Gone are the days when students used to learn from books alone. The rapidly changing trends in early education have reshaped the culture of preschools and kindergartens in many countries of the world. The children these days have access to much better and practical learning methodologies, introduced to them at a very young age. Soon our children will be teaching us the various digitized ways of sharing information and delivering files – new techniques they are taught in schools that can be implemented in corporate environments just as easily.
Most of these new trends are implemented in the after school programs, which is why parents are realizing the importance of keeping their kids in school until evening. In the after school programs, children are involved in more hands-on activities rather than further classroom sessions, which are crucial for their co-curricular development. These activities help them identify their strengths and work on their weaknesses from the early years of their lives.
Following are some of the rising trends in early education practices for 2020.
Play-based Learning
Children are taught to keep the books aside once the classroom lecture is over, and move towards playful activities to lighten up the environment. Some examples of play-based learning materials include:
- Building blocks
- Educational toys
- Play dough
These enhance the cognitive abilities in children subconsciously, as they learn new skills without feeling the pressure of education.
Robotics Learning
This is often referred to as STEM learning, which is an abbreviation for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is an interdisciplinary tactic that combines academic concepts with real-world examples/lessons, just like case studies are used in higher education and corporate trainings.
Robotics learning has been reinforced by well-known publications such as Next Generation Science Standards and Live Science. It has already been in trend for the past few years, and will continue to be so in 2020.
Virtual Learning
Preschools are moving towards web-based, and even virtually disseminated teaching sessions. Virtual learning is both cost-effective and convenient for teachers, as the curriculum can be prepared and uploaded beforehand without disturbing the regular class hours.
We are living in a time where learning technology needs to be easy for us. When children are involved with technology in constructive ways in school, they become more adaptable for using technological means to achieve results in the later phases of their lives.
Video-based Learning
Videos and animations have a great power to convey complex ideas in simple illustrations that are engaging as well as entertaining for children. The growing trend of video-based learning in preschools caters to the fact that children have a very short attention span, which cannot be increased forcibly. The solution is to teach them in a way that’s appealing enough for them to maintain their focus on what is being taught.
With so many animation tools available these days, staff in preschools is able to develop effective video contents to replace heavy texts and complicated drawings.
By enhancing such experiential learning techniques, children in 2020 can achieve stellar heights in gaining knowledge, so that they grow up strong enough to compete in this dynamic world.