An Argument for Preschool

As a certified Early Childhood Teacher in KY, I see the benefits of preschool in the Elementary setting. My students are able to transition to Kindergarten with less stress and difficulty. I teach students from all economic background, with and without disabilities. All children are given the opportunity to explore and create at their pace without drill and practice. The State of KY has created a guideline of academic standards that flow into the primary core content yet are developmentally appropriate for young children based on current research. Parents should not feel that sending their children to a quality preschool program is usurping their role as their child's first teacher. As a classroom teacher, I work with my families to provide their children with the best possible foundation for learning. This article was well written and should not have prompted the negative view of quality preschools.

I am a credentialed teacher who has made the decision not to homeschool my children. Do I think I can teach them the proper academics? Of course. Do I think they may academically learn more at home than in a classroom? Perhaps. But they will not learn how to get along with others...work in a group...listen to others besides me...stand up for themselves...be a self starter...the list goes on.
I am not saying those who home school are making a bad choice. I just think children learn differnet things other than academics in school. AM I goign to work with my children at home? Absolutely. Will they learn a good portion of their academics from me? Yes. But they will get something from going to school as well. Accontability...socializing with others...problem solving...teamwork...those are skills I cannot repolicate in my living room.

I worked in the public school system for more than 8 years as an assistant teacher. I also worked in Head Start for 3 years before that. ( I am a trained para-professional) I have decided to homeschool my daughter as a result of those experiences. Why? Because a classroom the size of my small living room packed with twenty children does not lend for the richest learning environment. Some children will thrive, others will be bored out of their minds and still others will simply fall further behind. Individual attention which is what every single child needs is impossible. Believe me, I tried. Public School gets worse. Thirty children in a classroom, if your are lucky a teacher that is creative who has not burned out or left in utter fustration because of lack of resources, lack of a living wage, ridiculous timelines, or threats from administrators because of NCLB or parents who have chosen not to actually raise their children and refuse to discipline them. The poor teacher also has to deal with difficult behaviors of children who are frustrated with the school system, already academically behind and act out because of it, taking time away from the ones who are academically advanced, teaching boys who learn differently in an environment that is friendlier to girls, (I am female by the way) all the while having no relief during the day since music, art, and gym have been removed to make more room for teaching to the test. I want my daughter to enjoy learning. As an assistant at times I was bored to tears and hated the way the school system forced us to teach. I cannot imagine going through twelve years of that as a student. As for the Distar program, when done with a caring loving adult one on one, it works. I started it with my daughter and she looks forward to her lessons. I have seen great progress already. Why should my daughter learn to sit at a table and not talk and just listen quietly never expressing her opinion or ideas and be passive about her learning? The real world is not that way! For you to grow you must interact, voice your opinion, express your ideas. Yes, your take turns. But where in the work environment do you work solely along side of others who are within a year of your age, and think just like you? In my daughter's homeschooling group we learn alongside children of different ages. She gets to learn from the people who care for her more than anything else in this world, her parents. She gets to learn sitting outside on the grass on sunny days, or maybe on the porch on a rainy day. She gets to sit on my lap when she learns if she likes and she enjoys learning this way. If she needs a break, she can take it, right away. I would not trade that for her for the world. Some children need pre-school because it would be the only way they would learn, but for us parents who can nothing beats homeschooling.

stayathomemom would love to know where to purchase the curriculum you mentioned--Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I also teach my children at home. Loved your comments, you are an inspiration, and your children are blessed!

I have raised my kids but was forced into the work field due to the HIGHEST cost of living on Long Island-My kids are all teens and one is on the Marines. Most women are forced into the work field because of the cost of living or they are single parents or other situations. Hence-Childcare. I would love to hold seminars for Paretns to know what to look for and what to ask because out of all the Parents I have met, one asked all the right questions. One out of hundreds because the parents are too busy to care or are afraid to ask questions.

The fact is- Childcare is needed. And The Government NEEDS to pour more money into qualified Centers, shutting down illegal daycares, and qualify parents for assistance AND PAY top dollar to the qualified Staff to prevent high turn-overs.

Please stop finger pointing-Life is not fair or perfect . We need to find and apply the right solutions.

One of the items listed in the Communist Manifesto as important to the goal of communism was "free public education", including daycare. The Soviets were some of the most fervent practitioners of day care, and stated that "the raising of a child is not the private task of the parents, but the task of society". Lenin himself was a very strong believer in day care, and said that the Bolshevik press did not support it enough.
By the way, I am the 15-year old who graduated from high school early and scored a 30 on the ACT. My mom posted a comment above. I just thought that I would back her up with information.

