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Shaping a child’s future

Early childhood is a critical phase of an individual’s life. It is during this period that the brain undergoes intensive development that affects the cognitive, social and emotional growth.

The experiences during these early years will influence or shape one’s attitude towards learning and set the foundation for his or her entire life’s course.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defined early childhood as the period from prenatal development to eight years of age.

During early childhood, children undergo rapid growth that is highly influenced by their environment. The more stimulating the early environment, the more a child develops and learns.

“Environment plays a critical role in this development; children require a safe, healthy and stimulating learning environment to optimise cognitive, social, physical and emotional growth. Early stimulation in an environment that supports safe exploration, lays the foundation for future learning.

“Experiences in the first few years of life have been proven to have a significant impact on shaping a child’s future health, well-being, personality and behaviour,” stated Sue Jones, Founder and Proprietor of the Kids Academy Childcare Group - Kids Academy UAE, which specialises in early childcare education.

The nursery in Khalifa City A was officially launched last month. It offers British-based curriculum for youngsters between 45 days to four years old.

According to Jones, providing a safe, stimulating and nurturing environment is immensely important in helping each individual reach his or her maximum potential.

“The correct stimulation encourages a healthy curiosity in children that manifests itself in a future interest and passion for learning. Positive experiences at an early age provide the foundation for future success later in life.”

Parents’ involvement in their child’s learning process, at home and outside, is therefore important in creating that positive experiences.

“There are simple things that parents can do to support learning and development through play — for example, asking questions during a trip to the beach or playing games during a long car ride can provide children with the opportunity to explore and investigate, establishing a healthy curiosity about the world around them,” explained Jones. The school and its environment also play an important role.

“A stimulating physical space and the assistance of trained childcare professionals are factors that can help provide a positive environment for children to grow and develop. Personalised care is also important since children develop in different areas at different rates,” Jones said.

Based on the Early Year Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, these learning development areas include personal, social and emotional; communication, language and literacy; problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy; knowledge and understanding of the world; physical and creative development.

“As long as parents are actively involved in their children’s development, the right nursery environment can provide a healthy and rewarding experience for young children and babies where they receive trained supervision and develop their individual needs through person-centred planning and through interaction with their peers,” she added.

“At Kids Academy, we stay up-to-date with the latest practices by keeping ourselves aligned with the standards set by the UK-governing body, Office for Standards in Education and Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED). We also engage in ongoing staff training to ensure our caretakers are constantly developing themselves.

“For the young ages we start to care for children in our nursery, we find that maintaining a home-like setting helps children adapt to a new environment. While children may find it difficult the first time their parents drop them off, we find that they adapt quite quickly to nursery life, and soon come to enjoy interacting with their peers,” Jones explained.

The Kids Academy was established, in partnership with Faraj bin Hamoodah Holding, to meet the growing demand for world-class early childcare services for families in Abu Dhabi. The new nursery has a capacity to accommodate up to 150 children.

Kids Academy Childcare Group has a rich heritage in the UK. It received the top rating of ‘outstanding’ at an inspection carried out by the OFSTED – a quality mark achieved by only two per cent of nurseries in the UK.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com