Re: Which States Offer Preschool for All?

[Guest guest]

I live in upstate/ central NY (Syracuse area) and we have free preschool to all

3 and 4 year olds with special needs, as well as to all low income families. My

school district did not have a program, so we were allowed to choose from about

20 programs in the surrounding area and found a great one that fit our needs.

Gail Gleason

[ ] Which States Offer Preschool for All?

http://nieer.org/faq/index.php?TAid=138

GEORGIA offers preschool to all 4 year olds

OKLAHOMA - not available in all districts

NEW YORK - limited to low income families

FLORIDA - all 4-year-olds be provided with a high-quality preschool

education beginning in 2005.

NEW JERSEY - free preschool to 3 & 4 year olds in highest poverty

districts

KENTUCKY - free preschool to 4-year-olds from the state's lowest-

income families, and to 3- and 4-year-olds with disabilities.

WEST VIRGINIA passed legislation to make pre-kindergarten available

to all 4-year-olds by 2012

WASHINGTON D.C. - Universal preschool is available on a first-come,

first-served basis to 4-year-olds in

LOS ANGELES COUNTY - using tobacco taxes to develop a program for

the city's 3- and 4-year-olds.

Current 40 states have state-funded pre-kindergarten.

The State of Preschool: 2003 State Preschool Yearbook

http://nieer.org/yearbook/

[Guest guest]

I don't really understand the need for preschool if a child doesn't

have special needs (cognitive, emotional, poverty, etc). Is it a

way to get childcare so parents can work?

" Education " at that age should be in the home. That is just my

opinion, based on raising my 3 kids (#3 in preschool due to special

needs). Do studies really show that AVERAGE kids do better if you

start them in school by age 4? If not, why spend the tax money? I

assume when a state says it is 'available', it means it is funded by

tax dollars and not private pay.

Any other opinions?

Pam

[Guest guest]

I did put my two older NT kids in preschool for 2 days a week when

they were 4-5 years old. It was purely for social skills and time

off for me. It was good for them and great for me. I just don't see

the need for the gov't to sponsor programs for all children to

attend preschool.

Studies also show that homeschooled children do better than public

schooled children. Not sure how to reconcile that study difference.

Respectfully,

Pam

> There has been studies done that show that children that attend

preschool

> have an advantage over children without the head start...You

don't have to agree

> of course but I have requested alot of information on the internet

at

> educational sites and this is what my conclusion was.Of course, my

child has a

> disability but from what I read that it seems to have a positive

effect on most

> children.I guess there are people who do this for

childcare...However, as the

> Mother of a child with no siblings I think my child is getting

great social

> benefits early in life that will continue to affect him positively

for having gone

> to preschool...I also have to admit while I have taught my child

many

> wonderful things I have no degree in early childhood

education.Maybe some children

> don't NEED it, but that doesn't mean that there isn't any reason

to consider it

> ...From what I've read most children are better off in the long

run with some

> preschool experience.

[Guest guest]

Oh, I know what you mean about pushing back the time clock. I

cringe when I think about what my kids have to experience these days

as 'average' children. It is not pretty.

I am the one who questioned gov't funded preschools for all children

over the age of 4. I still think it is a sub-optimal use of our tax

dollars. Targeting the kids who REALLY need to extra advantage is

great. When programs like this come in to existence, it takes money

away from other programs. I think creating a universal preschool

program could water down the already barren special needs preschool

programs.

Just thinkin' out loud.

P

> I don't really understand the need for preschool if a child

doesn't

> have special needs (cognitive, emotional, poverty, etc). Is it a

> way to get childcare so parents can work?

>

> " Education " at that age should be in the home. That is just my

> opinion, based on raising my 3 kids (#3 in preschool due to

special

> needs). Do studies really show that AVERAGE kids do better if you

> start them in school by age 4? If not, why spend the tax money?

I

> assume when a state says it is 'available', it means it is funded

by

> tax dollars and not private pay.

>

> Any other opinions?

>

> Pam

[Guest guest]

You know what, Karyn, I think your kids would have been reading by

kindergarten even if you hadn't sent them to preschool. " Those

kids " who excell like that have an actual interest in learning to

read before the average child... I think you played a great role in

teaching them and fostering that desire. No amount of preschool

will teach a child to read before they are ready. I know kids who

spent all day in preschool, 5 days/week, that still didn't care to

know their alphabet letters by kindergarten. Their parents were so

frustrated but it wasn't what the kids wanted at that time. By the

end of Kgarten, they were up to speed. Not sure why. These kids

(boys and girls)were from good families with good incomes.

My kids were just like yours. Reading prior to Kgarten. I spent a

lot of time with them (after preschool) on letters and reading road

signs in the car because they wanted to do it!!! It was a day long

event in our house. I'll bet it was in yours, too.

You are right, it is a tough choice. Being a parent of both

obviously gifted and obviously challenged children, I wish I could

have it all.

Pam

> This is a tough call, Pam.

> Both of my older two were in Preschool prior to age 4. They

started at 3. I worked, but had a nanny at home until they were

that age. They really thrived on the ability to make friends and

interact with kids. Yes, they were typically developing children,

no disabilities or other issues, but I do found that by the time

they got to kindergarten, they were a good deal ahead of their " stay

at home " friends. Both of my children were reading by the time they

reached kindergarten.

>

> I do think there have been some studies done that show kids

entering a preschool environment prior to Kindergarten have less

adjustment issues, etc., than their " stay at home: " peers. I paid

for the tuition myself, these were not state funded schools or

programs, nor were they paid for as an IU placement. It was just my

choice, as I worked 3 days of the week out of the home, and they

actually missed their friends on the Tuesdays and Thursdays that

they did not attend. They were in the program from 9 to 2, three

days a week.

>

> I'm sure there are those who feel that the education should be

based at home, but in all honesty, even if I was not a working mom,

I think I would have sent them to a preschool program at 3 or 4,

just for the socialization aspect for them. Both of my older

children were very outgoing, and really thrived in a child friendly

preschool. With Jordan, my dyspraxic child, I started him with

baby gym classes at 9 months, with my intention of following the

same plan I did with my olders, although my hours were more evening

based, and I didn't have the need for the preschool as a daycare

situation. He, too, enjoyed the interaction, and by the age of 2.5,

we had him in a preschool with the same children he was in the baby

gym with. His deficits didn't start to emerge until around 3, when

the language really never came in, and his sensory stuff went into

full bloom.

>

> This is something that I think every parent feels personally

about. With each child being different, it's one of those " wait

and see " kinds of things. Only the mom really knows.