6 Awesome Skills Preschoolers Can Learn For Free Online

As we get closer to the start of the school year, parents are faced with difficult decisions of in-person vs. online learning and must weigh various factors such as the nature of their jobs, social distancing guidelines and community spread of COVID in deciding what is best for their pre-schoolers. We know that there are comprehensive benefits (academic, social, emotional, and physical) that children receive from in-person learning, which cannot be replicated through a virtual learning environment. Yet online learning, even for preschoolers, can be used effectively to nurture a child’s all-round development. Below, we’ve outlined some important skills preschoolers can develop through online classes.

  1. Maintain A Routine : By enrolling your child in an online learning program, you will be able to add some structure back into their day. Programs that combine live sessions with independent learning activities help your child establish a consistent routine that has been shown to have many benefits for children from developing independence to offering security and stability.
  2. Social Interaction : Online learning programs are a wonderful opportunity to introduce your child to a whole new group of friends. Online learning programs that offer opportunities to consistently interact with a group of peers, allow children to practice making friends and interact with peers from diverse backgrounds in a socially distant environment. Additionally, online learning programs that encourage parent participation help to foster the parent-child relationship. These interactions are critical in nurturing your child’s social and emotional development.
  3. Develop Skills, Confidence And A Sense Of Self : As children are introduced to age-appropriate lessons and activities designed by teachers – whether they are academic skills in literacy and numeracy, stories introducing them to the world around them, or practical life activities such as cleaning up or self-care – children learn both academic and life skills, as well develop confidence and a sense of self.
  4. Exploration Of New Technology Skills And Concepts : Online learning allows children to be introduced to new ideas and concepts that they may not be exposed to in a traditional in-person preschool classroom. From navigating new applications to developing fine motor skills, learning tech vocabulary, and even learning to code, online programs can help your child get a head start on critical technology skills and concepts necessary in today’s world.
  5. Become Independent : Children are developing the skill of becoming independent in completing their class work. and activity, thanks to online learning programs. They are also learning to finish their work on time and become motivation for others.
  6. Differentiating Things Because of online learning programs, children are developing skills of differentiating between what is useful and what is not. In online learning programs, inclusion of educational videos has proved to be the best part as they are child friendly. Even after class is over, children would love to watch the videos shown to them.

What Is Nature V/s Nurture And Why It Matters?

Nature refers to the hereditary factors or the genes of a child, which not only defines a child’s physical appearance but also helps in building a child’s personality traits. On the other hand, nurture refers to various environmental factors that impact our personality traits, our childhood experiences, how and where the child is raised, social relationships, and culture. Most conventional theories of nature vs. nurture consider the differences in humans a result of elements of both your genetic makeup and our environment. Nature vs. nurture is concerning human behaviour, intelligence, and in the development of personality traits. Intelligence is the result of some combination of both nature and nurture.

During various phases of development, children need appropriate experiences that support their interest in exploration, experimentation, and self-direction. Hence, modifying nurturing ways by adapting to the nature of a child will lead to desirable consequences both to the individual and society at large. Every child has the potential to grow up to be a responsible adult provided the environment is conducive for his or her development. Nature and nurture both play an important role in child development. As parents, it’s easy to take credit or to blame ourselves for every aspect of our children’s behaviour. Yet we cannot completely control a child’s development because part of it is influenced by the genes in their cells. Realizing this can help put our role as parents into perspective and respect our child as an individual.

It’s hard to pin down exactly how much of your child’s personality is down to nature and how much is nurture. We do know it’s a bit of both. As parents, we play an important part in your child's development but take some pressure off ourselves too. Not everything you do will necessarily influence them or change who they are.