Kindergartens are the second social institution after the family for children’s learning and education. They are undoubtedly the only formal institution during early childhood that society relies on to educate young people and establish the various roles they await in the future: familial, social, economic, educational, political, administrative, cultural, civilizational, and other.
Without this early education, organized learning and purposeful, codified, and disciplined education for children at this tender age cannot occur, shaping their personalities and future professional roles, both within their families and society. What, then, are the criteria families can adopt when choosing a kindergarten for their children, in preparation for specialized, detailed academic learning as they transition through the following school stages: elementary, middle, secondary, and university? We summarize this as follows:
General Criteria for Choosing a Kindergarten
These general criteria are summarized as follows:
1- School hours. The importance of time for learning is summarized in normal school conditions, especially after kindergarten at the age of six, according to the following rule: The longer the school hours (in elementary, middle, and secondary school), the greater the effectiveness of children’s learning—that is, the school’s effectiveness in developing their personalities and achieving the goals of the family and society in shaping their diverse expected roles throughout adulthood after the age of twenty.
However, the length of school hours may differ in kindergarten before the age of six. The following is an explanation:
* The shorter the time children spend in kindergarten is better in stable, cultured, and normal family conditions, the more beneficial it is for them in building their tender, open personalities with time. No entity here is capable of providing more care, compassion, and immediate and effective response to children’s needs than the family in general at this age, especially the mother.
* The longer the time children spend in kindergarten is better in the following unstable family conditions:
• The mother works in a profession or job outside the family for long hours during the day.
• Parental conflicts, shouting, and mutually aggressive behavior.
• A mother who spends most of her time on the phone, visiting relatives and friends inside and outside the family, and watching satellite channels and the internet 24 hours a day!
• A mother who is generally neglectful of her own needs and traditional family responsibilities, and who intentionally ignores her duties, shows little interest in and sensitivity to the needs of her children, or is ignorant of the principles and methods of raising children.
• A family broken by the death, divorce, or terminal illness of the mother, or her prolonged absence for a specific reason, or the death, divorce, or terminal illness of the father, resulting in the mother’s preoccupation with numerous responsibilities beyond her capacity, both inside and outside the family environment.
In all the negative and confusing family situations above and others like them, keeping young children in kindergarten for as long as possible becomes a duty, constructive and beneficial to their learning, personalities and future adulthood – much more than the family can ever do in such cases.
2- Childcare Methods. Effective kindergartens in raising children and attracting their acceptance into their environment and daily life are expected to closely resemble or even completely match the family environment in terms of care, kindness, and direct response to children’s needs for food, freedom of movement, play, and the general atmosphere. Here, the family notes the extent to which the kindergarten provides the child’s innate needs, the care methods available, and the personalities of the caregivers and the extent to which they emulate the kindness, tenderness, and care of a mother.
If this is the case, then the kindergarten is a safe place for the child to learn and develop a healthy personality, free from the dark psychological scars of fear, feelings of injustice, rejection, and neglect.
3- Nurturing the child’s social skills. Play, freedom to interact with children, freedom of movement without restrictions and numerous commands and prohibitions, and the availability of numerous diverse means of playing, speaking, and expressing what is on the child’s mind in a fun atmosphere open to give and take, all embody healthy indicators of the kindergarten’s ability to nurture the child’s social skills, social education, and the development of his or her civil and social personality.
4- Nurturing the child’s intellectual curiosity. Here, the family asks: Does the kindergarten—with its programs, methods, and daily interactions and upbringing—the professional preparation of its educators, and its general psychological, social, administrative, and physical environment—inspire the child’s desire to explore, question, experiment, contemplate, and think? If so, then the kindergarten is effective in learning and nurturing the child’s cognitive, moral, and behavioral development.
