Fourteen Benefits of Preschool Education.

This article is for parents who are arying to weigh the risk to benefit ratio of preschool education.

Preschool education refers to education of toddlers from the ages of three to five years. A lot of research has been done around this issue. The benefits of quality preschool education are now clear. Many parents are convinced of the benefits of preschool education. This article is aimed at those who are still uncertain of the benefits of preschool education. World wide, the number of children attending preschool classes is increasing. In some countries, close to 100% of children attend preschool. One example of such a country is France. In the US about 80 % of children attend preschool.

Reason One: Children who attend preschool usually turn out to be successful students. Preschool education increases their chances of success at school, college and university level. It is the writer’s opinion that this is a major reason why we should send our children to preschool. These finding are based on long term gains – longitudinal studies. About five studies have demonstrated this trend convincingly.

Reason Two: This is another educational gain. Children who attended quality preschool did much better on standardized tests. The outcomes were consistent over numerous tests. Michigan fourth graders who had attended preschool passed their state's literacy and math assessment tests at higher rates than their peers who did not attend preschool when they were three to five years old.

Reason Three: Many children do badly in school as they progress chronologically, by failing in grades which have to be repeated. Repeating a grade is bad for all concerned - the child, the family, the school and the economy. It labels the child as a failure. The child’s feelings are hurt, other children often refer to this child as, “the failure”. Parents often end up saying to the child that he failed. This reinforces the “fail” mentality. The long term result is that the period of useful employment is reduced by at least one year. If more grades have to be repeated the losses are much more. Yale University’s Child Study Centre has reported this benefit.

Reason four: Many children who are not able to perform satisfactorily in regular class get placed in special education classes. Special Education is both costly and demotivating, in the long run, both to the child and the parents. Quality preschool education has the effect of reducing the need for placing children in special education. This saves money for the state, family and the school district.

Reason Five: Adults who participated in preschool education when they were three to five years committed fewer crimes when they grew up. The crimes these preschooled adults committed were less severe than those committed by adults who did not participate in preschool. Crimes cost the state, community and individuals lots of money. In short, preschool education reduces crime and delinquency.

Reason Six: Adults who participated in preschool education had rates of teen pregnancy when compared with adults who did not participate in preschool. This is significant because teenage pregnancy is associated with poor educational outcomes for the next generation. These studies were done in North Carolina, USA. (26 percent vs. 45 percent).

Reason Seven: Adults who participated in quality preschool education early in life ended up with a greater opportunity of employment and higher wages. Forty-year-old adults in Michigan who attended preschool education when they were young children were more likely to be employed and had a 33 percent higher average income than their peers who did not participate in preschool.

Reason Eight: Adults who were sent to preschool when they were young contributed and participated more to stable families. They also had more stable married lives. The divorce rate among preschooled parents is lower too. These types of benefits were not even thought of by the founders of preschool education. These findings are based on forty-year-old adults in Michigan who attended preschool education as children.

Reason Nine: Good return on investment. For every $1 invested in educating a child through the preschool system saves taxpayers up to $10.00. The savings are in the reduced need for remedial and special education, welfare, and criminal justice services, according to a number of studies. These savings have been reported by several sources

Reason Ten: Quality preschool education improves the efficiency and productivity in the classroom. Children who participated in preschool education when they were young 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.

Reason Eleven: Sarjeet S. Gill, a researcher with Charles Darwin University, is investigating the effects of preschool education on the subjective wellbeing of such children. He is postulating the preschool education affects the SWB and makes them more ready to attend school.

Reason Twelve: Sarjeet S. Gill, a researcher with the Charles Darwin Univeristy’s School of Social Policy research, is also postulating that the benefits of half day education are just half of those of full day preschool education.

Reason Thirteen: Mothers can go to work and bring much needed resources to the family.

Reason Fourteen: When a child is sent to preschool education during the day, he/she appreciates being with parents, just a little bit more.