Former President Obama gave a State of the Union address where he proposed a plan for universal preschool, which he believes will help bridge the educational gap for all young children regardless of their economic background. As an early childhood educator who’s been working in the field for the past fifteen years, I do support the notion to invest in early childhood education. Some people advocate for universal preschool claiming that there have been research-based studies showing increase academic readiness skills for students entering kindergarten. Other supporters of universal preschool feel that our society is responsible for providing a quality preschool education for all children.
There are some advantages for universal preschool,
First, the author gives some advices to parents that how to choose a right preschool for their children. Second, the author focuses on what the children could learn at preschool. In the article, Kathleen McCartney states that “from preschool, the children start to know the numbers, letters, and shapes, etc. And more important, they learn how to socialize with other children, how to share and contribute to circle time” (Kanter, 2007, para. 3). Social communication is one of the most important components for humans, and it starts from children. The author uses this quotation to make her argument stronger because Kathleen McCartney is Parents advisor, professor of Education, and president of Smith College (Kanter, 2007), but the author does not show the opposite side in this article. This article shows bias at this point. I will use this article to support my argument in essay
Universal Pre-K is a development inside the American training framework to make access to preschool accessible to all families. The main difference that is driving these authors apart is the end results that Pre-K will leave on the child. In an article written by John Stossel, Catherine Brosseau, and Andrew Kirell, called “Universal Pre-K This Whole Thing is a Scam”: the three author see Universal Pre-K as a “flagrant waste of money”, they want parents to understand that this whole thing is a scam. On the other hand, in an article written by Nicholas Kristof called: “Pre-K the Great Debate, he believe that Universal Pre-K is “The best investment we can make in a child’s life”, he fully supports the program.
Statement of Issue: Many minority children and children from low-income families enter kindergarten without the academic skills they need to succeed. Math and reading abilities at kindergarten entry are powerful predictors of later school success. Research shows kids who start school already behind are unlikely to ever get caught up to standards. Hispanic and African American children are anywhere from 7 to 12 months behind in reading and 9 to 10 months behind on math when they enter kindergarten. Access remains extremely low to high-quality early education do to a couple of problems. First, rates of access to early education vary widely as a function of children’s socioeconomic backgrounds. Secondly, the quality of most early education programs is not high enough to substantially improve academic readiness. Considering the tremendous potential for high-quality preschool to improve children’s outcomes, this policy brief will consider how a universal publicly funded pre-kindergarten program in the United States could decrease both disparities in access to early learning and achievement gaps at kindergarten entry.
Northern Lights Preschool & Child Care in Anchorage offers a range of age-appropriate programs for children of all ages, from infant care to daycare and before & after school care. For older children, Northern Lights Preschool & Child Care features tutoring centers and even SAT & PSAT prep programs.
Children learn to act in accordance to their culture due to what their parents teach them and what they learn in school. Different countries have their own way of cooking, driving and most important, teaching. A child who is in a preschool in America, will not experience the same cultural activities as a child in China or Japan. The video Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited demonstrates how preschools in these three countries teach their students in accordance to their culture. This video also shows different Behaviorism and Constructivism aspects for each school.
The answers to academic success for disadvantaged children may not be smaller class sizes, better-prepared teachers, tougher standards, more accountability, or greater choice as admirable as these goals may be. They may instead center on a single factor: preschool. Lyndon Johnson in 1965 wanted to “break the cycle of poverty” by raising poor children’s levels of competence with the Head Start program. Since it began, the Head Start program has been the most widely applied and most heavily researched prevention effort in the US.
Many children attend both three and four year old preschool. If you plan on switching to a new preschool for next school year, make sure you spend some time preparing for the transition. If you allow your child to saw goodbye to their old school friends, and allow them time to adjust to their new preschool, this transition will be a lot easier.
As the sensible Robert Ehrlich once illustrated, “Experts tell us that 90% of all brain development occurs by the age of five. If we don’t begin thinking about education in the early years, our children are at risk of falling behind by the time they start Kindergarten” (1). Preschool should be universal in America. Preschool programs available in America today are subpar. Experts agree that attending preschool produces numerous benefits for children, and that preschool is where the achievement gap begins to form.
Early experiences are critical for a child’s development. According to the U.S Department of Education “there are 2.5 million children here in the U.S that does not have access to preschool.” Not everyone can afford
President Obama claims that providing high-quality preschool for all four year olds in the United States will help save the government money over time and will help create more stable families with parents that can hold a job. Obama says in his State of the Union Address in 2013 that America must equip its citizens with the adequate job training and skills to be able to fill the job openings that the economy is creating. In order to do this, Obama suggests starting learning at the earliest age possible and providing a high-quality preschool program for every single child in America. He claims that this will benefit families on an individual level and society as a whole as more equipped, educated citizens are produced. Although Obama has high
The child that I observed was named Ginger. She is a sassy little four-year old, with blonde curly hair and brown eyes. She is the average height for her age. She has a small frame and is slim. Ginger is very energetic and always happy. She is very outgoing when it comes to interacting with people. At first she seems like she will be quiet, but once you get her talking, she will never stop. She is always putting her input into conversations. Asking the group questions was sometimes really difficult, because she would always be the first one answering, which made the other kids feel like they could not participate.
Just think about this one tiny effect. Imagine that you are about to start school at the age of five, and once you arrive you see that kids around you are more prepared, confident, and eager to learn. These young smiley five year old faces don’t make you happy. In fact, this makes you depressed, and saddened. Early education, also known as preschool is of vital importance. Preschool or an early educational establishment is a group of people offering early childhood education, before the age five. They offer enriching courses for children, and help prepare them for the transition into elementary school. Children who use the opportunity of an early education have a huge advantage. On the other hand, children who don’t enter preschools seem to lack in certain areas, and lag behind. Many children in our country do not attend preschool at the age of three or four, and directly enter kindergarten without the early learning opportunity. This issue of a less advantage situation could eventually lead to a bigger disadvantage when it comes to learning. Many parents aren’t willing to send their children to preschool in their early years as it is over expensive and unnecessary for a three year old to enter school. I, on the other hand, disagree with these people. If children learn from early on, there won’t be any need to worry about others who have advantages. I believe that early education should be mandatory, and since many people can’t afford preschools, public school districts should have their own preschool grade for all younger students.
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.
In today’s society, with its evolving academic demands, parents are confronted with the decision of how to best educate their young children. Since the formative years are critical to academic success, this decision becomes increasingly important (Ray & Smith, 2010). With a myriad of early learning opportunities accessible through parental and non-parental daycares and preschools, parents are perplexed with the dilemma of when and where to enroll their child. Previous research indicates that preschool education plays a significant role in school readiness (Henry, Gordon, Henderson, & Ponder, 2003). It provides the foundation for future success (Barnett, 2008).
This abstract will be explaining kindergarten readiness, how to tell if your child is ready for kindergarten, and what you can do to help your child succeed in kindergarten. Some people may wonder what exactly is kindergarten readiness, well kindergarten readiness is basically when a child is usually mentally, physically, and emotionally ready to start kindergarten and interact with his or her own peers. Usually, to tell whether or not your child is ready for kindergarten most schools have a cutoff date, which is like a deadline saying your child must be a certain age (usually 5 years old) to enter kindergarten, but some schools would also want the child to take a readiness test to see if the child is mentally developed enough to start kindergarten.