Children's Socio-Emotional Development: Promoting School Readiness Through the Pre-School

The article by Erika Christakis, informs future teachers and parents how preschool today may not be benefiting their children as much as they thought. She talks about how preschool has changed drastically over the years as well as kindergarten. She states that “kindergarten may be the new first grade”. Her statement shows how children today are expected more then they were years ago in all grades, especially preschool and at such a young age. Many think this is helping our children or will benefit them in the future if they know more as a child but this may not be the case. The article talks about multiple studies done throughout America to children are learning and how school curriculum changing affects children. A studied showed that children

The present paper aims to examine the effectiveness of early intervention programs that serve students from predominately low-socioeconomic backgrounds. Specifically, the effectiveness of these programs will be examined in terms of student’s school readiness. School readiness has been defined as having both academic and social abilities that allow students to successfully engage in learning experiences upon kindergarten entry (Jeon et al., 2011). School readiness is especially important for low-income populations based upon the high rates of grade failure and school dropout levels later in schooling. Studies show that students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to enter kindergarten without the basic foundation skills necessary for success (Landry, Swank, Anthony & Assel, 2010). The present paper highlights the importance for increasing school readiness for students

The emotional and social skills you learn at a young age make a remarkable change in your life ahead. While the development skills are just as important, learning the basic three “R’s gives the children a head start. Of course the earlier in life you fill the “blank tablet,” the better off you’ll be. So, don’t forget emotional, social, development, and an early start are all factors you receive out of preschool. Many students who went to a good preschool end up with veter success. Therefore preschool should become required for students to attend. Next, ask yourself, what would have happened if I went to preschool? Would I have achieved more in

A “high-quality” preschool program is curriculum based with certified teachers and a low child to teacher ratio (Robin, Frede, & Barnett, 2006, p. 1)

In the article “School Readiness for Infants and Toddlers? Really? Yes, Really!” by Sandra Petersen, she discusses how from birth to age three are crucial for school readiness. The “exuberant period” which is the months before and after birth is the time when the brain creates connections, “each capturing a moment of learning.” During infancy, foundations are built in each developmental area – language, motor, cognitive, and social-emotional. These later develop into skills such as curiosity, paying attention, memory, gathering information, problem solving, and working through frustration are learned. These skills are established in infancy and toddlerhood, but they are used throughout your whole life. These are essential skills that teachers look for.

Oftentimes, children who are not introduced to the guidelines and principles of their kindergarten classroom spend much of their first year trying to catch up to their peers. By implementing a universal preschool, early childhood educators are able to apply kindergarten policies to their classroom procedures in an effort to prepare students for the transition. For instance, when the educators from various grades are able to communicate with one another, health records, learning disabilities and classroom procedures are discussed and teachers are able to employ solutions before the school year starts. As many as half of all children entering kindergarten display difficulties in the transition. Moreover, teachers expect children to have certain skills sets upon entering the classroom that they may not possess. Finally, kindergarten teachers identified weaknesses in academic and social kills, including the inability to follow directions, working independently or perform adequately in a formal school setting (Stormont, 213). By introducing children to these basic skill sets in preschool, they are able to transition smoothly to kindergarten and succeed among their

To start off, many students aren’t ready yet for the basis of kindergarten as they never finished, or even attended preschool. Attending a preschool gives children an early advantage, and stimulates an early mind. When a child starts their educational journey at the age of three, they get a two year “Head Start,” for themselves, compared to kids who have not attended preschool. This early advantage is a physical and significant benefit for them as it helps strengthen the child from early on. According to greatschools.org, “To sustain children’s excitement and motivation for learning, high-quality preschool and child care programs introduce early literacy and math skills

The second area is, “Creating improved better connected education for preschool and elementary children.” This section addresses the fact that preschools are required to work with public schools to prepare students for the standards taught in kindergarten. This also helps students when they get to third grade and take state assessments. For teachers, the pressure is increasing for

Many children have attended a preschool or nursery before starting school, they are now entering a new setting and as part of a much larger group they will need to adapt to much more complex social situations (Yael Schmueli-Goetz). Yvonne Skipper said that 10%have trouble socially, without the friendships they do not have the opportunities to practice skills like ‘listening, responding, it may effect cognitive development because they may struggle more with listening instructions, and responding to teachers. (Yvonne Skipper o.u. video 2015 in Yael schmueli-Goetz.) By having friends children campractice the listening, responding and turn taking which will help them with the school routine once they begin their formal

Providing children with an environment that nurtures their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development is the framework that will promote children’s optimal learning and development. Gaining knowledge about the child will help a teacher to develop and create programs that are suitable for the age and the stages of children’s development. Applying developmentally appropriate practices will support the excellence in early childhood education because it is based off of the knowledge of knowing each child as an individual and how they develop.

The second research article was selected from The Early Childhood Education Journal and is titled “A Quantitative Study of Head Start Children’s Strengths, Families’ Perspectives, and Teachers’ Ratings in the Transition to Kindergarten” (Robinson & Diamond, 2013). This study explored the connection between preschool children’s social-interpersonal skills and their transition to kindergarten in mid-western America. One hundred and thirty-three preschool children participated in this study over a two year period using three measures of testing. In the year leading up to commencing kindergarten the children’s social-interpersonal skills were evaluated by their teachers. In the following year, parents/guardians and teachers were then required to report on the children’s adjustment to kindergarten. The results of this study found that there was no connection between parents/guardians and teachers reports of

The article Preschool is For Real by Julie Poppe is based on how we should create high quality preschool. It states that over the years funding for early childhood education has went up and enrollment has increased as well. Teachers today have a lot of responsibility when it comes to teaching preschool. They need to making learning fun and simple, but they also need to follow state guidelines and curriculum. With preschool becoming more popular, states are changing their curriculum. Many researchers have found that preschool is incredibly important to young children but only if the program is of high quality. Poor quality can actually have a negative effect on the children. They article outlines what it means to be a high quality preschool

Early childhood education has many benefits and there is the potential for many significant outcomes if universal preschools were put into place. Some feel that children who start kindergarten without previously attended preschool sometimes lack certain skills such as social and communication skills and an inability to follow routines. There were also studies done that found attending preschool could help to close the achievement gap in the grade school years. A child’s first few years of life are most important, and they absorb the most during those years. By providing universal preschool, all children would be benefiting, especially those who are in at-risk families or part of the lower class. As a society, we have a responsibility to help the children in our communities and provide them with the education they need in order to help them succeed in life.

The years before kindergarten are among the most crucial time in a young child’s life to learn. School readiness, a multidimensional concept, has the ability to convey advantages in academic success in school. Children who enter school with early skills in math and reading tend to have more academic success, attain higher levels of education, and have a higher chance of securing employment (1). Their ability to recognize letters, read words in a book, write their own name, and count numbers are all factors that display early literacy and cognitive development, and in the past years, the number of young children with these qualities has increased over time. During the beginning years of a child's life, whether it’s from socioeconomics, ethnicity, daycare, or all of them combined, multiple factors influence a child’s readiness for school.

It is a clear and worthy investment. The question lies in which preschool program is the most effective. Previous reviews of programs have focused on if they contributed to later success, but a few of them compared the programs on their effectiveness. A number of programs showed positive results continuing to the end of kindergarten and beyond, signifying that the preschool involvement had impacts aside from early exposure to academic content. (Johns Hopkins University, 37). Also, several programs had effects on oral language skills, which are emphasized in most preschools.