“I have heard a lot about starting early when it comes to education, but won’t cramping my 8 month old baby’s head with school stuff at such an early age rob her of her childhood?”

I believe there are three factors to consider for this question:

i) the attitude of the parents

ii) the personality of the child

iii) the content and delivery style of the program.

One correlation I notice is that when a parent provides early exposure and focuses attention on a particular interest, the child is more likely to take an interest in that area. It all hinges on the parents’ ability to make attending such classes joyous. Be engaging; participate with your child; enjoy the process, rather than stress on outcomes.

Watch the cues and early signs of personality of your child. Some children are naturally curious and have been encouraged so by their parents from young.

At 8 months old, a baby has started to crawl, and is excited about his new found independence to sit still for long. Make sure you choose a program that complements his personality and development phase.

Finding the right program that complements your child’s development may optimize your child’s potential and fill his childhood with positive memories of his involved parents.

“Will there be any serious ramifications these days if we choose to hold off any form of early education and only send our kids to kindergarten as their first formal schooling experience?”

My standard advice to parents when they ask me about the ramification of doing or not doing something for their child, is that there are three inputs that will sum up to the outcome of the child.

The Child’s Personality + The Environment + The Parenting Style and Values = Outcome

If a child is not attending school till 5 years old, but his parents are very hands on, provide continuous learning opportunities at home or outside to spur the child’s desire to learn, there is a good likelihood the child has acquired more knowledge. Consider a child who has started enrichment classes but with detached parents.

In my experience, the child in the latter case is less likely to gain knowledge or fond memories from the enrichment class. In a nutshell, the style of parenting should be based on the personality of the child. Once you know your child enough, it is easy to choose an enrichment program that suits your child’s learning style.