By Anna Wallis
Bright future for all begins with caring adults taking care of children’s earliest needs. All children come into this world full of awesome potential. As parents and early childhood educators, by virtue of our daily interactions with all our little girls and boys, we are in a wonderful position to give each one the best start in life.
Three guiding principles hold the key to success:
- Think long term
- Nurture Literacy
- Love Today
We all want young children to thrive when they are little and also when they are adults.
Think Long Term
First of all, think long term. Enhance and treasure early childhood development (ECD).
Did you know?
All experts on the developing child, psychology, language, education, parenting, paediatrics, reading and literacy all unanimously agree that he first decade in a child’s life lays the foundations for lifelong learning.
Extensive, longitudinal research validates it and the test of time proves it without a doubt. As a mother of three fabulous, successful adults and a teacher – I know for sure that early years are forever.
The first five precious years are the most vital of all. When we fill every day with positive, affectionate, consistent, age-appropriate stimulation and literacy-boosting experiences we give children:
- All the skills for success in life; and
- A sound base to grow from strength to strength in middle childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
Nurture Literacy
At the same time, nurture literacy from the earliest days.
It is so easy to make literacy a natural part of our lives. All we have to do is change the way we think about it.
Literacy – the ability to read, write and spell – is so much more than letters, sounds and words in books, it is also:
- Interaction, art, movement, song and dance
- Understanding the world around us
- Empathy, relating to and understanding others
- Using language to express our thoughts in words to communicate with others
Literacy of our children is the doorway to education and the key to a successful future.
We can all be champions of literacy and build bright future for all of us. All we have to do is just to be more mindful how it progresses in the lives of young children. Nurturing literacy for life begins at birth.
Love Today
Most of all treasure every day! In our busy world it is often difficult to make time for everything we want to accomplish. The best thing we can do as parents and teachers to put our minds at rest is to make the most of the time we have with young children, to:
- Talk, play, sing, dance, rhyme and have fun, read and reread favourite stories
- Enjoy family rituals and preschool events of the day
‘Children are our greatest treasure. They are our future.’ – Nelson Mandela
Everything Begins in Early Childhood
Our fantastic human brain is ready for learning from birth. Irrespective of the languages we speak, where we are in the world, our gender, colour, hair texture, our cultural or religious beliefs, all children have the same needs, for:
- Wholesome nutrition
- Responsive, affectionate, positive caregiving with developmentally appropriate expectations
- Experiences to build skills in all areas of child development in settings in which children feel emotionally and physically safe.
All children want to succeed in all their endeavours. We can give very little girl and boy that special wish.
All children can walk tall and proud with inspiring adults by their side. Children thrive and achieve when we believe in them, hold their hands when they need us and let go when they can manage on their own. We can all pave the way for every child to achieve great things.
More articles to Explore:
About Proud to Read – Giving Children the Gift of Reading
Approach to Promoting Literacy
Links to Inspiring presentations on YouTube:
Born for Love – Dr Bruce Perry
