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Preschool
Pros and Cons
Does Your Child Need to Go? By Kelly Burgess
Melanie Bailey of Bossier City, La., has a background in preschool/kindergarten education, so sending her daughters to preschool was not an automatic decision for her. She already knew they would be academically ready, so it was just the social aspect she had to consider.
"Up until just recently, I was a stay-at-home mom so my kids never experienced the social factors of a daycare setting," says Bailey. "Academically I wasn't worried about them, [but] I can imagine that kindergarten would be overwhelming for a child that has never attended a preschool program. To have put them in a traditional kindergarten classroom without preschool would have been a shock. They would have gone from mom fulltime to teacher fulltime."
"Play is very important, but the serious aspect is that we have to get along in a social structure," says Dr. Heins. "In the preschool setting, ideas such as taking turns and non-violence are reinforced in a setting with other children. It's hard for a child playing at home alone to learn about sharing, and siblings are becoming less common. Even having one or two siblings or playing with the same, small group of friends over and over isn't the same as experiencing interactions with a variety of peers."
Jan George of San Diego, Calif., began teaching kindergarten 30 years ago when preschool was relatively uncommon. She recently retired after having seen the transition to what she estimates was 90 to 95 percent of her pupils attending preschool. George says preschool has been a great boon for kindergarten teachers because they can focus more on practical skills rather than having to reinforce social skills such as listening, taking turns and respecting others of all ages.