By Ashleigh Sager
Highlands Academy
As we are walking into the season of graduation and celebration, it seemed like the perfect time to start talking about just how education begins. Most think that journey begins with walking into Kindergarten for the first time, and as an early childhood educator I’m here to tell you that learning and growing comes far before that.
Our brains develop the most and at the fastest rate between the ages of birth and five. Crazy, I know. The brain doubles in size within the first year of life and is about 90% of its adult size by the time a child turns five. This rapid growth is an incredibly precious and vital time in the grand scheme of development.
In that time children start speaking their first words, go from crawling to running, start forming early opinions and preferences, and much more. So much is happening before they even step foot into the big world of Kindergarten. What you do at home matters. And if you send your child to an early education center to foster deeper social-emotional growth and develop peer relationships, that matters too. Read with your children, and when you think you’ve read enough, read some more. Explore.
Don’t be afraid of getting them, or yourself, messy. It can always be cleaned up. Ask questions, especially questions that don’t have a set answer, just to hear their thoughts. Children are way funnier and way smarter than the world gives them credit for.
This time goes fast, and before you know it, they’re graduating high school and moving up in the world. Cherish that “just one more story” request. Their growing brains will thank you one day.
To all our graduates: when you put on that cap and gown, remember that you have learned so much to this point, and you will have so much more to learn after this. While you’ve gained a lot within the classroom, learning doesn’t only happen inside a classroom, so keep reading, keep exploring, and keep asking questions. You never know what new brain connection you’re making.
