving, and communication.

It’s a great tool for Early Childhood Education settings or just for supplementing learning at home. Every part of mTiny is safe for use by young kids, and, maybe best of all, it doesn’t have any screens, so kids get to engage in screen-free technology play.