Pre-school still is key for children

Once upon a time, in an era far, far away, children went to kindergarten to prepare for first grade. Kindergarten was their first school experience, their prep for elementary school.

Now, children need to go to pre-school to prepare for kindergarten.

“It’s an unfortunate fact that about one in five children in Virginia start kindergarten without the necessary skill-set required for this structured learning environment,” said Scott Hippert, president of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, in a news release.

In their first five years of life, children are forming important neurological connections — “strengthening” their brains — and creating a platform for further education for the rest of their lives. The “higher” the platform, the better the boost and the more they will be able to learn from that point on.

This learning platform applies not just to the ability to absorb facts but also to the ability to comprehend, and then to create.

Early childhood also provides the “building blocks” for a child’s social skills.

All these skills combine to develop, eventually, young people who are ready to take their place in the workforce as productive and innovative employees.

It is an important time for children and their families, at any socioeconomic level. But the gains from pre-school education can be especially dramatic for children who don’t receive many learning tools at home. “Quality early education for at-risk children can produce an annual rate of return as high as sixteen percent — higher than most stock portfolios,” said Art Rolnick, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, quoted by the Pew Center on the States.

At any level, parents can do many things to help well prepare their children for learning and for interacting with others. A few listed by the VECF:

» Adjust bedtimes during the school year so that children get enough sleep and still get up early enough to have a nutritious breakfast.

» Encourage young children to have “listening” ears, “walking” feet and “indoor” voices, to follow direction and to treat others with respect — behaviors that are expected at school and in public.

» Read aloud to young children every day, especially books with rhyming texts and big, colorful pictures.

» Play simple, fun and instructional games with young children. Such games can help children identify names, shapes and colors and even give them a head start on math and reading.

» Plan fun outings with educational content, such as to the library, park or a petting zoo.

No doubt about it, pre-school is a proven boost to childhood learning, one that provides momentum for success throughout school and throughout life. That’s no fairytale.

Still, along with the state’s focus on early childhood education and the need to start children off right, we must add another emphasis: plain, old-fashioned fun. Non-structured play. Childhood freedom. Time to daydream. Time to simply be a kid.

The value of early childhood education is high-stakes … but it should not feel high-stakes to children themselves. Encouraging growth is one thing, but putting too much pressure on young children replaces joyful growth with a fear of learning that is counterproductive.

Is that a tough line for parents to walk? Maybe. But it’s worth getting it right, for children’s success and happiness.