Preschool: What’s the Big Deal?

By: Karah

I recently sat in on a parent-teacher conference for one of the struggling students in my class. During the conversation, the student’s mother mentioned that her daughter had not started school until she was in kindergarten. At that moment, I could not help but think that maybe both her social and academic delays stemmed from her lack of pre-schooling. I can only imagine how tough it would be for a student to go through their first five years of life without any exposure to formal educational experiences when they are expected to be classroom ready in kindergarten.

Schools today are expecting more and more from their students. Kindergarten curriculum is looking more like that of first grade; just like first is looking more like second grade. This creates a pretty large gap when students aren’t required to attend a pre-school program. My student showed this is her delayed reading skill. She also took much longer than other students in the class to socialize. Students like this may not have the resources at home to enter into kindergarten with the expected skills like the beginning stages of reading.

So, what long-term implementations can help close this gap in our education system? Preschool is not yet universal; so students are currently split between child- care centers, preschools, Head Start programs, and staying home. Simply creating universal pre school seems like the most obvious answer. However, these programs would have to be geared toward appropriate, meaningful learning experiences to be beneficial to pre school students (Barnett, 2008). There would also need to be standards in place to ensure that the rigorous curriculum of elementary school was not pushed further into Pre-k. These standards would provide teachers with the state’s expectations of where students should be when entering into kindergarten.

In the mean time, what can we do to combat the gap? As teachers, it is our job to reach every student in our class and see him or her succeed.  Assessment and differentiated instruction in early childhood years are important in student success (NAEYC). We should also provide parents with educational resources, in hopes that they will bring educational experiences into the home.

Here are a few websites to visit if you are interesting in reading more on this topic.

·      Preschool Education and Its Lasting Effects: Research and Policy Implications- This source provides interesting statistics and makes a solid case for mandating preschool.

·      A Good Preschool for Your Child- NAEYC guides parents looking for a appropriate preschool for their young child.

·      Closing the Achievement Gap- This article provides insight into how educators can work to close the current achievement gap and how preschool plays a part in that effort.

Barnett, S.W. (2008) Preschool Education and Its Lasting Effects: Research and Policy Implication. Great Salt Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.

NAEYC.org (2015) A Good Preschool for Your Child: What You Do and Don’t Want to See in a Preschool Classroom. Retrieved from http://families.naeyc.org/accredited-article/good-preschool-your-child

Haycock, K. (2001). Closing the Achievement Gap. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar01/vol58/num06/Closing-the-Achievement-Gap.aspx