What is the importance of early education and early reading guidance for children?

What is the importance of early education and early reading guidance for children?

Early education, or early childhood education, refers to providing targeted guidance and cultivation for children aged 0 to 6, based on their physiological and psychological development, in order to lay a solid foundation for their intellectual and physical well-being. Early education directly influences children's behavioral habits, thinking patterns, character traits, and fundamental values. The essence of early education lies not in the mastery of specific skills and knowledge, but in fostering healthy mental development, gradually shaping children's independent, positive, stable, healthy personalities, emotions, and thoughts.

Some early education institutions have introduced data from research in life information science at foreign universities, using children's palm and fingerprint patterns to analyze various congenital genetic differences and traits, and then infer which traits the infants and young children are most predisposed to develop.

When early education enhances children's intelligence and they experience the joy of success, their brains release a substance called "endorphins," which drives them to continually seek that joyful experience. Therefore, for children, "early education is the mother of success."

A study involving a large group of identical twins found that strong early reading ability in children has a positive impact on later intellectual development. Twins have the same genes and are exposed to the same environment, yet their intelligence shows differences. Twins with early reading ability demonstrate higher intelligence than their actual age would suggest. Since reading is an improvable skill, early reading guidance plays a beneficial role, especially for children with reading difficulties. Early intervention can not only improve reading ability but also promote cognitive development.

The study found that the difference in early reading ability among twins is related to intellectual development at the age of 7. Children's reading ability can not only assess their language skills but also their non-language abilities. This indicates that if early reading guidance is not provided, there may be a missed opportunity to foster children's language and cognitive development. This research result not only emphasizes the importance of early childhood education intervention but also explains why children growing up in the same family may show differences in IQ test results despite having the same genes and environmental factors. The educational level, personality traits, and parenting methods of twin parents have a significant impact on children's cognitive development.

Is it good for children to learn to read at an early age? Some people have opposing opinions on this. Their argument is that research shows the brain's mechanism for recognizing Chinese characters only matures to a basic level at the age of 7, so learning to read can be too tedious and abstract for preschool children. Thus, early reading education should not be conducted. Experts believe that studies on the brain's structure and function indicate that children aged 6 to 7 begin to have the ability to recognize Chinese characters. However, there is a wide age difference in early reading ability among young children. Some children may learn to read at the age of 3 to 4. Whether a child can read depends on whether they possess the psychological mechanism for learning Chinese characters and whether the teaching methods used by adults comply with the learning patterns of young children. This requires parents to observe and understand their children more and cultivate their children's interest in reading and learning. Parents should also be wary of the "third-grade effect" in early childhood education. Some children who receive early education and acquire a lot of knowledge before starting school may have strong memory and self-learning abilities. By looking at picture books, watching television, and playing with tablets, they may be able to recognize 2000 to 3000 Chinese characters by the age of 5 to 6. As a result, when these children enter grades 1 to 2 in primary school, they may lose interest in the teacher's lectures, easily get distracted in class, and be unwilling to complete their homework, leading to a decline in their academic performance year by year. By the time they reach grade 3, they may develop a negative attitude toward learning.