Prime Time for Education
It would be a wonderful world if we could give our children a better future. Why not start by filling their little minds with a handful of education at an early age? In Arizona it has been a controversial subject on whether to fund full day kindergarten. In my research on the subject and the experience I have had with my own children full day kindergarten is all around a wonderful idea. There are benefits for children, parents and teachers. Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
First let us discuss the benefits for children. Students have the potential to experience their greatest academic growth in kindergarten. In full day kindergarten research shows greater progress in literacy, math, social skills, and general learning skills. It is the year to format their attitudes toward learning. Research analyzing 23 studies of full day kindergarten indicated that “overall, students who attend full day kindergartens manifest significantly greater achievement than students who attend half day kindergarten”. As stated here, academically it is an excellent idea.
Another benefit is for the lower-income families to enroll children in a higher quality early education program that might otherwise be affordable in the private market. In 1997, the Minneapolis school district began testing kindergartners. Those studies found that many students from low-income families began school not knowing the names of letters, how to count from one to 20, and some could not even recognize colors and shapes. The testing showed a significant gap between students of color and their white classmates. Since the Minneapolis School district started offering full day kindergarten they have seen an overwhelming difference in the learning of the low-income, African-American, American Indians, and Latinos. For example, the number of letter sounds acquired by full day students was 30% higher than their half day peers (Pugmire, 2002). Looking at these studies and knowing we have many low-income and diverse races in the Mesa School District there is a wonderful benefit to support full day kindergarten. For those students that need more time and support, giving it to them in the front end, will save a great deal of remediation and less money in the back end.
Finally some benefits for our teachers; include more time to spend with students individually and in small groups (Full Day Kindergarten, n.d.), more time to communicate with parents, and more time to assess students and individualize instruction to their needs and interests (Full Day Kindergarten, n.
If we had a tool that would improve our children's performance in school and social settings, lower the crime rate, lower teenage pregnancy, and save taxpayers' money, who wouldn't want to use it? Preschool is that tool, but few people pay attention to or care about preschool's potential benefits. For many parents, preschool is a valuable asset, providing their children with social play, fun, and an experience within a school-like setting. Children in preschool learn social skills like respect for authority, listening, and sharing; they also benefit from interaction with peers, which results in improved language and relational skills. Unfortunately, many parents simply cannot afford the expensive cost of private preschools, and there are few other options. Children are valuable as the future of the country, but the government has largely ignored them. Whether at the federal or state level, the government needs to create a free preschool available to all families.
In the 1980s, child care was back on the national agenda due to the education reform movement (Tejada, 2010). Tejada further disclosed that several states even launched pre-kindergarten programs for disadvantaged children. Why the Need for Universal Preschool Two-thirds of 4-year-old children in the United States attend preschool, as well as 40% of 3-year-olds (Tejada, 2010). Half of those are enrolled in a public program, such as state prekindergarten (preK), Head Start, or special education, and the other half are in a private program (Adams, 2009). Despite such a large enrollment of children in these programs, there is still a handful of children who are missing out on obtaining a head start in obtaining a good quality education.... ...
Head start also provides meals and snacks so that they children can focus on learning. Many students that enter head start are lower than the national low and tend to lag behind in vocabulary, writing and math skills. With the help of head start they significantly improved in all of the categories. The article also states that the children who went to head start usually did better cognitively and had a better behavior in the kindergarten classroom. It also states that most of the children had less behavior problems at home. Head start is a great tool for getting the children ready to start school. In the article it talks about how they students had better time in the kindergarten classroom but that around first grade they really could not tell much of a difference in the students who attended head start and of those who did not
Children need preschool in its most basic essence: to define motor skills, achieve basic socialization skills, and to learn the alphanumeric system that will undoubtedly help improve their understanding in the grades to come, allowing for the advances in education that America desires and certainly needs. Making preschool mandatory as part of the education reforms that America so desperately requires will combat the lack of educational programming that exists and allow children to receive education at a younger age than they would have in a home where education is not a main family focus.
Another factor parents may not look into when finding a preschool is the curriculum that will be taught. “Despite decades of federal, state, and local programs intended to support young children’s preparation for schooling, children from low-income families continue to begin formal schooling at a disadvant...
