Why Send Your Toddlers to Preschool

There is no guarantee that sending your child to a good quality, expensive, all day kindergarten will make your son or daughter into the equivalent of Albert Einstein, Warren Buffet, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey. However, it will insure that, statistically, you give your child the best chance is life and that he / she will have the tools to cope with stresses of grown up life better than children who did not go to Preschool. Scientists are not sure if your child will be happy as a result of the Preschool Education or not but they are researching this as this article is being written.

Since the 1960s the numbers of children attending preschool has been increasing (Barnett, 2004). Many researchers and organizations have analysed the effects of preschool education and there is consensus that there are many benefits attributable to preschool education. Here are ten reasons, supported by plenty of research, which should leave no doubt in your mind that you are doing all that you can to optimise your darling’s chances of success in life. No matter what you do there no absolute guarantee of what your child will turn out to be when he grows up. This is because there are many biological and environmental variables.

The first benefit of preschool education is that your child will be more successful than other children who have not had the benefit of preschool education. The statistical probability of graduation increases by 29 percent. This is very significant. The source of this information is the Chicago Longitudinal Study. You do not have to believe me. You may look up the statistical facts for yourself.

The second benefit of quality preschool is the academic advantage of this education. Do remember that current studies do not show that these academic advantages last a lifetime. They do show that children who attended preschool do better on standardized tests. In Michigan fourth graders who had attended preschool between the ages of three and five years passed the state's literacy and math assessment tests at higher rates than their peers who did not have this type of education.(Source: "State Efforts to Evaluate the Effects of Pre-Kindergarten", Yale University Child Study Center)

The third benefit of preschool education is that it reduces the probability of your child having to repeat a grade repetition. Repeating a grade has many implications. You and your child are labelled as failures, no one says it to you, but the implication is always there. This labelling has life long repercussions. In Maryland fifth graders who attended preschool 44 percent less likely to have repeated a grade than their peers who did not attend pre-k. (Source: "State Efforts to Evaluate the Effects of Pre-Kindergarten", Yale University Child Study Center) Feel free to check out this reference.

Yes, there are plenty of benefits from preschool education. The fourth benefit is that it will reduce the probability of your child being placed in special education. This will prevent the labelling which I talked about in the paragraph above. Among Chicago children, those who attended preschool education, there was a 41 percent reduction in the likelihood of requiring special educational services. This is very significant. So, check it out. The source of this information is the Chicago Longitudinal Study. This too was approved by local educational authorities.

The fifth reason for sending your child to preschool education is that it is more likely to make him into a responsible adult. Preschool education reduces crime and delinquency. The study found that Chicago children who did not attend pre-k were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18 than their peers who had been pre-k participants. This is not a small reduction. Studies show that local authorities, parents, State and The Federal government pay in economic and social costs for the delinquent behaviours of young adults. Rehabilitation in adulthood is expensive and has a poor success rate.

The sixth reason, you may think does not apply to you because your child is a male. Let us think about it. Teenage pregnancy is the product of the irresponsible behaviours of two individuals. Not the result of swimming in the pool. Preschool education lowers the teen pregnancy rates. In North Carolina children who attended preschool reduced their chances of becoming teen parents very significantly, 26 percent vs. 45 percent. Yes, the source of this information is not my mother, or my grandmother but The Carolina Abecedarian Project.

Now, we are coming to the meat of the matter. The seventh reason for sending your child to preschool is that he / she will be more likely to be gainfully employed. Her / his income will also be higher than the colleagues who did not go to preschool. You may not like this but he will actually pay more taxes too. One other thing, he will continue paying taxes for a longer time compared to colleagues who did not attend preschool. Forty-year-old adults in Michigan who attended preschool education as children were more likely to be employed and had a 33 percent higher average income than their peers who did not have pre-k. (Source: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project)

The eighth reason for sending your loved one to preschool education is that he/she will be more likely to form a stable family. The evidence for this comes from the forty-year-old adults in Michigan who attended preschool education as children. Studies now show that they are reportedly getting along very better with their families than their peers who did not attend preschool education at that time. Yes, the source for this is The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project. This is a very reliable source and is quoted widely in academic circles.

Preschool education builds Stronger Communities. This is the ninth reason for sending your little one to preschool. For every $1.00 that you invest in high-quality preschool for your child it will save the taxpayers up to $7.00. Some studies actually quote saving of as much as $14.00 for every dollar invested. This will make the community stronger. Preschool education results in savings by reducing the need for remedial and special education, welfare, and criminal justice services. This is according to a number of studies. (Sources: "The Economics of Investing in Universal Preschool Education in California", Rand Corporation; The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project)

Preschool education improves efficiency and productivity in the classroom in the school in subsequent years. Children who attended preschool at Head Start centres had more advanced skills in areas such as following directions, problem-solving, and joining in activities, all of which allow teachers to spend more time working directly with children and less on classroom management. This is the tenth benefit of preschool education at the ages of three to five years.

The eleventh benefit is still being explored. It is my hypothesis that preschool education provides a safe, trusting and comfortable environment where children are able to learn through play and interaction. During this age the children’s’ base line level of sense of social wellbeing becomes established. It is also my hypothesis the only minor changes can be made to and adults’ sense of wellbeing and even that occurs at a very high economic and opportunity cost.