Why Early Education Is Imperative For Success

When starting an educational career, the primary years are crucial to success. A child’s first years of education often depict if they will continue through to their later years. According to an article by Merrimack College, the ability to read proficiently by fourth grade is so important that if the student cannot do so, they are usually put on a track to drop out of high school. So why is reading the most crucial aspect of educational success? Each academic subject introduced to students from a young age involves reading. If students cannot read, teachers have to modify their teaching methods, which strain both the teachers and the students.

Additionally, teachers tend to have the most profound effect on students during the elementary school age. Elementary school shapes a child’s attitude towards other people. How schoolmates and teachers treat them during their younger school years is indicative of how they will respond to others, even in college. Elementary School occurs during the early stage of a child’s brain, which is the leading indicator of whether they will succeed later in life.

Hand in hand with this concept, the social environment a child experiences during elementary school is imperative. Reading, writing, counting, and critical thinking are not the only skills children learn during these years. According to an article from the education site, elementary school is when children form their first friendships, possibly experience first love, and develop insecurities for the first time. Elementary school introduces children to their first lessons of independence and consequences for their actions; this is why teachers must be very attentive to bad behavior during these times. After these formative years, it becomes less and less possible for teachers to have a meaningful impact on a student’s behavior and personality.

As stated in an article from Innovate Public Schools, elementary school learning is comparative to building a house. It is a period that sets up a foundation for everything that comes after. By ensuring good habits early on, such as attending school every day and keeping up with homework and reading, children have a better chance of maintaining these habits and having a rewarding educational career.