Is Public Preschool a Smart investment.
Did you attend preschool or a head start program before entering kindergarten? “Low-income family” is a term tied to the measure of poverty in the United States. In 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 13.2 percent of the nation's population had incomes below the Federal Poverty Level, or FPL. Those with incomes below the FPL are very low-income families. Low-income families are primarily working families with income that is less than twice the FPL.While many parents will argue that children are in school long enough, research demonstrates that public preschool is beneficial because it will reduce overcrowding for people who can afford private schools, help start every kid brain development way …show more content…
Lizz Carney of Penn State University acknowledges that ”Children learn more in their first five years of life than any other five year period”. In fact “Children's language skills from age 1-2 are predictive of their pre literacy skills at the age of 5.”(A Matter of Equity Article). As Statistics show that “though many brain patterning processes are complete at birth, the human brain exhibits further dramatic biological development during the preschool years and roughly quadruples in weight before the age of 6 when it has acquired 90% of its adult volume”(Brain development during the preschool years). This is crazy cause many people wouldn't believe that this is the best time to start learning but it is, As a matter of fact “At the age of 5, the brain is the densest that it will ever be. In early childhood development, a special emphasis is placed on education at the ages of 3-5 which is why preschool is important” explains Carney. Which in fact “Too many children enter kindergarten a year or more behind their classmates in academic and social-emotional skills.”(A Matter of Equity Article). Why do they enter so far behind? For exactly this reason why not give all children a head start and make sure every child has an equal chance at education before entering …show more content…
“Between 2007 and 2011 the share of working families who are low income went from 28% to 32.1% in the US.”(U.s. Low-income Working Families Increasing). Notably “The gains are particularly powerful for children from low-income families and those at risk for academic failure who on average start kindergarten 12 to 14 months skillswise behind their peers.”(A Matter of Equity Article). In addition “Nationwide, about 15% of Americans and 22% of children under the age of 18 -more than 16 million children-are living in poverty, according to the National center for children in poverty.”(Us News article). As Leah Radinsky, a National Board Certified E.S.L and Spanish bilingual teacher in the Chicago Public Schools says“ I have taught preschool, kindergarten and primary grades in Chicago public schools for more than 20 years to students who are primarily low income English language learners I can attest that regardless of their backgrounds my students who enter kindergarten with the socialization language learning and early literacy skills from high quality preschool are far better equipped to succeed in kindergarten and beyond than those who do not.”. In fact “If students come from families with a household income below 185% of the poverty line (44,122 for a family of four) they qualify for reduced lunch. Today more than 31 million children
Did you attend preschool or a head start program before entering kindergarten? “Low-income family” is a term tied to the measure of poverty in the United States. In 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 13.2 percent of the nation's population had incomes below the Federal Poverty Level, or FPL. Those with incomes below the FPL are very low-income families. Low-income families are primarily working families with income that is less than twice the FPL.While many parents will argue that children are in school long enough, research demonstrates that public preschool is beneficial because it will reduce overcrowding for people who can afford private schools, help start every kid brain development way …show more content…
Lizz Carney of Penn State University acknowledges that ”Children learn more in their first five years of life than any other five year period”. In fact “Children's language skills from age 1-2 are predictive of their pre literacy skills at the age of 5.”(A Matter of Equity Article). As Statistics show that “though many brain patterning processes are complete at birth, the human brain exhibits further dramatic biological development during the preschool years and roughly quadruples in weight before the age of 6 when it has acquired 90% of its adult volume”(Brain development during the preschool years). This is crazy cause many people wouldn't believe that this is the best time to start learning but it is, As a matter of fact “At the age of 5, the brain is the densest that it will ever be. In early childhood development, a special emphasis is placed on education at the ages of 3-5 which is why preschool is important” explains Carney. Which in fact “Too many children enter kindergarten a year or more behind their classmates in academic and social-emotional skills.”(A Matter of Equity Article). Why do they enter so far behind? For exactly this reason why not give all children a head start and make sure every child has an equal chance at education before entering …show more content…
“Between 2007 and 2011 the share of working families who are low income went from 28% to 32.1% in the US.”(U.s. Low-income Working Families Increasing). Notably “The gains are particularly powerful for children from low-income families and those at risk for academic failure who on average start kindergarten 12 to 14 months skillswise behind their peers.”(A Matter of Equity Article). In addition “Nationwide, about 15% of Americans and 22% of children under the age of 18 -more than 16 million children-are living in poverty, according to the National center for children in poverty.”(Us News article). As Leah Radinsky, a National Board Certified E.S.L and Spanish bilingual teacher in the Chicago Public Schools says“ I have taught preschool, kindergarten and primary grades in Chicago public schools for more than 20 years to students who are primarily low income English language learners I can attest that regardless of their backgrounds my students who enter kindergarten with the socialization language learning and early literacy skills from high quality preschool are far better equipped to succeed in kindergarten and beyond than those who do not.”. In fact “If students come from families with a household income below 185% of the poverty line (44,122 for a family of four) they qualify for reduced lunch. Today more than 31 million children