Early child education has been a controversial topic. While many people are strong advocates of it, many think it’s not as important as people make it out to be and that the benefits reaped from it last only for a short period.

If you’re a new parent wondering what early childhood education really means and how it can benefit your child and you, you’re in the right place because we are about to embark on a very interesting discussion!

What early childhood education (ECE) really means 

Many people are confused about what ECE really means, so it’s a good idea to define it first. Very simply, ECE is the period between the birth of your child and the time he enters kindergarten — any formal educational intervention during this period is called ECE.

There are many dedicated early learning centers such as Raising Stars that have dedicated, professionally-trained childhood educators to ensure that your child gets the best ECE experience possible. 

So what are some ways ECE can make a difference in your child’s life? Let’s find out!

  1. ECE can keep your child out of jail. 

We know, it’s a bit extreme to think about law and order at this stage of your child’s life. However, it’s a real concern. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that children who either fail to complete high school education or get expelled from school are more likely to have some kind of interaction with the juvenile justice system.

And every time a teenager is jailed, the economic implications of it means that many more people are adversely affected — in other words, it’s a burden on society that could have been prevented. How? By giving more children access to quality ECE.

But wait — what does ECE have to do with keeping teenagers from going to jail? In a study that tracked people up into their 40s, people who had received some kind of ECE as children were more likely to graduate from highschool and commit fewer crimes. 

While the exact link between ECE and graduating from high school (and committing fewer crimes) is obscure, one thing is clear — ECE does have a positive impact on your child and leaves a long-lasting impact on what your child grows up to become.

  1. ECE eliminates learning disadvantages for your child. 

There’s plenty of evidence that much of a child’s brain development occurs before she ever steps into kindergarten. 

So it shouldn’t be surprising that a 1965 study has demonstrated that children from affluent families learned around 30 million more words by 3 years of age than children from poorer families. This was a reflection of the overall learning of children from affluent families and helped them perform better academically later in life.

And because early learning centers have professionals that are good at identifying the learning needs of each child, any inequality around childhood learning gets flattened out and your child has a better chance of competing on the same level as other children when he grows up.

For these reasons, it’s important that you are doing all you can to ensure your child has the best possible start in their early education. That includes helping them understand the work itself, but also preparing for things like the ISEE with the Best ISEE Test Prep Tutors you can find. That is going to ensure that these advantages are felt even more strongly for your child, thus helping them to have a brighter future with fewer disadvantages.

  1. ECE exposes your child to diversity early on. 

The world is becoming more connected than ever and chances are that your child will grow up to see an extremely connected, diverse social environment. And there have been many instances in recent times where we’ve seen the horrendous things that happen when individuals grow up with an inability to realize and accept the differences humans have.

An early childhood education will expose your children to diversity at a time when they are free of social conditioning and misinformed beliefs. This will help them come to grips with diversity early on, accept it, and grow up to be responsible and respectful citizens!

  1. ECE can increase your productivity. 

The long-lasting positive effects of ECE on your child’s development, social disposition, and academic success are clear. But ECE can also help you manage your work-life balance more effectively, perform better at work, and have an overall increased productivity.

According to a report, lack of good-quality ECE makes it difficult for parents to return to work and achieve optimum productivity, and this costs the U.S around 57 billion dollars each year. This means that having access to good ECE not only helps you return to work easily, but in a sense, it’s a global need and governments need to bring it into consideration!