An Argument for Preschool

Well said Kami -- A "one size fits all approach" to anything -- "No Child Left Behind" is another great example -- does not work -- My youngest is five, will go to kinder next fall, and is AT HOME with me for a reason -- I want her with her mommy and daddy until it's time for her to go to school. She has three older sibs and knows her colors and letters and letter sounds. She doesn't "need" pre-k -- so please, people, don't get caught up in this idea that all little children "need" pre-k !

Well said Kami -- A "one size fits all approach" to anything -- "No Child Left Behind" is another great example -- does not work -- My youngest is five, will go to kinder next fall, and is AT HOME with me for a reason -- I want her with her mommy and daddy until it's time for her to go to school. She has three older sibs and knows her colors and letters and letter sounds. She doesn't "need" pre-k -- so please, people, don't get caught up in this idea that all little children "need" pre-k !

The push for cradle-to-grave government care is all about increasing employment for adults, preferably unionized employees. With the increasing exodus from public schools to private schools, legislators must appease the NEA and local affiliates. At the preschool level, parents still have "choice" on where and how to educate their children. All but the wealthy or those who can home school lose that choice at Gr. K Government should not control the education of children -- parents should!

I am a pre-school teacher and I was a stay at home mom. I did the pre-school thing with my kids...I can honestly say that preschool is not for every child. Here we go again, trying to make every child fit into that square box...People even when young are individuals. Some do well, some don't do well. You have to make the judgement call on that. Pre-school teachers have a lot more on their plate than regular teachers: You cannot reason with a child that small. You can give choices. Much of it is training. But other teachers don't deal with potty issues, nap issues, illness issues to that extreme. And lets face it: kids get exposed to a lot of sickenss in schools. So is it better to send your kid to school? I think all schools need a system change. I don't thing training your kid to be in a box furthers humanity. I think you need to train them to think. Not just what fits into school, but real creative, analytical thinking. That doesn't happen in most schools.

I am a stay at home mom with a pre-schooler. My pre-schooler is attending a pre-school three days a week for two and a half hours a day. She is getting a lot of socalisation and school rutine things there. My older daughter did great at the pre-school and it made a big inpact on her when it came to starting kindergarden. This has worked great and still is working great for our family. My daughters are getting the best of both worlds exta time home with me and time to learn skills needed in school. Kindergarden is not what it was when I went.

I agree. This is just another step to our world becoming like the one described in "Brave New World." Truely horrifying.

A college professor (from Berkley no less!) telling us how to raise our kids and denigrating stay at home moms. And Newsweek sees this as credible and newsworthy? How does anyone buy into this nonsense?

I think some of you are missing the point, he is not bashing every mom who stays at home with their children. I am sure that there at home pre school programs that would put most "traditional" centers to shame, but for every one of those there are probably half a dozen homes where the children are dumped in front of the TV all day. Quality programs can be found in many different setting, let's focus on educating parents on WHAT to look for instead of WHERE to find it. Once you know what to look for they will be able to find it on their own. Instead of taking offence to his stereotypes take pride in being an exception.

You can say that again. I WAS a highly qualified preschool teacher before having my own children. I have a BA in Child Development and years of wonderful experience teaching in both public and private centers. If you'll forgive a slight brag; I was really a very good teacher. However, my highest pay (in California) was $11 per hour, working with the poorest families in a public school center. I knew uneducated receptionists who earned more money than me. There is no way I would go back into teaching preschool. They can't even pay me enough to cover childcare for my children! I am happily staying at home raising my own now.

There is no easier answer or resolution to this issue. No Child Left behind has raised the standards for children in public school - this topic could be its own dissertation. But what this means for early childhood education is that the stakes are higher and children need to be more prepared when they enter public schools. Public school teachers no longer have the time to help children learn social skills and self-regulation, nevermind precursors to academic skills. They need to focus on true academics. the point of this article is not whther we should even have child care - it is saying that what is available is not high quality. What is high quality is not available to to parents in low and even middle income families. Funding is not available to programs providing child care unless they are focusing on pre-academics - take Early REading First. foe example. There needs to be more funding available to famiilies with all incomes so that their children can be successful students and memebers of society later on.

