The division of preschool age varies from country to country, from 2 to 5 or 6 years old in some countries to 5, 6 or 7 years old in some countries. Before the age of 3 is an important stage of children's physical and mental development, which is closely related to the education of children aged 3-6. Therefore, some scholars believe that it is more appropriate to collectively refer to the two as preschool education. Preschool education can be divided into broad sense and narrow sense. Preschool education in a broad sense refers to the care and education of children from birth to 6 or 7 years old. Preschool education in a narrow sense refers to the care and education of children aged 3-6 or 7.
development trends
Preschool pedagogy is a young science. In the past 30 years, due to the development of science and technology and the social attention to preschool education, great progress has been made in the theoretical research of preschool education. Foreign scientific research achievements have been further developed in the following aspects: the role of preschool education in children's development, the important role of parents in children's education, the development of children's language and cognition, the application of Swiss psychologist J Piaget's cognitive theory in preschool education, the research on children's emotional development and children's behavior, the experimental study on the connection between kindergarten and primary school, and the education of special children. The research work of preschool education in China is also developing day by day, such as: ① the research object is expanded, and the age of children is extended to before the age of 3. ② Pay more attention to the further application of the theory of children's development, and conduct experimental research to explore the learning process and moral quality formation process of preschool children. (3) From the point of view that preschool children are the main body of education, reform the educational content and teaching methods to cultivate children's initiative and creativity. ④ Pay attention to the early development of preschool children's intelligence and the connection between kindergarten and primary school. ⑤ Pay attention to the research on the characteristics of rural preschool education.