Do I Really Need to Send My Child to a Preschool? Can I Teach My Child at Home?
Today’s childhood culture sees many children attending a minimum of two to three years of preschool education before they enter Primary 1.
Sending your child to a preschool has its benefits. The early experiences in group setting outside the home provides children with the social exposure and experiences necessary for the development of social competence. These skill sets are critical in view of current educational trends increasingly employing cooperative learning strategies at the preschool, primary and secondary school levels. When social skills are underdeveloped, teachers will find a bigger challenge to fully engage children in cooperative learning experiences.
In addition to social competencies, the preschool environment also nurtures a strong emotional disposition enabling children to become confident, competent learners with the social and emotional intelligence to cope with challenges in the primary schools. This will be applicable when they integrate into larger class size or higher teacher-student ratio, longer school hours with highly structured formal lessons or confronted with friendship issues and peer conflicts.
Such social and emotional competencies provide the foundation for nurturing children’s intellectual dispositions like curiosity, passion and motivation to learn. These are important attributes in the early years as they would ensure that children have the right attitude and positive disposition towards learning right from the start, which will go a long way in helping them cope with the challenges they will face when they enter primary schools.
As parents, you would know if your child is ready for school when he or she exhibits skills like independence and autonomous behaviour, self-regulation, longer attention span, perseverance in seeing a task through to completion, problem solving and negotiation.
Odyssey, More Than Just a Preschool
Discerning parents will often find Odyssey's child-directed approach most suitable for their children, as they will learn a myriad of skills, concepts and dispositions through different pedagogies. More than just a preschool that prepares children for formal schooling, Odyssey is envisioned to be an educational hub where children are encouraged to discover independently and develop their character, alongside a curriculum built on international early childhood education’s best practices.
At Odyssey, children are encouraged to think critically, to be solution oriented, creative, to interact with others and be self-confident. The Reggio-Emilia inspired approach is realised through the inquiry-based learning that children are involved in and through the many “hands-on, hearts-on and minds-on" experiences they are engaged in. Children are exposed to a myriad of learning opportunities such as the outdoor, Music Garden, Atelier, Little Chef Lab, music room, water play area, and outdoor playgrounds.
Best-in-Class Educators
The Odyssey’s educators facilitate the children’s learning by providing activities, experiences and materials that are relevant, developmentally appropriate and open-ended so that the children are able to expand their minds. Educators prepare the learning environment purposefully enabling the children to explore freely at their own pace, their own time and at their ability. Thus, educators at Odyssey are creative and innovative. The team never does the same thing twice. They are challenged to problem-solve, research and explore new and innovative approaches to engage our young minds. In this way, children learn to adapt, ask questions and become independent, critical thinkers.
When searching for a school, parents should review the preschool’s teaching philosophy and pedagogical practices, and whether these aligns or matches the child’s learning needs, learning style and pace. Such a match is essential in ensuring that the extra classes support the potential of the child rather than become detrimental to his or her development.
About Odyssey, The Global Preschool
Odyssey, The Global preschool is an award winning preschool employing the Reggio-Emilia framework to meet the developmental needs of children aged 18 months to 6 years old. With the two campuses in Malaysia, located in Setia Eco Park and Penang respectively, both are surrounded by a pleasant secure environment that creates an optimal setting that integrates outdoor learning experiences with an understanding of nature.
Odyssey is now taking in enrolment for 2017. For a limited time only, sign up at our Setia Eco Park campus to enjoy the Exclusive Intake Privileges. Speak to us to learn more today. Call 03-6203 3733 or email contact@theodyssey.my
