The Connections Bridgewater-Somerville June-2019

PAGE 60 THE BRIDGEWATER-SOMERVILLE CONNECTION JUNE/JULY/AUGUST 2019 Somewhere in this magazine is a SPOT IT & email your answer to connectionsnj@gmail.com Include your Name, Town & Phone Number Subject Line: FAKE AD OR Go to theconnectionsnj.com to play ONLINE FAKE AD 1940 US 22 East • Bound Brook • 732-646-6540 www.TheLearningExperience.com Hi Mom and Dad, Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! I’m sure there a thousand things on your plate right now and probably a thousand more that you have to make decisions on. Like, which diapers to use, bottle or breast milk, and probably one of the most debated topics…whether or not to send your little angel to day care. All of that is very overwhelming so, I’m glad you came here because no worries! I have the answer for you. Let’s unpack the well-known saying, “Your child’s brain is like a sponge.” Understanding this concept of an “absorbent mind” (Maria Montessori) will help solidify why early childhood education is critical in your child’s devel- opmental process. In the early years of your child’s life, his/her mind is working like a sponge, soaking up large quantities of information continuously, subcon- sciously, and indiscriminately. So the question becomes, “Would you rather have a sponge with or without soap washing your dishes?” Early childcare educators are the individuals who are dedicated to squeezing “soap” into said “sponges,” every day. Ultimately, an early childhood education helps expose your child to the pertinent information and social skills necessary to build a cog- nitive foundation which he/she will build off of well into his/her adult years. You might say “OK, I understand that my child will benefit from an early child- hood education, but what specifically will he/she be exposed to in childcare that he/she couldn’t obtain from every day occurrences?” And you are rightfully inquisitive. Since your child’s brain is a “sponge” can’t he/she just learn from his/her environment? The answer is yes and regardless if you decide to enroll your child into an early childhood educa- tion facility or not, your child will contin- ue to absorb both the productive and detrimental information in his/her every- day life. What we seek to do at The Learning Experience is create an envi- ronment that fosters the development of the “absorbent mind.” To further explicate this idea, I’d have to highlight my experience as a Foreign Language Educator. In my years teaching Arabic, I have found that the most responsive of my students have been my Twaddlers. In my classroom, all of my stu- dents are either bi-lingual or multi-lin- gual. As a result we utilize the following 4 languages throughout the day; English, Spanish, ASL (American Sign Language) and Arabic. That said, none of my stu- dents have ever been exposed to Arabic before. Yet after 2 short months of semi- immersion they are singing songs about their colors in Arabic, practicing their manners by saying “please” and “thank you, asking for more food in ASL and more “agua (water)” in Spanish. This is just one of the many examples of how the educators at TLE utilize the power of the “absorbent mind,” in their teaching practices. Ultimately parents, you have two per- fectly good options for helping your child transcend the learning curve: participat- ing in early childhood education through a facility like TLE or through outside resources. With the nature of early child- hood education being advantageous to the cognitive development of young learners, it seems more sensible to ensure your child is obtaining both intel- lectual and social skills from accredited facilities like TLE that have a curriculum that is designed to enhance your child’s foreign language acquisition, manners, fine motor and math skills. Thus in doing so you will allow your child’s develop- ment to increase at an exponential rate, a growth rate that is seldom found in children who aren’t given the opportuni- ty to delve into an early childhood edu- cation. Your child’s brain is amazing. It is absorbent in nature. Fuel your child’s mind with the stimuli needed to flourish. With Love, Ms. Tanaea Lead Teacher Twaddlers Bridgewater TLE theconnectionsnj.com