The Long-Term Benefits of Preschool

This week’s article summary is a recent report on NPR entitled A Lesson for Preschools: When It's Done Right, The Benefits Last.

How important are the preschool years? Elementary years? Middle school years? High school years?

When private-independent school tuitions continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation, it is no longer automatic that families commit to a preschool-12th grade (alpha—omega) independent-private school experience (be it in one or multiple schools).

Parents add up tuition costs through the years (including the cost of a college education) and are left with sticker shock.

As a result, many families today are evaluating and assessing the value and impact of different years of schooling and where they feel their tuition dollars will be best invested.

Some are very happy for their child to attend a local public elementary school and then move to private for middle and high school, while others look to a private elementary education with its foundational formation of habits, skills, and attitudes  and then to public high schools for their vast opportunities, offerings, and courses.

At Trinity, we obviously believe in the investment in the early years of education (early childhood and elementary) in that they form a strong cognitive and social-emotional base for subsequent success and happiness in school and life. 

The article below highlights the long-term benefits of 'high-quality' preschool programs that foster, among other qualities,  "lots of open-ended play and student-directed learning.”

Last week article summary stressed the importance of reading for future success.

This week is how important the preschool years are.

And Trinity’s Early Learners and PreK is as good as it gets!

Joe

----------------

Is preschool worth it?

We know that most pre-kindergarten programs do a good job of improving ' specific skills like phonics and counting, as well as broader social and emotional behaviors, by the time students enter kindergarten.

A recent study looking at more than 20,000 students in a state-funded Virginia preschool program found that kids made large improvements in their alphabet recognition skills.

So the next big question to follow is, Do these benefits last?

New research out of North Carolina says yes, they do. The study found that early childhood programs in that state resulted in higher test scores, a lower chance of being held back in a grade, and a fewer number of children with special education placements.

The key to future success is the quality of the preschool program. Experts cite several key elements in "high-quality" preschool:

• Small class sizes
• Student-directed learning
• Lots of open-ended play.

Researchers have warned that outcomes are short-lived when those elements are not present.