The Influence Of Center-Based Preschool Education

They stated, “Quality preschool provides not only significant benefits for children in both school and life, but tremendous benefits for society” (Cooper, Dukakis). This article also reveals that there are impressive educational, social, and emotional benefits for children who attend quality preschools. This substantial research allows teachers and school administrators to understand that children who have built a strong learning foundation in preschool have a better chance of success in school. Business leaders also realize that preschool helps meet their needs for a well-educated workforce. Law enforcement officials also notice that the implementation of a quality early education which leads to success in school is a vital tool to keep crime low and improve public safety (Cooper, Dukakis).

According to Friedrich Froebel, “Children must master the language of things before they master the language of words.” Author David Elkind wrote an article titled “Much Too Early” about the difficulties children may face when they attend preschool at an early age. His purpose was to inform readers that the idea of children attending preschool would be a bad idea for their academic background in the future. Although children may be very anxious and excited to start school at such an early age, their ability to catch on and develop quickly may be at risk in the end.

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.

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

It’s only those who come from bad home situations or don’t get enough stimulation that preschool might be a good idea. For me being an elementary education major, I tend to value school and the principles it can impart to young minds; however, an honest question that I think needs to be asked parents is, “How much learning or growth is your child going to get from going to a preschool?” Rather than spend thousands of dollars a year, save the money for a college fund and play with your child at home, sparking their brains activity. Unless of course you feel like you have a bad home environment then she says in the same article, “a bad home situation becomes a much smaller problem when your kid goes to

During Preschool a High/Scope curriculum setting, they are trying to build school readiness, so the children can move on and continue their growing education (http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=63).

A child’s development begins at the onset of life. Early childhood education is the formal instruction young children receive before school entry. These experiences are usually provided by people outside the home, and typically in a school setting. During these formative years, referred to as early childhood, physical, mental, social, cognitive and emotional changes occur rapidly. Though the capabilities for learning are ongoing throughout one’s lifespan, the tools necessary for future learning are shaped during the preschool years. Therefore; high quality care and preschool experiences have long term effects on future academic success. Though preschool attendance impacted future academic success, factors such as family SES, parent’s level of education and genetic factors were also important.

Although it is clear that implementing some socialization outside of the home is beneficial for a child’s social and academic development, the long-term benefits are a topic of controversy among many. Barnett (1995) found that early childhood programs can have large short-term benefits for children and sizable long-term effects on school achievement, grade retention, placement in special education, and social adjustment. He obtained these results through a study assessing 36 studies divided into two categories. In 15 of the studies, researchers developed their own child-care programs to study the effects of model programs. In the remaining 21 studies, researchers analyzed the effects of ongoing, large-scale child-care programs; in five of these studies the children attended state or local programs, five studied children who had attended Head Start and state or local programs, and 11 examined Head Start programs. Head Start is a program throughout the United States set up through the department of Health and Human Services that aids low income families by providing comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services (Head Start, n.d.). Comparisons of estimated long-term effects between the model programs and large-scale programs found that the large-scale program did tend to have smaller effects, possibly due to the fact that the model programs were able to provide higher quality services and more one on one time with the children since

The preschool years which are the ages between 2 ½ years to five years old is an exciting time for children. It is during this time that they use all of the development learned during the infant and toddler stage to actively explore and engage in school. Preschoolers learn how to make their own choices, develop socially, and explore their environments. Parents and caregivers still play an important role in helping children during this time take initiative and explore their environments. Adult’s behaviors, attitudes, and styles of thinking contribute to preschooler’s

The evidence for positive economic, educational and health benefits from targeted preschool interventions is substantial (Barnett, 2010; Campbell, Conti, Heckman, Moon, Pinto, Pungello & Pan, 2014; Finn, 2010). However, the current research does not provide evidence that universal preschool will give the same long-term benefits as targeted preschool (Armor, 2014). This writer argues that universal preschool is not appropriate in the American context because the current government preschool programs have limited long term benefit, it subsidizes those who can afford to pay for private preschool and it takes money from targeted preschool for the neediest.

The Abbott Preschool Program is administered through New Jersey’s Department of Education and the Department of Human Services. It was designed to provide all of New Jersey’s children an opportunity to succeed. The Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effect Study (APPLES), published in 2013, investigated the impact of the Abbott program on children’s learning through the end of kindergarten. The findings of this study demonstrated that children who attend the Abbott Preschool Program, whether in public schools, private settings or Head Start, improve in language, literacy, and math at least through the end of their kindergarten year.

There are numerous preschool or Pre-K options available for young children throughout the U.S. At this time only Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma have truly universal preschool for all four year olds as nearly half of states with state pre-K programs limit enrollment to just low-income children (Mead, 2015). “Under universal pre-K, not only would more children of all backgrounds have access to high-quality early childhood education, they would have the chance to learn in an effective type of preschool environment that is currently rare among both public and private programs: an integrated classroom” (Potter, 2014, par. 6). More parents are placing their children in preschool due to the revelation that important brain development occurs in the early years of life, preschool has long-term benefits for children, and it helps prepare children for the increased demands of kindergarten (Stipek, 2016). There is a good deal of evidence that shows that preschool is beneficial for all children, especially more so for low-income children (Koonce, 2016). Low-income students who attend public pre-K are often 11 months ahead of their peers when entering kindergarten (Potter, 2014). Unfortunately, more than half of low-income three-year-olds and a third of low-income four-year-olds do not attend preschool even with the availability of programs such as Head Start and state-funded pre-K (Potter, 2014). This could be due to barriers such as a lack of information about care, a limited supply of

“Research shows that young children’s earliest learning experiences can have powerful long-term effects on their cognitive and emotional development, school achievement, and later life outcomes” (Mead, 2012). The literature reveals that a strong collection of research exists that indicates children who attend high-quality preschool programs have better health, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes than those who do not

The Preschool Puzzle article talked about whether universal pre-K is worth the cost for taxpayers or not, the article included both political and scientific arguments about the topic. The article talked about two long-term studies that have been made on the affects of pre-K. The first is the Abecedarian Project, in this study, researchers had four infants assigned to a full-time early education program from birth to the age of five and followed them through their adulthood. The researchers found that these children scored higher on tests, were more likely to go to college, and had greater academic achievements. The second method is called the Perry Preschool Project, this study involved low-income children who were assigned to an intensive

Successful primary education attainment is imperative for entering college, embarking on a career and participating in civil society (Garcia & Weiss, 2015). To be sure, there are studies which suggest that successful outcomes for children depend on their readiness for entry into primary school – therefore, mandating early childhood education is paramount to addressing the inequality within the United States public education system.