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Study Shows the Right Preschool Leads to Later Success education.com

A study released by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) shows that the type of preschool a child attends at 4 years old, will affect how he or she learns at 7. The study, the largest of its type to date, followed 5,000 preschoolers in 1,800 schools across the world.

So what type of preschool is best? Larry Schweinhart, president of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, and a researcher on the study says, “Early childhood educators contribute to children’s development when they emphasize child-initiated activities, limit the use of whole-group instruction, and provide abundant materials in the classroom.”

In other words, allowing preschoolers to choose freely, for as much of the day as possible, rather than corralling them into too much circle time, is the best way to create successful first graders. The researchers are clear on a number of points:

Language performance at age 7 improves when:

1. Most of the activities available to preschoolers are free choice, rather than teacher led – exploration based, physical activities that allow kids to practice their gross and fine motor skills, crafts, music.
2. Their teachers have a higher level of education.

Thinking skills at age 7 improve when:

1. Preschoolers spend less time in whole group activities proposed by the teacher, like songs, games, group story-time, and pre-academic activities. 30-40 minutes is a good amount of whole group time.
2. The number and variety of equipment and materials for preschoolers to choose from increases.

In a nutshell, children become better thinkers when they’re active participants in their own learning.

Play Equals Learning

The study addresses what many of us teachers believe - that child development in preschool is the foundation for future learning. Many of the problems that children/young adults encounter usually arise because they didn't learn or weren't allowed enough developmental/exploration time at around age 3. Learning to share, cooperate and problem solve social issues are learned at a young age. “Academic” content can also be attractive to and appropriate for the young child. Although, I'd offer that every time learning is happening it is academic, even if it seems purely social. The term academic and formal are often misused when discussing early childhood education. What is more important is the understanding that play equals learning. For too long we have divorced the two. While early childhood education is a hot topic for Ready 4 K followers in Minnesota and is expected to be “on the national agenda” under the Obama administration, the topic of what is going on inside preschools is not yet part of the discussion. It is not enough to just say preschool is important—how we do it is important.