Are you debating whether or not to send your child to preschool? Maybe you personally did not attend preschool, so you are not sure what the pros and cons are of sending your child to preschool before they enter kindergarten. In the moment, it may not seem like that important of a decision. Once your child starts school for kindergarten, it will become more apparent why early education is so foundational for children of all ages. It can make all the difference during their first years of formal education.
Interested in learning more about why sending your child to preschool before they start formal education? Keep reading to learn all about the importance of enrolling your children in preschool at an early age.
Preschool is an important milestone in a child?s life. It is so much more than simply daycare for your child for a couple hours during the week. Although many parents are skeptical about why preschool is an important stepping stone for their children?s education, there are numerous reasons to send your kid to preschool.
In so many ways, a child develops many sets of skills that prepare them for their future in private school, high school or preparatory school. For instance, preschool is an opportunity for children to spend time with other children. During preschool hours, they are exposed to many other kids from different backgrounds and with different personalities. They are forced to find ways to get along, to work together and to learn together. Through this, they develop social skills they may not have developed otherwise prior to entering kindergarten.
This is one the reasons it makes sense that nearly 4,428,000 children attended some form of preschool between 2011 and 2013. For children ages three and four, it is essential that they learn to develop some foundational social skills prior to reaching age five and entering kindergarten.
In addition to developing social skills that can make them better prepared for the learning environment, fellow students and teacher interactions for the rest of their educational experience, kids who attend preschool develop intellectual and problem-solving skills, as well. Once reaching kindergarten, statistics show that children who attended preschool during ages three to four tend to test better in math and reading than those who do not attend preschool before kindergarten. Around 21 percent score better in these areas.
So far, there are three studies that help support the idea that preschool prepares children socially and intellectually for the rest of their education. From these three studies, statistics were pulled that show 80 percent of student outperform those who did not attend preschool and early education programs.
If you are interested in helping your child get even more prepared for the rest of their education and their futures, enrolling them in private high school or private school in general can be extremely beneficial, as well. In fact, attending private school can increase your chances of applying to college and attending college after high school graduation. This helps explain why there are nearly 5.4 million students enrolled in private school for grades pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.
With more than 30,861 private schools currently in existence in the United States alone, this provides plenty of choices for when the time comes to select the right private school education for your child. Just like sending your child to preschool in order to establish some foundational skills, continuing to send your child to a private school so they can get a more rigorous education is important to their future.
Did you attend preschool as a child or have you sent any of your children to preschool or private school? Why or why not did you decide to enroll your child in preschool? Let us know in the comments about your experience with your child?s education.