A few simple goals can help your child through their early developmental years and give them a head start on their educational endeavors. However, it’s critically important that these goals are appropriate to the child’s age, interests, and abilities, or they could conceivably end up pushing a young mind away from learning.
So, let’s take a look at different age groups, what types of goals are most appropriate to them, and how you can work with a child development center to encourage and support your kids through these important, early years. We’ll start with goals for an infant education program and work our way up through preschool and pre-kindergarten programs.
Helping Infants (6 weeks–18 months) Grow
Obviously, the goals you set for children in this age range are not going to be like those for older kids. However, this is a critical time for their learning and development, which means it’s still possible to set goals at this young age.
Communication is a huge part of the development at this stage, so if you make some goals around that, toddlers can learn to make their desires and needs known.
Baby sign language is a great option here. Children can begin communicating between the ages of 8 months and 2 years, and infant education programs can help them use signs to reduce the levels of frustration between parents and child.
You don’t have to know a lot of signs, so set your goal for a few of the most useful words that your infant can learn to start communicating.
Another goal for this age group is to always make the most of playtime. This is a great opportunity to crawl around and explore the world around them. Discovery and experience – both are necessary to understand the world around them.
Toddler Education Goals (18 months–24 months)
The goals at this age should focus on providing more ways to learn about themselves and the world they live in. More specifically, these goals should be about helping children express themselves, interact with peers, and develop sensory awareness.
When kids are about to reach the “terrible twos,” they seem to act out a lot, but this is often because they’re experiencing so many new things and having so many feelings, it’s hard to express themselves. A good toddler education program can provide the structure and flexibility they need to continue learning and developing and finding ways to express themselves other than the classic tantrum.
Goals that help children increase their independence can also be really effective because it allows them to develop their own desire to explore the world around them. This means setting goals that provide a variety of meaningful experiences and give them a reason to actively think about the things they’re seeing and then find out how they work.
This way, you can start helping them learn to love learning. And that’s a lesson that will last a lifetime.
Preschool/Kindergarten Goals (2 -5 years)
At this age, children can handle more structured goals and get more out of structured lessons that help them gain knowledge on subjects like reading and writing and even math and science.
Goals can switch from self-exploration to activities that are more guided and purposeful.
We still don’t need to give them goals like “read these pages before the weekend” or “stop coloring out of the lines.” Instead, our goals can focus more on emotional, social, and intellectual development that is both guided and flexible.
Now, children can gain advanced pre-reading skills, better vocabulary, and basic math skills from preschool programs before they go on to kindergarten. Having said that, goals should be centered on developing the entire child (socially, emotionally, intellectually) rather than just trying to fill them with academic knowledge.
As children get into pre-kindergarten programs, goals can switch to improving cognitive skills, social skills, creative skills, and more. Proper physical goals are also important at this point so the child can develop fine motor skills and build the strength and energy required by many physical activities.
Accomplishing Goals
A lot of the same guidelines that help adults reach their goals can help your children accomplish their goals, too. Keep your goals simple and trackable. Provide rewards when they reach those goals, and be consistent about them. If you have any questions or need some guidance to set the most appropriate education goals for kids, you can visit our child development center or contact us today and discover how our programs can help.
