The Importance of Early Childhood Development by Sahar

The Importance of Early Childhood Development by Sahar - February 2020 Scholarship Essay

If I were to start a non-profit organization, I would establish a center specifically focused on early childhood development for children from the ages of three to five years old. These years within a child’s life are considered a crucial time in terms of development and a lack of resources can stunt a child’s growth physically and mentally. When a child is in this crucial growing phase, they are growing physically and mentally in many different manners. During the ages of three to five, a child becomes much less dependent on their parents as they become more self-sufficient on their own, which is why some type of early childhood education for all children is extremely important before they formally begin school.
Young children should be allowed to grow mentally and physically which can be achieved by creating different classes that focus on specific areas of development. For instance, in terms of physical development for children, a physical education class would help them focus on their health and give them the general idea that exercising daily is dire for their growth. With an adult supervisor, children can play with parachutes by throwing bean bags in the middle and attempting to shake the parachute as a group until the beanbag flies off of the parachute, many more activities to encourage exercise would include balancing beams where children attempt to walk across the room whilst balancing an object in their hands. This particular physical education activity would encourage growth in the cerebellum part of the brain, which would improve a child's balance and coordination skills. Other physical education coordination activities that would be beneficial for their growth would include a classic bean bag toss game where children are given different color bean bags and attempt to throw the bean bags in the matching color hole on the beanbag board. This game would help children improve their color coordination skills by making them coordinate certain colors together.
In terms of mental development for children from the ages of three to five years old, the creation of classes focusing on a child’s mental stamina such as STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) would help children boost their critical thinking skills. Although STEAM learning occurs naturally when a child explores and plays with their surroundings, it is crucial to incorporate these ideas within the classroom to help students gather information and use it to either create knowledge or solve problems. In terms of STEAM classes, I would incorporate several hands-on activities, such as creating artwork from shaving cream and food coloring or planting seeds in tiny cups and letting the children take them home to view the progress of the seed over the duration of a few weeks.
Child development is not only about mental and physical development but also about interacting with their peers and improving their social skills at a young age. If I were to develop a non-profit organization aimed at improving early childhood development, I would also incorporate a room full of toys the children can play with. The room would be split up into different stations. For instance, one corner of the room could include puzzles and experimental toys the children could play with, another corner of the room could consist of paints and crayons to help the students express their creativity. Other stations would include a block station where children can make tiny buildings and a kitchen station consisting of plastic food toys and a toy cash register filled with toy money where students can express their passion for cooking. Ultimately, students who chose to be at the same station would share their toys amongst each other, encouraging peer interactions between each other and boosting social skills in the long run.
All in all, I would start a non-profit organization based on educating young children specifically from the ages of three to five years old. Immersing children into activities such as physical education, and STEAM during their early years would greatly benefit them in the long run as growth is very unlikely to be stunted. Lastly, encouraging peer interactions would lead to positive emotional and social development in children as they grow older.