Early childhood

“The early years of life are the most powerful and influential as they are the foundation on which all later learning is built.”

Early childhood refers to the period from birth upto 8 years of age, and it is a time of tremendous physical, cognitive, socio-emotional and language development. A new-born child’s brain grows rapidly. It forms enormous quantities, more than 1 million new neural connections, every second during the early years, because of which children have sponge-like brains.

Research in neurobiology and cognitive development suggests that 90% of brain development occurs from birth upto the age of 6 years. Due to this rapid brain growth and development, children grow and develop quickly in the early years.

Therefore, the early years require a specialized educational approach to ensure that children learn key skills and foundational concepts to prepare them for later life. Early childhood education is focused on the critical developmental milestones, skills, and concepts that children attain during this period of their lives, from social-emotional skills to the beginnings of numeracy, literacy, and critical thinking.

Domains of Early childhood development: