Advantages of Preschool and Kindergarten: Rough Draft
Viridiana Carrillo
English 102
Elisabeth Borchers
March 27, 2015
Viridiana Carrillo
Elisabeth Borchers
English 102
March 27, 2015
Advantages of Preschool and Kindergarten
Education is one of the most important things a child can have to guarantee a successful future. Parents or legal guardians are the ones responsible to make sure a child gets a good education. With so many choices that are available, parents or legal guardians need to choose the best option. How do parents choose which is the best option? The best option is something that parents need to find out because it is not going to be easy. Since the moment children are born, they learn everyday of their lives. When it comes to going to school, parents are faced with the dilemma of which level of education is the right one to start the child in. To solve this dilemma, parents or legal guardians need to find out what the advantages of preschool and kindergarten are, what options and programs are available, and which is the best decision for the child in order to start them with preschool or wait until kindergarten.
An advantage for starting a child in preschool is that he or she will learn to develop and expand their social skills earlier. For those children who are an only child this is a very important skill to learn. Those children are use to having everything and everyone's attention to themselves. Preschool will enable their social skill in learning how to share, communicate with same age peers, and prepare better all around for kindergarten. Children who start with preschool first are taught to follow directions from others other than parents, family or people they already know. Another skill these children learn is teamwork. As a group they take breaks like recess together, they sit down for story time and may nap together. For a short-term benefit there is strong evidence showing that young children who participate in high-quality pre-k programs enter school more ready to learn than their peers. The national Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort shows that students who attended a pre-k program scored higher on reading and math tests than children receiving parental care. Students who attended a child care center or other preschool program also showed gains, although former pre-k students exhibited the greatest achievements.(Chrisanne Gayl, The Research on Pre-K,Short term benefits, Center for Public Education) For a long-term benefit most research has focused on whether program effects fade out over time or produce lasting benefits for participants. Three major longitudinal studies which began in the 1960s and 1970s-the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project, the Chicago Parent Centers, and the Abecedarian Project- show demonstrably positive effects of quality pre-k on the future lives of young children. In the High/Scope study, low-income black children randomly selected to receive the comprehensive preschool program showed impressive long-term results regarding educational progress, delinquency, and earnings. Seventy-seven percent of these youngsters eventually graduated from high school, compared with 60 percent from the control group. In adulthood pre-k participants were also less likely to be arrested for violent crimes, more likely to be employed, and more likely to earn higher wages than those in the comparison group.(Chrisanne Gayl, The Research on Pre-K, Long-term Benefits, Center for Public Education) Starting children early, as in preschool, is the beginning of their education and basics of life.
An advantage for starting children with kindergarten is that at this level children learn the basics of their education. These children learn their ABC's to later learn to read and write. They also learn their numbers to later learn how to work math problems. Another thing they learn is to be independent as in more kindergarten classes offer all day kindergarten classes. Kindergarten teaches children about responsibilities by giving them homework. Kindergarten is where parents learn what the child's best learning technique is and if school will be a difficult or easy experience for the child.
Parents need to pay attention to the programs and options available. While many campuses offer full day preschool and kindergarten others offer them as half day. Some advantages of full-day kindergarten are higher long-term achievement, higher achievement for disadvantaged and low income children, and for those receiving Title 1 services, and higher reading scores in early grades. (Mary Ann Rafoth, Sara A. Grimes, Beth Buzi, Full-Day Versus Half-day Programs, Kindergarten-Full Versus Half-Day). Some Advantages of half-day kindergarten are more parent involvement and better matc h for shorter attention spans of typical five year olds.(Mary Ann Rafoth, Sara A. Grimes, Beth Buzi, Full-Day Versus Half-day Programs, Kindergarten-Full Versus Half-Day Things to consider when deciding which program fits best should be determined for each individual child. For example, if the child is one who has separation anxiety would you want to start him or her with preschool or kindergarten then, decide whether part time or full time would work. In this case the best option would be to start slow and early. Begin with preschool and do a half day program, this way that child will be better off in kindergarten. Since kindergarten is a required level and he or she will learn to be okay with being away from the parents or the legal guardian.
