Preschool can help children improve their social skills but quality parenting is just as important for their development, says Dr Aung Than Oo, from the University of Yangon.

RESEARCH has shown that attending preschool can assist childhood development and social skills but it is no silver bullet to a successful future, according to local experts.

Dr Aung Than Oo, an associate professor and head of the Psychology Department at the University of Yangon, said quality parenting is just as important as an early start to education. In particular, parents should exhibit understanding and love towards their children and set a good example because early childhood experiences are often formative.

“The development of positive social skills in children, for example, is mostly dependant on the family’s cultivations; children’s development is mostly influenced by their family,” Dr Aung Than Oo said. “It is therefore very important how parents assist their child’s development because their actions can have a lasting effect on their life.”

This can be as simple as careful words and actions, he said.

But he added that early education still has a valuable role to play in developing a child’s emotional, physical, mental and, in particular, social skills.

At three or four years – the age when children are most likely to attend preschool – they are still often reluctant to share objects or interests with others. Preschool can help overcome these difficult stages of development with teachers carefully nurturing positive social skills, he said.

Daw Ei Swe Win, vice principal of Yangon’s PIEC preschool, agreed that preschool can be an important place for children to learn and improve life skills.

“Preschools provide the children not only with knowledge and creative thinking skills but also positive social skills. This is important because children need to be able to socialise with their peers and teachers when they start primary school,” she said.

Showing care for others and having the ability to understand another person’s feelings (empathy) are both important skills that pre-schools try to develop in their students, she said. The first step in a child’s ability to care about the feelings and well-being of others is to be aware and understand their own feelings, she added.

There are also academic benefits from attending preschool, according to research published last year in the journal Science. A study that followed more than 3000 students from the age of three onwards found that the students who attended quality preschool education achieved better results in maths tests at age 10.

“This is the first study which demonstrates preschool effects that are long term in nature for the general population,” Professor Edward Melhuish, who led the research, told British newspaper The Guardian.

“Clearly if you want to maximise the achievement of your population you should provide a high level of preschool education,” he added.

However, the research also found that home learning was just as important to childhood development as attending preschool.

This early academic achievement is important for children, Dr Aung Than Oo said, because it breeds self-confidence and encourages them to enjoy learning.