THE IMPORTANCE OF PRE-SCHOOL INSTITUTIONAL EDUCATION IN THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN, IN PARTICULAR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Abstract

The preschool age represents the most sensitive period of the all-inclusive development of children, since at this age major changes are made in physical, as well as cognitive and affective development (Morina, 2017). During this time, children are educated in their families or pre-school institutions (age 3 and age 3-5) and elementary schools or preparatory classes (age 5-6). As a result of a series of socio-economic factors in our country, there is still no serious approach to the first and most important level of institutional pre-school education respectively. The level of pre-school education is still not a priority, the desirability and the place that deserves within our education system and our society as a whole. Regarding the inclusion of children in pre-school education, the situation is not satisfactory. The lack of research to date of this problematic work will help and contribute to the findings and recommendations that can help parents of pre-school children to establish the most appropriate form of institutional or family education, to the benefit of the socio-emotional, cognitive and motor skills of children. The theoretical treatment of the problem based on the most contemporary literature of the most eminent authors and the findings will provide information to the parents of preschool children that this age is very important and that it is in their hands if the children will start the first grade prepare or start formal schooling unprepared with the fear of failure and distinct from others. If inclusion of all children in kindergartens is impossible for our socio-economic conditions, at least the awareness of the parents about the importance of pre-school education is paramount. In this context, we conclude that the role and importance of pre-school institutions in the overall development of children, in particular in the development of language and communication skills, is the primary, and the key to good development in later periods.