Preschool Teacher - Could That Be You?

 
 
 Your Unique Role As Your Child's First And Most Important Preschool Teacher

"A teacher can only lead you to the threshold of your own mind."

Kahil Gibran
                                

The intimidating truth is that as a parent you not only lead your child to the threshold of his mind, you also help create it.
Whether you like it or not, you are your child's first and most influential preschool teacher.

Now listen to this . . .

"The new developmental research shows that this historical consensus about children was just plain wrong. Children are not blank tablets or unbridled appetites or even intuitive seers. Babies and young children think, observe and reason. They consider evidence, draw conclusions, do experiments, solve problems, and search for the truth."

from "The Scientist in the Crib"

Learning how to learn effectively transcends subject content.
It is the most important skill a child can acquire and the term 'learn to learn' is already commonplace in progressive educational circles.

The reason many children fail is through no fault of their own.

Dr Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence's has done much to dispel the myth that the measure of a person's intelligence is left-brain orientated. We all possess a variety of intelligence's, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalist as well as mathematical-logical to name but a few.
Children need to recognize this fact in order to feel good about themselves.

Making your child feel good about himself is absolutely crucial to your role as preschool teacher.

Without self esteem there is no motivation and lack of motivation is a kind of death in itself. A preschool teacher must play many parts, but probably the most important role of all is to be a guide and mentor for the child in his /her care.

ACCELERATED LEARNING, LEARN TO LEARN, WHOLE BRAIN

LEARNING, are all terms that refer to developments in the field of brain-based educational research (another term!).
The early years, indeed the pre-school years of a child's life are the most crucial years. As a parent you simply cannot avoid being a preschool teacher.

This, according to Betty Hart of the University of

Kansas and Todd Risley of the University of Alaska, is the period when intellectual differences occur. In a research study of forty-three Kansas City families one key factor in promoting intellectual development in young children stood out. TALK . Not parent's social status, or education, or wealth. What affected children's I.Q. scores most was how much they were talked to and interacted with. It's the most important aspect of your role as a pre-school teacher.

In this particular study it was revealed that parents who talked to their children most tended to praise their child's accomplishments, respond to their questions, provide guidance rather than commands, and used many different words in a variety of combinations.

Talk is also one of the best ways of assessing an older child's understanding. Simply ask a child to explain something in his/her own words and they will reveal the depth of understanding they have at that particular point in time. The issue for working parents is finding a day care center, individual or pre-school teacher who can give their child the kind of stimulation only talk can provide. Never has it been more important to find the right pre-school teacher.

Developmental programs should emphasize talk.

That is why praise, questions, guidance and the provision of new vocabulary are integral to Ensure Your Child Succeeds At Math.

Between the ages 4 and 12 a third critical restructuring of the brain takes place. Amazingly, as a result of work undertaken by neurologist Harry Chugani of Wayne State University, it is now possible to see this happening. The technology used is called PET ( positron emission tomography) scans that measure the brain's consumption of sugar which, in turn, indicates the energy cells use to carry out their work.

During this period the brain is creating a structure that your child will inhabit for the rest of his/her life. Depending on the experiences he/she receives it can be a palace, vast and rich, or a shack, cramped and bare.
This is a heavy responsibility for you or anyone else who will share your role as a pre-school teacher.

By age 12 it can be too late.

TALKING TO OUR BRAINS

We are now developing tools that can help us consciously communicate with our brains. The work undertaken by Tony Buzan has lead to the development of mind or learning maps. Powerful note making and learning tools because they reveal how our brain thinks.

These tools are being adapted by people like Eva Hoffman (Learn to Learn) for young children.

Ghugani is pretty forthright in his views. He observes:

"Who's the idiot who decided children should learn foreign languages in high school? We're not paying attention to the biological principles of education. The time to learn languages is when the brain is receptive to these kinds of things, and that's much earlier, in preschool or elementary school. . .There should be more emphasis on earlier education for key areas - language, music, math, problem-solving."

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The whole area of brain-research and education is opening up new  horizons for our children. Our innovative math program Ensure Your Child Succeeds At Math is not simply the best way of introducing math to young children but a developmental program that enables your child to 'learn how to learn'.

 Next: Read Your Amazing Child

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