Introduction: Education is a very important aspect in a child’s growth. That is the reason you find children attending school from ages as low as four years of age. However, if you send your child to the school directly at the age of four, he or she might face psychological problems. The child may resent going to school. This could affect the education in the early stages. To overcome this problem, you may have to ease the child’s transition to school life. The training for this transition could begin when the child attains the age of one and a half years. You can send the child to a preschool daycare center. You refer to them as ‘nursery schools’. There are many such nursery schools in Sandton and in other towns in South Africa as well. The nursery school concept: The nursery school is a stepping-stone for the normal school. This nursery school prepares the child psychologically for the school life ahead. The nursery schools make it an enjoyable experience for the child at these playgroups as they call it in many places. Usually, they accommodate children in the age group of eighteen months to four years. They have a daily routine that usually involves playing around with emphasis on building a bonding with other children. They intersperse the play activities with some basic academic programs as well. That may include teaching the child about colors, shapes, numbers, etc. They lay great emphasis on socialization whereby the child starts to treat another child of the same age as his or her equal. They develop the bonding between the children. This helps the children to share their belongings with others. The nursery schools Sandton teach skills such as self-discipline and concentration. They encourage the child to develop communication skills with fellow children and teachers. Tips for development of the child: The first five years of the child are very important for the overall development of the child. The nursery schools such as the Parkmore nursery school concentrate on this area of development. We shall share some tips about child development that could be of great use. • Reduce TV viewing: People say that you can learn a lot by watching TV. This was true at one point when the number of channels available for viewing was few. Today there are thousands of television channels beaming throughout the day. Minimizing the TV viewing to around two hours of quality programs would be beneficial to the child. • Have a routine: You have to spend quality time with your child. You should set up a routine where you could share time with your child practicing some activities requiring certain important skills such as helping the child in writing his or her name, identifying shapes and colors, etc. • Play: You can have playful activities with the child like running, jumping, etc. In case you are able to schedule this activity outdoors, it would be great fun for the child. • Let the child help you: You can let the child help you clean the car. At the same time, you can help him draw or fix the blocks etc.
Doing these activities together with the child would entail spending quality time with the child.
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