GOD's LITTLE LAMBS PRE-SCHOOL

Early-Childhood-Development (ECD)

Early-childhood-development is significant to the futures of our children and our society as a whole. There has to be a dedicated group of people, like we have at God’s Little Lambs Pre-school, who are willing to take on the challenge of preparing children for success in a highly competitive world. In many cases, the teachers become the parent figure. It is a great responsibility. Just liking or loving children is not enough. You need to show enthusiasm for learning and teaching and the reward is enormous.  We witness this with the children at God’s Little Lambs Pre-school every day.

 

Early childhood is a time of remarkable physical, cognitive, social and emotional development. Infants enter the world with a limited range of skills and abilities. Watching a child develop new motor, cognitive, language and social skills is a source of wonder for parents and teachers.  This is particularly true in an environment where the child has no parents or only one parent alive.  This is one of the many challenges that exist at God’s Little Lambs Pre-school, which is situated in an impoverished community like Tumbleweed in Howick, South Africa

The study of human development is a rich and varied subject. We all have personal experience with development, but it is sometimes difficult to understand exactly how and why people grow, learn and change.

 

A child’s earliest years present a window of opportunity to address inequality and improve outcomes later in life. The potential benefits from supporting early childhood development range from improved growth and development to better schooling outcomes to increased productivity in life. 

 

Developing countries have dramatically expanded access to preschool provision in the past decade, with all regions of the world increasing pre-primary enrollment. Yet, today, millions of young children below the age of 5 in low- and middle-income countries fail to reach their developmental potential, because they suffer from the negative consequences of poverty, nutritional deficiencies, and inadequate early learning opportunities.

 

Children develop rapidly during their early years, and positive or negative experiences have implications for children’s well-being, school readiness, and later success in life. ECD links the young child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical processes with the care and services (provided by families, communities, and the nation) required to support their growth and development. 

 

Poverty and nutritional deficiencies are among the leading reasons that 165 million children suffer from stunted growth in the developing world, which compromises their physical capabilities and cognitive development.