Pre-Kindergarten for Children: Whatever Happened to Playing?

POPULARITY OF PRE-K
Early education fast becoming the norm
But critics contend that poor children aren't getting enough chance to enroll
By CYNTHIA LEONOR GARZA
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 26, 2005, 1:27AM

It's the hottest new trend among the 4-and-under set: Though state law does not require any school before the first grade, the number of children attending prekindergarten in Harris County has increased by nearly 50 percent over the past five years.

The numbers reflect a growing national interest in early education as a way to prepare children for the classroom.

"I think in the next few years it's just going to become a societal norm that all children attend pre-K," said Mechiel Rozas, principal at Gabriela Mistral Early Childhood Center, one of two pre-kindergarten schools opened this year by the Houston Independent School District.

Area districts like Cypress-Fairbanks, Pasadena, Spring and Spring Branch have also vastly expanded their pre-K programs in recent years.

Even as more districts create pre-K programs, critics worry that disadvantaged children are not being enrolled. According to the National Institute for Early Education, research has found that children who attend preschool are less likely to be held back or require special education, are more likely to graduate from high school, not become involved in crime or become dependent on welfare.

From that last paragraph, seems there are no negatives to this, but I really have to question these studies. We didn't have anything of the sort in the fifties, except maybe for Vacation Bible School. I wonder how we managed to survive. I have to believe that we have turned a corner which is unalterably leading us to the destruction of the family. If Americans don't turn their backs on crass consumerism and materialism, settle for less in the beginning and raise their kids with a stay at home mom, we are going to destroy our kids. When they are spending more of their waking hours with a stranger than they are with their parents, they will be more insecure, less attached to their families, and have more emotional problems.

Full Story: Pre-K for Kids

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