I am a DayCare Director and have been in this field for 10 years. I can not stress enough the absolute importance and need of trained and qualified Teachers. I am finishing my B.S. and will move on to a Master's Program. I currently work in a Center that is ran by a "HeadMaster" who knows nothing about Childcare and hires peole who have NO training or experience which leaves me to deal with bad attitudes and constant cleaning up behind these un-trained people. I am throughly disgusted by the mind set of " we have budget issues" and not encouraging the staff to get qualified training. This happens to much and the children do suffer because of it. My goal is to own an Academic Daycare Center which focuses on preparing the children for School , specifically teaching Handwriting , Math and Comprehension skills incorporated through Literacy and Play. I am currently applying this theory in the Center I work in , particularly in one classroom. The other classroom Teachers apply the rote system and "Repeat after me" which I am against.

The system I have incorporated is a combination of NAEYC Theories, and High Scope and Reggio and it is highly successful.

So far, I have had four children skip one grade to a higher grade and by the time the Prekindergarteners "graduate" in June, All the students have the ability to read and complete simple addition and subtraction skills as well as have learned how to write in Script.

I know of the success of such programs and how the children are successful in school.

I have seen (and currently work for, and am saddened)many Centers hire un-trained, un-qualified staff because of limited money.

I know when I open my business, I will not compromise. I will only hire certified, educated Teachers.

As a professor of early childhood education, I would agree in general with this article. However, the author mentions the importance of "structured play". In reality, it is unstructured play, ie. child-initiated and child-directed play, that has the most postive impact of young children's development in all domains--physical, academically, and socially and emotionally. Unfortunately, true high quality programs are few and far between.

Me and my 4 siblings all went to a pre-school. It did us all good, I believe, since we all graduated high school with good grades. I wasnt able to put my son in pre-school, however, due to the fact that he took a bit longer to potty train and no school would take him unless he was completely potty-trained. I've worked with him myself and continue to do so now; plus he gets exposure to a 'class' enviroment and other kids in church every sunday. I'm fully confident he'll be ready for kindergarten next fall.

I have always believed that 'best teaching practices' for the individual student is what fosters optimal development, no matter what the particular model may be. Nevertheless, for preschool aged children, generally speaking, a hands on approach is usually more appropriate and beneficial than drills and practices. As an educator I am familiar with the various models such as Reggio, and High Scope mentioned in this article, and speaking from experiences within the classroom, children will thrive if all of their needs (social, cognitive, physical...) are being met.
I agree that the quality of preschools is just as important as the quanity of them, but until we as a country truly value 'the child' (meaning ALL children) as an important part of society, the quality of most preschools will be minimal-- at best.

No one is talking about the cost of Pre K. Some places charge prohibitively expensive prices. Others that are more affordable are not of the same quality. More often than not the children from lower income families have to settle for the Pre K that has the "three-syllable words posted but spelled wrong and puts the eight kids she's in charge of in front of the television" kind of pre k. There is no argument agianst early education for our children but the type of education they recieve should at least have a base standard and an affordable price.

Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. All preschools are not the same and neither are all children. Some variety in preschool offerings needs to be kept at the front of the conversation. I believe any child will benifit from a good preschool teacher. And I mean teacher in it's braodest terms. Parents are teachers too.
Did anyone do any research on the impact of a great mom or grandmother as teacher or a great family childcare provider?
I agree preschool has it's benifits ; I made it my career for the past thirty years; but there are associated cost to the health and well being of our children and neighborhoods. I strongly promote the idea that variety in settings and curriculums has to be an option as long as a level of high quality programming is adhered to
for all children
I am concerned that all this preschool talk is about what the adults need i.e. chilcare, higher grades, job market readiness. Let's teach children because it is the right thing to do !

Some preschools are good, and that is great. But not all of them are. And some of them are better in one thing than another. There are alternatives for preschool, like having a stay at home parent or having at great day care providers. Everyone, especially children, should be exposed to different things. No matter what, you need to take your children places like the park, a museum, aquarium, zoo, hiking, an amusement park, a play, whatever (as long as it's appropriate). Pre school is just another experiance that gets children ready for real school, but only if it's good. If it's not good don't bother, find something else. Also, not every child benefits by preschool. Every child and every situation is different. Preschool should not be required because of that.

I believe a good preschool is great. It helped me a lot. But not all preschools are good. Some are, some aren't. Some are better with some things than other things. I believe that everyone, especially children need to have experiances with different things. You need to have trips to the aquarium, zoo, museum, park, and many other places. If it is a decent preschool, it will if nothing else get them somewhat used to the school experiance. There is nothing inherantly wrong with homeschooling. It's all in how you do it. It's the same thing with preschool. But people should not be forced to have their children in preschool. Maybe they will benefit more with another type of thing. Every child is different.