The New York Times reports:
As school reformers nationwide push to expand publicly funded prekindergarten and enact more stringent standards, more students are being exposed at ever younger ages to formal math and phonics lessons [...]. That has worried some education experts and frightened those parents who believe that children of that age should be playing with blocks, not sitting still as a teacher explains a shape's geometric characteristics.
But now a new national study suggests that preschools that do not mix enough fiber into their curriculum may be doing their young charges a disservice.
The study found that by the end of kindergarten, children who had attended one year of "academic-oriented preschool" outperformed peers who had attended less academic-focused preschools by, on average, the equivalent of two and a half months of learning in literacy and math.
"Simply dressing up like a firefighter or building an exquisite Lego edifice may not be enough," said Bruce Fuller, the lead author of the study, conducted by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. "If you can combine creative play with rich language, formal conversations and math concepts, that's more likely to yield the cognitive gains we observed."
U.S. News published a related piece recently arguing for more attention to preschool curricula and specific content, in addition to other measures of preschool programs. In contrast, a story in the Atlantic last year pointed out new "academic" approaches to preschool may actually be doing more harm than good. And any immediate gains (as cited in the new study) frequently turn out to be temporary. One oft-cited alternative is Finland's approach, which delays formal schooling until age 7, after a year of relatively unstructured government-mandated kindergarten.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday June 06 2017, @09:46PM
Day care in Australia is usually longer, even up to 6am to 6pm.
Pre-school is meant (in the year before school) to be 600 hours in the year, roughly 9 to 3 for three day a week, or 8:30 to 4 for two days per week.
Pre-schools expect children to be toilet trained, and usually 4 or 5 years old (funding for 3 year olds was cut a few years ago)
Day care centres accept children as young as 8 weeks.
Day care centres have staff with two or four years training. (Guess which are cheaper)
Pre-schools have teachers with four years training.
Not surprisingly, even day care centres with "preschool programs" aren't going to have quite the same educational outcomes.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/preschools-better-for-children-than-day-care-20130810-2roqx.html [smh.com.au]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex