Let us assume that this article is aimed at parents or people who hope to become parents and that they are all concerned enough about their children’s future to take an active part in planning their education. No matter where you live, the first step in planning any child’s education is knowing when to start the process?
At Birth
It is a natural law that all parents do something to give their offspring a chance of survival and in humans this often goes far beyond simply keeping them warm, clean, well fed and healthy. To a new born, every second can bring another learning opportunity.
The First Few Years
Some parents have neither the resources nor the time to do much more than provide for the basic physical needs of their children. Other parents see it as essential that at least one of them spends much of baby’s waking hours in their company; talking to them, showing them things to introduce them to as wide a spectrum of sights, sounds, smells and touch feelings as possible in order to widen their introduction to life’s varied experiences. Up to this point, we are looking at parents spending maximum “quality” time with their children in and around the home.
When Should The Parents Take A Step Back?
Some parents have the time, resources and skills to keep their children in home schooling right through to university level while others are under financial constraint and both parents have no choice but to return to employment relatively soon after the birth of a child. Some privately run schools accept kids into care programs from around 6 weeks old followed by special classes for toddlers leading to their entry into pre-kindergarten programs For St. Augustine area at age 4.
NOTE – in Florida, children have to be receiving schooling once they are 6 years old; so, sooner or later, a parental decision will have to be made. Under the K-12 system, the earliest entry to public kindergarten is 5 years of age but 4 year olds can now attend one of the free Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Programs (VPK’s). Many parents see Pre-Kindergarten Programs In St. Augustine as an ideal way to gently introduce their kids to being in the company of others away from their homes. This will help them acclimatize to the human interactions and values that they will be subjected to once they start kindergarten or full time grade 1 school.