Deciding what kind of program is best will take some time to figure out. Parents or legal guardians not only need to focus on the child's needs but also to what works for the family. Parents should consider, for example, the family's schedule or child care options and how these will mesh with available kindergarten options. (Mary Ann Rafoth, Sara A. Grimes, Beth Buzi , Helping Families Decide, Kindergarten-Full Versus Half Day:Information for Parents and Early Childhood Educators.) There are those families who only have one parent and these parents at the same time need to care for their children and work. In this case, one thing to consider is full day programs because that means the child will be under adult supervision and learning at the same time while the parent works.Other families will deal with little income coming in to the household which may qualify the child for government programs. For these parents they may want a better future for the child than what they had. The difficult thing here is that these types of families don't have the ability to put the children in the school they dream of because a lot of times it might be expensive.
When it comes to early education Arthur Rolnick plays an important role because he is a Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the Human Capital Research Collaborative at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, the University of Minnesota. Rolnick is working to advance multidisciplinary research on child development and social policy. In an interview with him they asked him many questions about early education. Rolnick along with a co-author and a colleague looked at the literature on interventions using high-quality ECD(early childhood development) programs with at-risk children. In addition, they also looked at the research on brain development, a totally independent line of work. And both lines of research all came together in a way that said, if done right, high-quality, parent focused, ECD programs that began at birth can make an extraordinary difference in outcomes both for the child and society. They found excellent longitudinal studies on ECD programs, as well as related studies that strongly suggest there's a very high public return, but you must invest at birth and you must do it right.
Another interview that provided information about early education was with Marisol Vargas. Marisol Vargas is a teacher assistant that works for a government program called Southwest Head Start, she has been working there for about six years now. Vargas works up close with students, teachers and parents. She provided insight of what happens in these types of programs for the children. The program Vargas works for provides classrooms for children as early as 3 and 4-year-olds. Many of the 3-year-olds are placed in this program because the parent or legal guardian want the child to begin very early in a classroom setting and be around other children their age. As far the 4-year-old, these children are placed to help them get better prepared for the kindergarten level. Vargas expresses that it is very important to start children with as much early education as possible because it helps those children do better all around.
Overall, education is something that shouldn't be denied to any child. Education is the best that can be given to any child for a better tomorrow. Parents or legal guardians need to evaluate every aspect to decide which level the child will begin with. Evaluating the advantages of each level which is, preschool and kindergarten, the programs available for each level and the child's best interest should all be combined to find the best fit.
Reflection
One weakness I can point out is organization. I feel like my sentences can be put better together but at the same time this is a rough draft. A second weakness I will point out is citation. Citations are always difficult for me and find it definitely a weakness of mine. A third weakness in my paper would be run on sentences. Many times I find myself going on and on with my thoughts and find my thoughts to be a little confusing.
they learn everyday of their lives. --- separate it into 2 words: every day
When it comes to going to school, parents are faced with the dilemma of which choosing the level of education in which the child should start. the child in.
For those children who are an only child with no siblings, this is a very important skill to learn.
Those children are accustomed to having everything
Deciding what kind of program is best will take some time to figure out. --- You used this as the first sentence of a paragraph. The first sentence of a paragraph should usually tell the main idea of the paragraph in an essay like this. So maybe you could revise to make this sentence express the main idea of the paragraph.
I think it takes some power out of the essay when your write "Parents or legal guardians" every time instead of just shortening it to a simpler term, or just 'parents'.
Overall, education is something that shouldn't be denied to any child. ---- When you include sentences like this, it takes the meaning out of your writing. The reader knows she is not going to get anything from reading what you have to say. It's important to 'distill' the content so that you only include sentences worth reading. You have important insights to share, so don't let those insights be overshadowed by meaningless fluff sentences. Hit hard with all important sentences.
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