I, personally, never went to preschool. I attended kindergarten when I was 5 years old...and I loved it. I have a picture that my parents took of me and my younger sister on my first day of school. In my flowered dress and my green-and-purple backpack, I am ecstatically hugging my sister who is very upset to see me leave. I point this out so that people might know that when I discuss whether or not parents should send their children to pre-k and/or kindergarten, I may be slightly biased, having been to kindergarten but never having experienced preschool.
From what I understand, preschool is attended by children who are 3 and 4 years old. I remember hearing about my younger cousin, barely 3 years old, going to "school." Granted I am not really sure of what the children learn in preschool besides how to get along with others and maybe to communicate with and listen to others, I imagine that much of the time spent at preschool is very much like a group babysitting session. This, I suppose, is just fine if parents have busy work schedules. As far as education is concerned, however, I feel as though at the age of 2, 3, or 4 years, children should still be under the tutelage of their parents, or at least not mostly dependent on the teachers at preschool to teach them the alphabet or numbers.
From a student's perspective, it seems that parents should take into account that their child will potentially be in school for the next 17 years as they work their way through grade school and college. Once school begins, much of the learning experience happens away from home. They should take advantage of the short amount of time that they have their child fully under their influence and direction. My family-oriented personality may be showing a little here, but I believe that a child's parents should be one of the largest influences in that child's life and there is very little time to lay that groundwork.
Once a child reaches kindergarten, I would expect them to have a basic concept of letters and numbers, an introductory understanding of the importance of respect, and a general awareness of what goes on around them. In short, they have had the time to acquire a base knowledge from their parents. Kindergarten is a big step as students are no longer constantly under their parents supervision and hopefully they have developed enough of a desire to learn academically and socially. I don't think that this process should happen too early, before a child has the opportunity to better appreciate the nature of the world of education. Not to say that any child fully understands this at the age of 5 but I assume that conscious decision to attend school might be more prevalent in a 5-year-old than in a 3-year-old.
I have reached the point in my schooling where I must form my own education around what I plan to do in the future. It just so happens that I am eagerly hoping to have a career in elementary education. Currently, I am most interested in teaching the kindergarten-second grade age level. I have not yet learned about the benefits and drawbacks of education at such a young age; whether or not there is a mental or psychological difference between starting schooling with preschool or with kindergarten or whether or not either is really necessary. I am going purely off personal opinion, an opinion that has most likely been influenced by my parents and other people I know in the education field. I would assume that once I am an elementary school teacher, my answer to this question may vary significantly. But for know I believe that these first years of schooling, particularly kindergarten, are the most important in a child's development.
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