Maybe it is because I used to be a preschool teacher, but preschool is just not something I have ever stressed over. Read to your children, play with them and talk to them. That is all the “kindergarten readiness” they need. After all, isn’t kindergarten supposed to be about “school readiness?” Early childhood education programs are designed to be a sort of surrogate parent, teaching skills which are not being taught at home. Basic skills like rhyming, how to hold a book and following instructions. “Socialization” is a big deal, not because it occurs better in the school environment but because there is such a lack of it occurring in so many of the families served by early childhood programs.
The increasing focus on “quality” preschools and making them available to all parents is distracting us from the fact that most children are better off with their parents. If the family is not dysfunctional, a three year old is better off learning from mom and dad. I know this is not always possible, but we do not do anyone any favors by telling ourselves that a quality preschool can do the same job as quality parents.
A short article in the Roanoke Times gives an interesting argument against formal preschool, even if it was not its intent:
David Elkind, Ph.D., author of “The Power of Play,” (Da Capo Press, $24, 2007), agrees. He says studies show these common threads in the lives of early readers: A parent or relative took a special interest in them without engaging in formal instruction, read to them, made trips to the library and talked about books with them. Roanoke Times
A quality preschool is not the common denominator among successful readers. Nurturing parents are. And it isn’t like the government has not noticed this.
The U.S. government is keeping score: How often young kids have been read to by a family member each week is one U.S. indicator of the well-being of the nation’s 73 million children 17 and younger. The latest report card: About 60 percent of children ages 3 to 5 not yet in kindergarten were read to daily by a family member in 2005, up from 53 percent in 1993. Ibid.
I’m glad the number is increasing, but it is a little disconcerting that 40% of our toddlers do not have someone to read to them on a daily basis. Early education programs try to fill in the gap for that 40% who do not have such advantages at home.
Photo credit: That is my little preschooler, helping feed the birds.
Welcome to Roscommon Acres, my little home in the country. I write here about life more abundantly, from the joy of a baby’s smile to the almost unbearable grief of losing a son. I am seeking beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3).
Just place "Tiggy" in the subject line.
I can not for the life of me see what the child in this picture is learning.
I mean just look at the colors, the contrasts, the eco-system in general. Not even considering the abundance of wildlife in the air, on the plants and both on and under the ground.
Can you imagine the audacity to spend one on one time with this child explaining all the abundant life around her.
It’s child abuse.
Why isn’t she in some dank room with 30 other children with one maybe two dis-interested adults who care more about Tommy and Jonny fighting in the corner. Not considering the verbal language, and exploration of her body she could get at a quality day care environment.
If 30 other kids deserve quality day care, your’s should not be exempted from that experience. You should be arrestted and your children removed.
I remember when we were looking for a preschool for Benny, and I eliminated all the ones where he would be expected to sit in a desk and hold a writing utensil. Ever. I eliminated the ones where he would be expected to learn the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, etc (he knew them already just from fooling around at home). We found a GREAT one — art, music and dance in three rotating sessions, twice a week. We loved it. If all school could be like that, he would go, you know?!
All it needs is a teacher who loves your child as if she gave birth to him herself, and you would have it made. The younger the children are, the more I think an institutionalized setting tends to be detrimental.
At the very least, I think children do better when parents realize that they are the best qualified to determine what their children need. Then they are not so easily pushed around and intimidated by “the system” and are more likely to seek changes if things are not working out very well rather than just trusting the “experts” who may or may not have the child’s best interests in mind.
Thank you for this reminder that parents are important.
When my first born was a toddler I asked a wonderful reading class teacher how to prepare him for school. She said to play with him and read every day. I was taken aback for a minute. Didn’t I need to practice the alphabet and numbers and colors and sitting in a desk and…? She was right he learned so much from our time playing with blocks, digging in the dirt, and listening to stories. I never spent any time teaching him the alphabet (he only had “lessons” in phonics) but he knows it.
40%, that is a sadly high number. I think we read 2 or 3 books on a typical day. I’ve read that it is alsonot just reading, but how you read. Making it interactive and asking questions as you go helps younger children understand to the story more.
Well I 1st have to wonder how accurate those figures are. I mean, either parents are taken on the honor system, which is usually very inaccurate/inflated or someone is watching/monitoring them and that is highly unlikely. So I am thinking that number is probably much lower than 60% and therefore the 40% is much higher.
And I honestly knew very few parents irl who read to their toddlers and only a few more who read to their preschoolers…it was usually grandparents who seemed to do the reading to the young.
It was our standard gift to give a favorite book as a birthday gift…but very few parents and their recipients seemed that appreciative/enthusiastic with them. My kids finally felt so embarrassed they begged to give other gifts and I compromised–a “fun” gift with a child’s book.
If I remember correctly, it was from a survey sent out to whatever sample. I went through some of the information on their website.
It all depends on what group you are talking about. One segment of our society thinks that reading to your newborn is too late, and is already sharing stories in utero. And others would ask, “Why on earth would I read to a three year old?”
You can always think of a number of issues with statistics. I wondered how strictly one would take “daily.” After all, my children were not read to everyday while we were traveling the last couple of weeks.
A LOT of parents do not realize how much of an impact they have on their children’s education and leave that “to the professionals.” And ironically, it is often the school district turning around and educating the parents how they can be more involved in education. (Depending on the district…others put up additional roadblocks!)
How horrifying!!
I mean, really. My kids actually both go to preschool, but I read 30-60 minutes every night to my son. (He’d go longer, but it’s bedtime.
) He’s 4.
My daughter is 13 months and I try to read to her, but it’s very exhausting because you need to have three books — one that she’s holding, one you’re reading, and one she just threw on the floor. And they rotate. Quite often.
My boy was the same, though. I think she’ll probably grow out of it soonish. 13 month olds are not my favorite people. 
Everything is just the pinnacle of frustration to the poor things.
Oh, my. Reading to toddlers is its own adventure. When I read, I like to start at the start and read to the end in order. I’m kind of obsessive about that. Even when it is written for a one year old and contains little more than one word descriptions, I like to go in order.
My toddler mostly just likes turning pages. She loves to be read to, but turns pages faster than the fastest speed reader could muster!