It is hard

to believe, but another summer is more than half over and within just

a few weeks, our children will be back in the classroom.

You may be

debating whether or not to enroll your children in preschool or not. Generally,

I discourage parents from putting their children in preschool, but there

are both pros and cons with preschool. I've outlined some advantages and

disadvantages below so you can make an informed decision on what to do

with your child.

Advantages:

Perhaps the biggest and most obvious advantage to preschool is academic

preparation. If the preschool program is well designed, the child should

be more than ready to enter kindergarten after a year in 4-year-old preschool.

The child should know basic colors, shapes, and many if not all of the

letters of the alphabet. He should be able to count to 10 and he most

likely will be able to write his name. He may even be able to read simple

words.

Children who

are in preschool programs are more prepared for the social environment

of kindergarten. While they may be slightly more aggressive, they are

more social and more they more easily accommodate to the structure of

the classroom in kindergarten than children who have not been in a preschool

or academic day care environment.

There are also

advantages for the primary care giver, often the mother. She has more

time to herself once her children are in school and she can focus on household

chores or a job without needing child care. If it is a public preschool,

there is a savings of day care expense, as well.

Disadvantages:

The greatest social and academic advantages are seen in children from

deprived backgrounds. However, most children in preschool are not underprivileged

and the same gains can be achieved by providing educational toys and books

for the child at home.

Investing time

with one's child in one-to-one instruction is and advantage one will not

likely find in any preschool and is actually more likely to provide long-term

cognitive results than preschool. Playing with other children in varied

environments, church, clubs, etc., can help the child learn social skills,

as well. Preschool is simply unnecessary.

While the academic

advantages of preschool linger through the first few grades, after the

third grade there is no research that demonstrates any measurable academic

difference between preschooled and nonpreschooled children (with the exception

of underprivileged children). Likewise, many people seem to have forgotten

that the purpose of kindergarten is to prepare children for first grade.

Given the logic of some preschool advocates, one might suppose that eventually

we will have pre-preschool so that toddlers will be prepared for preschool.

Prior to age

five or six, children need lots of play time, free time, and face-to-face

interaction with mothers and fathers. These needs are obviously compromised

if the child is out of the house. Also, children develop at differential

rates and most four-year-olds are unprepared cognitively, emotionally,

physically, and socially to sit in a classroom for five to seven hours.

In fact, many children repeat kindergarten because they were not developmentally

prepared even then. This doesn't mean they can't do it, but it is much

more difficult for them. Three-hour programs, as opposed to full-day programs,

and three-day-a-week programs as opposed to five-day programs can offset

this disadvantage.

Perhaps the

biggest disadvantage of preschool, however, is that children are only

small once. Those three short years between toddlerhood and kindergarten

will be gone before you know it. Rushing around the house in the early

morning, getting breakfast, dressing, brushing teeth, and rushing the

child out of the house for several hours at school shortens the time parents

and children have together. There is no need to rush them through their

early years enjoy them. You will never find any parent who looks back

and says, "Boy, I wish I had spent less time with my child when she

was a toddler."

In summary,

parents can provide the same benefits that preschool offers without the

disadvantages that come with having the child out of the house most of

the day at such an early age. If caregivers need some free time, a babysitter

once or twice a week can provide free time without the potentially the

disadvantages I've listed. This is why I discourage preschool. There is

no known long-term "damage" that is done to children who are

preschooled, but regret for a lost year is hard to measure.

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