Pre-School

The left hemisphere of the brain is especially active in children of preschool age and then levels off. Accounting for that fact is that between the ages of 2 and 6 the brain increases from 70% of its adult weight to 90% (Exploring Lifespan Development, Laura Berk, 165). Much of children’s gross and fine motor skills are developed and refined in the preschool years also.
When I was a child pre-school was called nursery school. I attended two days a week when I was four years old. As I grew, my mom put my younger brothers into a parent co-op pre-school. In this type of environment, parents are active participants in the preparation and implementation of weekly, age appropriate activities.
My own children attended the City of Roseville preschool offered at the local elementary school site for two days a week when they were 3 and three days a week when they were 4. In my experience children learn easily and really well during that age range. I put my kids in preschool for the socialization aspect. They learned to follow a routine and get along with others that were NOT their family members. It was also only for 2 hours, not an all day care giving experience.
Dual income parents today may not have the necessary time to teach their young children skills necessary for a successful transition to Kindergarten. For those families, preschool/daycare settings that emphasize curriculum, which our book defines as goals and objectives of a program (Berns, 197) are much more beneficial to children – in my opinion - than placing them in a care giving environment where grandma lets the kids do what they want with no dialogue, interaction, or instruction. Not to say that grandma can’t be a viable care option, but if the children receive no other socialization, or are not encouraged to interact and she simply places them in front of the tv, they will be behind the curve in Kindergarten.
But a substandard preschool/daycare center would do far worse damage to a child than grandma sitting them in front of the tv. In my own research of quality pre-school programs, the best programs were very costly and the reasonably priced ones had high staff turnover, low employee compensation, and low educational requirements for staff, a trait that our book suggests as common (Berns, 181). Many twenty-something college students think a career teaching preschool children will prove exciting, yet a mere 6 units of college course work, just two ECE classes which is generally the requirement for a pre-school assistant, does not adequately prepare them for the challenges of teaching preschoolers. Thus, a high turnover in staff ensues since they realize they aren't getting paid enough to deal with Johnny who hits all the time and Suzie who bites and Lisa who refuses to participate in carpet time and Billy who can't sit still.
In my experience as both a parent and a preschool teacher, the best type of curriculum content in one that is theme based. And the best type of learning environment is what our book calls developmental interaction curriculum (Berns 201). A classroom contains various learning centers and each learning center revolves around a theme. For example; apples – children use apples to apply paint to a picture. The eat apples for snack. A chart is made to graph the kinds of apples the children like. Apple seeds are planted. A book about apples is read. Rhymes are learned about apples. Math skills, language skills and writing skills are all incorporated into each theme.
However, I think that both learner directed and teacher directed activities are essential for preschoolers to be prepared for a Kindergarten experience. Much of elementary school is teacher directed. Children who have only been exposed to learner directed activities and been encouraged to learn at their pace and not have to do something they don’t want to – in my experience – struggle because they are expected to perform exactly as their teacher wishes right away yet lack the experience of practicing that skill. Yet children who have experienced a blend of both styles adapt better to the Kindergarten experience. But that is just my observation and my opinion as a volunteer mom in the Kindergarten classroom.