First Things First
Are we doing enough to prepare our future middle schoolers?
The data are clear. The implications are clear. The consequences are clear. However, I must ask a profound question--are we even listening? Research shows that early childhood education is vital for children. If a young child starts out behind educationally it will be tough for them to catch up to their peers. I know there are a variety of options for pre kindegarten education. They range from in home experiences to more formal pre-schools. Which ones are best? We will save that debate for another time or forum, but are we placing true importance on early childhood education?
My mother was a pre school teacher for nearly 20 years. She recently passed away and I have been thinking about her profession. She had a college education, in the field of education, and always attended different professionl development workshops. She did a wonderful job with her students who often came back 15 years later to thank her. She taught children the building blocks they needed for future success. She worked hard to instill a joy of learning in her kids. She was a true professional and hero for many, many kids. However, if you looked at her paycheck, did it match what she was doing? Were there any curriculum coaches for her to confer with? What support was there for her? In spite of this, my mother created positive learning experiences for all of her children. Her students were well prepared for kindegarten. Unfortunately, not all of the children out there will be lucky enough to have the chance to have a teacher like my mother was.
I know we talk about the importance of early childhood education. Some children have excellent learning opportunities in thier own home. They will be prepared for school, possibly from this alone. Most of these same children will also attend some type of formal pre-school. This pre-school may have terrific teachers and a wonderful facility with all of the latest technoogy. I would be willing to say these children are entering public schools well ahead of the game. However, as we all know not all children will have these opportunities.
Many children receive little or no experiences in their home that will prepare them for kindegarten. This is due to several reasons. Maybe the parents work two jobs and are struggling to survive. Whatever the case is, the child is suffering. Some of these children will be placed in a preschool as well. However, due to cost, their school may not be up to par. These students are often going to enter kindegarten behind thier peers. Once behind academically, it is tough to catch up. We need to do something more to allow ALL children to receive the education they need before entering kindegarten.
Consider the following information that displays the disparities our children are up against:
Number of words heard at home per hour by 1- and 2-year-olds learning to talk:
- low-income child 620
- middle-income child 1,250
- high-income child 2,150
Number of words heard by age 3:
- low-income child 10 million
- middle-income child 20 million
- high-income child 30 million
More than 40 families were observed over several years to study how, and how often, parents talk with children. Researchers found a tremendous variety in the amount of words spoken to children in the first three years of life and in the quality of feedback they received. These verbal interactions with adults are major predictors of how prepared children will be to succeed in school.
While family income was highly related to levels of children’s language exposure, the relationship was not absolute. Some middle-income families behaved more like high-income families, preparing their children for higher achievement through vocabulary development and other language skills. Other middle-income families behaved more like low-income families, with a paucity of language exposure for children.
An average child growing up in a low-income family receiving welfare hears one-half to one-third as many spoken words as children in more affluent households. At these rates the low-income child would know about 3,000 words by age 6, while the child of the high-income family would have a vocabulary of 20,000 words. To provide the low-income child with weekly language experience equal to that of a child from a middle-income family, it would require 41 hours per week of out-of-home word exposure as rich as those heard by the most affluent children.
Source: Hart & Risley, 1995. Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young Children
As I stated earlier, we all know the importance of early childhood education. However, can we really be surprised at the woefully unequal distribution of services to our kids? Most pre-school teachers receive far, far below what they are worth. At $10 per hour we are asking teachers to give our young children what they need to succeed in life. Is that fair to the teacher? On the other hand, pre-schoool can be outragously expensive. I used to live in Florida and the going rate was anywhere form $225 per week and up per child. We want better paid preschool teachers but can barely afford the current tuition! Using the pay scale of pre-school teachers, college proessors should be making about the same as they are. I know I paid less while earning my bachelors degree than parents do while their youngsters learn their ABC's!
I am not an expert in early childhood education. However, I know something needs to be done. We need to pay more attention. We need to allot more funds to it. This is tricky since many pre-schools are privately owned, but it needs to be explored. I know some states offer universal pre-k and I think that is a wonderful start. But what about 1, 2 and 3 year olds. I think we spend a tremendous amount of money trying to reform high schools and middle schools, but maybe we need to start earlier.
