Significance of Formative Years in a Student's Life

The formative years of a student’s life provides for the optimal development of children during that period. The early years see rapid growth and development. A child's brain develops faster than ever during the first five years. A child is born with more than enough brain cells to be highly successful. More than 100 billion! But it's not the number of brain cells that determines usable intelligence, it's the number of connections that are made between those brain cells.

These connections are formed by the experiences and thoughts that you give to your child via a rich, stimulating environment in the early years. That environment is made up of games, visits, conversations, experiences, activities and loving attention. These valuable and rich experiences are supplemented by a quality preschool.

Preschool prepares children for a lifetime of learning. In preschool, children are introduced to concepts in a fun, relaxed environment. Children see that learning is exciting and they want to learn more.

It gives them a jump-start to primary school. They develop a number of skills—pre-reading, pre writing, pre-math, science and social. They also develop an understanding of listening, following directions as a group, problem solving skills, sharing and taking turns. These are very important for future success in school.

Children in preschool learn an approach to learning itself. In other words, they learn how to learn. Depending on their preschool experiences, they can come to view learning as creative exploration, or as dull memorisation.