Enrolling your child in preschool can be a little scary. It may be the first time you’ve ever left your child on their own, or the first time they’ve done formal learning. Many parents wonder if preschool is just a glorified daycare, or if there are real benefits to signing their children up for classes.
The good news is, there is a lot of research on preschool children and how they perform in grade school compared to children who did not attend. The research overwhelmingly favors preschool children in terms of grades, as well as other life skills.
Encourages Curiosity
There’s a whole world out there for children to explore. Preschool can be an entry into that world. Whether your child is playing with blocks or learning about alligators, their world is expanding. A good preschool set up to share the world with their students can help develop a life long passion for learning.
Play based learning can take your child farther than strict learning or drilling on numbers because it makes them want to learn instead of dreading it.
Helps Build Trust in Adults
Preschool children learn early that other people besides their parents can be trusted. They learn to listen to other adults, and to trust them with their needs and problems. That ability to communicate well with other adults can make a big difference in their ability to get the most out of their education later in life.
Better lifetime benefits
Most of what your child learns in preschool will no longer give them an edge after second grade. Yet studies show the lifetime benefits of attending preschool are huge. Children who attend preschool are less likely to be arrested, more likely to attend and complete college, and often live healthier lives as well.
Preschool sets the stage for how children learn and gives them a solid foundation to build the rest of their lives on.
More exposure to reading
Reading is a powerful tool for your child, and being read to is the first step to learning. Children who are read to frequently do better in school than children who don’t. Children who are read to every night have heard up to a million more words than children who don’t regularly have reading time. This is a huge difference.
Other indirect benefits
Many parents also benefit from preschool too. In lower income homes, preschool can provide stability for the children. It can also provide adults the chance to attend college, take a full time job, or better their lives in other ways.
When adults have a chance to better their situation knowing their child is safe, it can change a child’s living situation for the better.
If you’ve been wondering about whether your child should attend preschool or not, the evidence is clear. Decades of research have shown that children from every background benefit from preschool. Those who attend preschool can generally expect better results not only in their grades, but through the rest of their adult life as well.
Interesting research:
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/duke_prekstudy_final_4-4-17_hires.pdf
https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/05/03/524907739/pre-k-decades-worth-of-studies-one-strong-message