5- Providing nutritional meals for the child. Many kindergartens (especially in developed countries) provide healthy, balanced meals containing carbohydrates, proteins, vegetables, and fruits, with very little fat. Here, the family considers the types of food provided daily, their completeness, and their freshness (i.e., freshly prepared every day), and whether it is included in the fees they incur, or outside of these fees, where the family is expected to pay monthly or weekly.
If the kindergarten does not provide nutritious meals as part of its programs, nor does it have a cafeteria or other services for this purpose, then the family should take the initiative to arrange with the kindergarten administration to provide the child with healthy, light meals daily, under the supervision and assistance of the caregivers. Ensure that these caregivers have the patience, kindness, and care to fulfill this daily nutritional need in an open, family-friendly environment, free from violence and negative reactions that instill fear, hesitation, and unwillingness in the child. This is to avoid psychological and social suffering in this context.
6- The expected financial costs for the family, both obvious and obvious, such as fees and transportation costs, and hidden, indirect costs (which kindergartens and private schools in developing countries rely on to increase their financial profits, or to satisfy their financial greed, as is sometimes observed?!) through copying services, study guides for tests and revision, routine, uninviting outings, and the sale of cheap, ready-made foods such as chips, biscuits, sweets, and artificially flavored drinks?! Here, if the family’s expected financial costs are justified, the family will then choose the kindergarten in question, provided that the kindergarten meets the other criteria, of course.
7- Availability of health and safety requirements. Here, the family notes the general cleanliness of the kindergarten environment, including the bathrooms and sinks used by both children and nannies. What’s the smell? Is it fresh and airy, and generally relaxing? Is the water safe and drinkable? Is the school equipment, such as chairs, tables, tools, and play equipment, safe?
Are they free of sharp objects and sharp edges? Are they new or in good condition, free of damage or malfunctions, and therefore suitable for safe use by children? The family also notes whether the kindergarten has gardens for plants, animals, and toys, as well as a shallow swimming pool. Are these facilities safe for children to use? Are there dedicated supervisors available? If the actual observations are positive in all of these aspects, then the kindergarten is constructive for children’s learning and overall personal development.
8. Availability of sufficient and educationally qualified teachers and supervisors. In this context, families ask directly: What is the number of teachers, supervisors, administrative assistants, and cleaners in the kindergarten? Then, what is the total number of children admitted? This will reveal the general ratio of teachers or supervisors to the group of children. The fewer the number of children per teacher or supervisor, the more effective the kindergarten will be for learning. However, if the ratio increases to forty, fifty, or more, then the kindergarten is administrative rather than educational in its mission, capabilities, and daily work. Families should not expect too much in the area of learning, guidance, and personal care for their children.
The current administrative role of the kindergarten appears primarily to be to keep children entertained together, ideally in one place, until the parents finish work and return to the kindergarten to receive their daily human “entrustment.” There is little learning, other than observing and acquiring a few beneficial behaviors from the children, and many negative ones, which manifest upon their return to the family, such as verbal abuse and various acts of violence and vandalism.
9. Geographic proximity to the family. Here, the closer the kindergarten is to the family home—so that the children can safely walk to it and the family can visit it whenever needed—the more suitable it is for managing and teaching the children. The physical distance of the kindergarten, in contrast, and the urgent need for paid transportation, or the family’s responsibility for such transportation morning and evening, leads, in the first case, to the loss of hours of children’s lives daily, forced to sit in the vehicle as it circles around to collect children from different areas. The family also faces the daily struggle of transporting and picking up their children from the kindergarten. This is impractical for both the family and children, given the numerous concerns and responsibilities that modern families face in these difficult times.
10. The kindergarten must obtain an official operating license from the Ministry of Education. Here, it can be simply stated: If a kindergarten does not have such a license, the enrollment and learning outcomes of its children are uncertain. Why? Because it generally lacks the standards for organized educational work, which would qualify it to obtain such a document from a competent authority such as the Education Department. It also lacks the supervision, guidance, and follow-up provided by the Ministry or the Education Department to activate the kindergarten’s mission and improve and develop its daily activities.