Pre-school years are known as the one crucial phase of human life when it comes to the features of growth and development. Undoubtedly, this particular stage is the decisive stage which comes up with many considerations. It is essential to provide a conducive environment for the children in the pre-school so they are effectively ready for the further years of development in life. The particular ages between 2 and 5 years are recognized as the phase of the pre-school. It is a crucial stage of the life children shift their paradigm from toddlers to the active explorers of the world (McConnell, Priest, Davis, & McEvoy, 2002). They started learning about different things and concepts of life which ultimately helps them to lead their life. The importance of this time in children’s life demands to immensely focus on the different aspects of growth and development. Here the specific focus is to critically discuss the facet of growth and development in the pre-school years.
2 to 5-year-old children are characterized as the preschoolers who are all ready to explore the world. This is the particular time when they introduced the world around them. It is observed that pre-school children want to learn things more independently and immediately. They are anxious about many things which are happening around them (Wasik & Bond, 2001). They learn different things and gain knowledge through the features of experience and playing activities. There is the existence of some particular aspects which play a crucial role in growth and development. These features identify as a motor, social, emotional, cognitive, and language skills which helps pre-school children to effectively and actively connect themselves with the different and new learning paradigms. It is notable to mention that the aspect of language plays a crucial role as it is the one main tool for the pre-school children to express their needs and opinions about the concepts of the outer world. Once they have the strong grip on the expression through language that they become more able to learn quickly and effectively.
Physical, cognitive, and social/personality development are the crucial prospects which determine the overall feature of growth and development in case of pre-school children. The factor of physical development involves the physical growth of children during the years of 2 to 5. These are the particular years when children become stronger and longer. This is the particular time of growth of the children when their body starts gaining muscles and lose baby fat. Their arms and legs become more meager and strong to perform any physical activities. This is the specific time period when children quickly gain weight and grow taller. It is crucial to understand that different children have a different approach to growth and development in the particular phase of pre-school. Some children have a fast pace to grow physically as compared to other children (Connor, Morrison, & Slominski, 2006). Children become more engage in the playing activities which helps in the development of their physical features and body muscles.
The aspect of cognitive development is another crucial aspect when it comes to the growth and development of the children during the pre-school stage of life. This is the time when children start thinking about different events and develop the element of logic and rational approach to reasoning. In these years, children become able to learn about the letters, counting, and the aspect of colors. They become able to differentiate between different objects and images related to the paradigm of their world around (Gallahue, Ozmun, & Goodway, 2002). The most crucial aspect related to the cognitive development of children during this time period is that it comes with the effective consideration and formation of the symbolic thoughts. It provides the opportunity to the children to effectively process their ability of symbolism to understand about different objects, actions, and events that occur in their daily life.
Emotional and social development is another feature which provides effective indications about the overall paradigm of growth and development in case of the pre-school stage for children. It is the particular phase of children’s life when they start to figure out about their feelings for others and approach what they want. It is the specific time when children start finding the ways to manage their feelings. The social connection also plays a vital role in the overall development of the children when they are in the stage of pre-school. Children of this age going through with different social experiences which ultimately increase their cognitive development and emotional stability. They start to understand to appropriate delivery of their emotions at the right time and at the right place. They start considering the emotions of other individuals and trying to react accordingly (Hills, King, & Armstrong, 2007).The perspective of emotional development gradually helps children to enhance their approach to positive social interactions with other people. Pre-school is the particular stage when children start thinking about other individuals and developed different forms of feelings for them. They start developing friendships and associations with their peers and the children of their age. They start sharing their elements of fun and playing activities with other children they like emotionally.
Different social experiences also help children to effectively learn about the approach of moral considerations. They start understanding that what is right to do and what is prohibited to perform. The aspect of moral consideration happened due to their effective communication with their parents and peers. Mobility skills is another crucial feature related to the specific approach of the phase of pre-school. The stage of pre-school enhance the mobility skills of children with the effective consideration of different motor activities involve their whole body. This facet comes with the concern of locomotor skill. It provides the better approach to the children to attain the necessary form of balance and movement ultimately related to different skills. The particular aspect of growth and development in case of pre-school phase for children can be effectively observed through different activities which enhance their approach to motor skills. The aspect of motor skills can identify in the form of jumping, running, and climbing etc. these aspect s helps them to enhance the approach to their physical development. The paradigm of physical activities ultimately increases the growth pattern of the preschoolers.
Different activities can be effectively used to enhance the approach of growth and development in case of children who go through with the phase of pre-school. It is crucial for the parents and peers to encourage children towards different activities to enhance their understanding of different useful knowledge and logic about life. Different forms of coordination games in case of preschoolers can be helpful to enhance their approach to growth and development. The particular activity of hopping can be beneficial for the children to attain the better position of balance with the consideration of their physical development.
To conclude the discussion about the importance of growth and development in the specific time period of pre-school, it is crucial to understand its impact on the overall growth of the individuals. It is the particular time when children come with the effective identification and understanding of the outer world. It helps them to make different effective inferences about the aspect of life. It is the particular time period which determines the fact of success for the rest of individuals’ life.
References
Connor, C. M., Morrison, F. J., & Slominski, L. (2006). Preschool instruction and children’s emergent literacy growth. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(4), 665.
Gallahue, D. L., Ozmun, J. C., & Goodway, J. D. (2002). Understanding motor development: infants, children, adolescents, adults (ed.). New York, McGraw-Hill.
Hills, A. P., King, N. A., & Armstrong, T. P. (2007). The contribution of physical activity and sedentary behaviours to the growth and development of children and adolescents. Sports Medicine, 37(6), 533–545.
McConnell, S. R., Priest, J. S., Davis, S. D., & McEvoy, M. A. (2002). Best practices in measuring growth and development for preschool children. Best Practices in School Psychology IV, 2, 1231–1246.
Wasik, B. A., & Bond, M. A. (2001). Beyond the pages of a book: Interactive book reading and language development in preschool classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 243.