Every 4-year-old in America will be able to go to a high-quality preschool. Preschool will be considered part of the K-12 public education system. That means that families will not be required to pay tuition to send their child to a preschool that is in a public school district. Also, the amount of Early Head Start and Early Head Start–Child Care Partnership programs are going to increase along with more money invested in home visiting programs. Equally important, preschool teachers will be paid the same amount as a kindergarten teacher in the same district would be, in cooperation with Clinton’s RAISE program. Not to mention, access to child care on campuses will increase because of increased funding for
Being able to finish lessons in your own time in key thing in school. According to https://www.screenflex.com/reasons-why-year-round-school-is-a-good-idea/ “... teachers will have much more time to go over lessons and help students. Critical lessons will no longer be shortened to fit the calendar.”
Preschool isn't just a place for parents to drop off their children while they are at work for the day. It is in preschool where children learn the necessary skills needed to succeed in school and in life. With high-quality preschools and qualified teachers the possibilities are endless. It's not only the children who reap the benefits of Early Childhood Education; their parents, fellow peers, and even society feel the positive effects of quality preschool programs. Children enrolled in quality preschool programs are more likely to succeed academically and socially when they are older.
class got more opportunity to go to school and to learn to read and so
For the lost day, spread out over the four days, comes about just in around 10 additional minutes for each class period. It is additionally brought up that students have additional time to finish homework and do ventures over the long weekend. With online training being underlined by states and regions, the additional weekday would take this into consideration. Other conceivable advantages incorporate an increase in confidence and reduction in non-attendance, by both staff and students. Furthermore, folks at last have room schedule-wise to make arrangements for their kids that will not interrupt with school. They can also take long-weekend family outings, or go to different occasions that do not affect time away from school.
“Universal preschool” is a need for American’s because the cost of sending a child to a preschool is too much for most families (Wolfe and Scrivner 113). Roughly 49.3% of children of the ages three and four in America are enrolled in preschool (Percent of Population Ages 3 and 4 who are Enrolled in School: Census 2000 para 1). To send a child into daycare the cost of it is around $150 per week, and for three children in a preschool program is around $350 per week. Parents should not have to pay this much for their children to go to preschool. Children who go to preschool have a greater chance to become successful in the future, and missing out on the opportunity to become more successful can ultimately hurt the child in the...
There has been a debate on whether or not early childhood education should be federally funded to allow every child to attend preschool before starting elementary school. While it may be costly for the government, all children should be able to attend preschool no matter their background. Often times minority and low-income families are not able to provide preschool to their children due to high costs, but making early childhood education public would resolve this issue. Both children and parents would benefit from this. Preschool acts as a daycare while parents are at work, while they learn and develop new crucial skills that will help them succeed when they start school.
When a person is young it is mainly their parents responsibility to raise them right. Raising them correctly will help them make good choices as they get older. Putting children through the right amount of education will also impact the person they become as they get older. “Programs at one stage or age may or may not prepare students for later experiences. Ideally, the learning situation in preschool will foster independence and child-initiated activities.” (Slavin). School has a big impact on a person and who they will become. Parents need to put their kids in good situations early on. This will help the kid develop better and be more
Early education includes all children from birth to age eight. Opting to provide excellent early education comes with many opportunity costs. Opportunity costs are losing potential gains when choosing one option versus the other. Anything other than giving children excellent early education comes with an opportunity cost that does not look forward to maximizing the future of next generations. It is important to include education early on in a child’s life to help secure the positive effects this will have on their development into adulthood. Though the opportunity cost of poor early education is great, the external benefits are greater with positive results. These benefits lead to a lasting success of academic and employment success
Early childhood education plays a key role in a child’s academic development because he or she learns soft skills, job skills, and develop positive traits. Preschool is not like kindergarten, but instead a stepping-stone that prepares young students for the years of schooling they will have later in life. As more schools began to open families wanted to be able to verify that programs would benefit and protect their children. In response, the National Association for the Education of Young Children was made to help families find the best care for their children, by providing the early childhood educators with training and ensuring the quality of children’s daily experiences. (“NAEYC”5).