DEAR COUNTY1013:
Sure atleast one person can stay at home:
my wife stays at home. It all depends on what your wife wants: Some women work even when their husband makes over 100K a year saying that they dont want to stay at home. My opinion on this is dont have kids if you dont want to raise them, other wise pay for the extra cool schooling yourself since you have 2 incomes and dont want to raise your own.
Priorities is what its about: If anything the economy like it is : is more reason for one person to stay at home for the fact that it costs alot of money to go to work: Gas, Lunch every day, Child Care, Eating out more often, Potty training is later with working parents (More money for diapers) An extra car payment, The second income is Taxed at a much higher rate as well. You can easily add an extra $2,500 per month in additional expense for that extra job, maybe more depending on the lifestyle of the person with the second job.

There you go

I would be interested in knowing what the constants and variables were in the research that led to the belief that children who attend pre-school have higher graduation rates. Most of the data I have seen about the children not graduating indicated that a high number of those children were in special education (learning and/or behavior disorders). As someone who works as an advocate for children with neurological disorders I am finding that our high stakes testing is causing even more problems in this area in that these same kids end up being held back over and over again and between their academic failure and their social failures in that they are often suspended repeatedly for behaviors relating to their disorders (which will only get worse thanks to the new IDEA laws that allows schools even more room to punish these children and places the burden of proof on the parents), they become disheartened and quit rather than continually subjecting themselves to what really is an unhealthy and unsupportive environment. Perhaps the money would be better spent in providing a supportive environment that provides these children with a quality education from kindergarten to graduation.

I agree to some extent of Mr. Kirp's definition of a quality pre-K program, however, my child attends a private pre-K program (Montessori) where they have both structure and skills and drills, which is what I prefer oppose to the public preschool setting which on any given day sounded more like a prison yard. There was profanity, hitting, biting, and very little learning taking place.
For parents who can afford to stay at home with there children, that is great, but realistically how many of us can, especially with the economy the way it is. Even if I could afford it, I would not based on the fact that children need to interact with others and learn how to function outside of the home.

There are many options available today to parents who want early education for their children: home schooling, pre-k, etc. Working parents might appreciate the opportunity to send their pre-schoolers to public schools where there are professional educators in charge. Parents who can't afford and/or don't have the ability to teach their children themselves would also benefit from public pre-k. In all instances, society at large could benefit from an good, early start for children if it would result in higher graduation levels. Nothing is as good as conscientious parents who have the time and motivation to give their own children a good start and make the importance of education a priority. Unfortunately, life comes with good parents, bad parents, and in-between parents. The availability of public educations helps to mitigate parental failings. There is no perfect solution.

The "best case scenario" is a preschooler at home with a parent, going to the park, story time, and play groups, but how many families have this as a choice? Mandated universal preschool could never compare to the best case scenario, but if we analyze the research that shows a direct correlation to the type of cognitive development that has a direct impact on school success, we are compelled to look for ways to provide similar experiences to ALL children. The children who do not have the advantage of a stay at home parent with all the developmentally appropriate opportunities for preschoolers will be sitting in the Kindergarten class next to the child who has had the advantage. At that moment the Kindergarten teacher has an enormous task at hand...bringing the disadvantaged child up to speed while not losing the prepared child. After many years in the field of Early Childhood Education, I applaud Kirp's description about what a good preschool looks like...we need more well trained educators at the early child hood level that understand the latest brain research that encourages learning through play. Even stay at home mom's need to understand this research, as I have sadly witnessed many a new mom with "brain boosting" flashcards in the diaper bag!

The argument that it is parent and not preschool that determines success operates on the premise that most parents have the time and energy and desire to create the pre-school learning experience at home. As a former educator and a parent who has emphasized the joy and value of education in my home I know that the pre-school experience was still a valuable partner in that effort for my child. What about the millions of children who do not have parents with that view? Preschool is not the industrial warehouse that many believe and with some support could elevate the entire educational process.

I am 16 year veteran teacher. I strongly feel the opposite is true. Much research has been done into the incremental development for the mind. We have started teaching children concepts that their congnitive abilities are not developed well enough for. We see that standardized test scores have dropped, problem solving skills are at a low, more and more children are in Special Education programs. Why? We have tried to teach our children to ride a bike before they can walk in terms of their educational development. Let kids develop at appropriate paces. Can someone show me some research that says we are succeeding on a national level soley BECAUSE of early education?