The Popularity of Preschool and Headstart Programs

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 Head Start Program contributes to the successful learning of children in a major way. Head Start promotes healthy prenatal out comes, enhances the development of infants and toddlers, and promotes healthy family functioning. The children are giving a better chance to succeed in school and life. Therefore, the rate of human learning and development is in the early years.

Research for Head Start has found many lasting benefits for learning and educational achievement for its attendees. Including school progress and educational attainment, social behavior, and reduction of delinquency and crime that is usually found within disadvantaged families. Head Start addresses all the guidelines within the Family Impact checklist on providing all adequate services to low income families. As mentioned above, under Family Support and Responsibilities, Head Start is a federally funded program, which also receives donations and grants. Therefore, the federal government must increase funding to the Head Start program so children from low-income families, get early education services to help them succeed in school. Since Head Start programs have minimal funding there are not enough spots available to include every child in need of the services provided by this program, especially within certain regions.

Preschools offer a variety of services including social skills, health, nutrition, and aids in developing basic cognitive skills for toddlers up to the age of four years. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), advocates excellence in early childhood education. According to the NAEYC, extensive research has proven that “a high quality developmentally appropriate early childhood programs produce short-and-long term positive effects on children’s cognitive and social development.”

She declares which the chance of failure for these children is at high risk. Currie argues “those actually enrolled in Head Start are likely to face the most severe problems and are least likely to do well in the future” (683). In defending the needs of these children, it is crucial to provide a preschool program such as Head Start. This is not only an academic resource, but it focuses on the whole child; which means it provides these underprivileged children with opportunities such as: nutrition, health, education, and builds social skills that they otherwise do not have access to.

On February 12th, 2012, in his State of the Union address, President Obama discussed the long-term benefits a universal preschool would have on today’s society. “In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children…studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind.” (Obama) Unfortunately, an overwhelming number of children, from low-poverty areas, are unable to access high-quality early childhood programs for their preschool aged children. Consequently,

The studies found that all pre-school programs have the potential to prepare disadvantaged preschoolers to enter school at the same level, but since the children in this study were so much more disadvantaged and lower intellectually, they had no way to go but up. Since Head Start is designed for economically and intellectually disadvantaged children, these deficits can be specifically corrected. Simple knowledge like colors, street signs, and discipline are taught, but often assumed by other preschoolers who are more privileged they have already mastered those skills. Meeting the children on their own level brings them up to close the gap with other children. However, this gap appears in other

As mentioned earlier, approximately eighty-five to ninety percent of the brain has been formed by the age of five (“Early Childhood Education Needs More Attention” 1). It seems as though the education of children should be a top priority during children’s first years of life considering how much they grow and develop. Not surprisingly, studies have shown that children who are able to attend preschool experience many long term benefits later in life . Kids who received a preschool education were found to “repeat fewer grades, be more literate, be more likely to achieve a higher level of education, and [be] more positive...toward their children’s education” (Wilson 2). Preschool helps children to be successful throughout their years in school. It makes sense to spend the time and money on children in preschool, instead of trying to play catch-up once they are already behind. Some of the benefits of preschool are evident, even throughout adulthood. Adults who attended preschool “had lower unemployment rates, earned significantly more money in their lifetimes, had significantly more stable dwelling arrangements, and were involved in less crime” (Wilson 2). Preschool sets children up for success throughout their lives. The increase in income and lowered crime rates stemming from preschool attendance actually lessen the amount of government money that is later spent on public assistance and correctional facilities (Abdul-Alim

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.

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.

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).

Preschool programs are designed specifically to make sure that children are ready for kindergarten and will be able to succeed in school by third grade. All preschool programs have three characteristics in common. They are governed by high program standards, are open to 3 and 4 year–olds, and focus on school readiness. The term universal preschool means that preschool programs are available to any child in a given state, regardless of family income, children’s abilities, or any other factors (Colker). Like Kindergarten in most states, the concept of the Universal Preschool Movement is to have a voluntary program, unlike compulsory elementary.

4. Enroll a child in preschool: Studies abound on the value of preschool for a child's future prospects in life, more studies than can be quoted here, in fact. In short for our purposes, though, preschool is a place where kids can learn the alphabet, maybe a few basic sight words, and dramatically improve their ability to converse with other children. It's a training ground for future lawyers and motivational speakers, and it's cheaper than

Research conducted from economist to neuroscientist, educational leaders and public policymakers have confirmed that early education matters. Studies like the High Scope/Perry, Abecedarian and Chicago Child- Parent Centers indicate that children who attended preschool were comparatively ahead in early reading and math skills (Barnett M. N., 2013). Similar studies have also revealed that depending upon various factors; such as preschool quality, social class and race, educational boost can continue through K-12 and well into adulthood. Various studies have shown that high-quality preschool saves schools and states money, and provide long-term benefits to children and communities (Magnuson, 2013; Heckman, 2010; Mead, 2012).

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.