Preschools are more than just an alternative to daycare. As a matter of fact, children who attend preschools are more likely to succeed as adults and live healthier lifestyles.
According to the University of Michigan, children who were enrolled in preschool had higher salaries 25 years later compared to those who did not attend preschool. Additionally, up to 25% of at-risk teenagers are more likely to drop out of high school if they are not exposed to an academic preschool curriculum as a child.
But why does getting a high quality education at a young age have such a significant effect later in life?
Children typically exhibit personality traits within their first few hours of life. However, these traits can be shaped and changed during early childhood. Ultimately, children who attend preschool have a social advantage over children who do not attend preschool. Let’s look at a couple reasons why:
Academic preschool programs help your child learn to make friends
Children who attend preschool are given an entire school year to learn social cues, including how to make friends laugh, how to make them cry, how to make them angry, how to get along with them, etc. Children who don’t attend preschool, on the other hand, must wait until kindergarten to learn how to interact with their peers. Interacting with family is different than interacting with peers, and peer-to-peer interaction is essential at this stage in your child’s life.
Preschool engages your child’s mind
Children’s brains act as sponges for information. Before the modern day, this allowed them to learn survival skills to stay safe from predators. The earlier your child learns, the easier the information will be for them to retain. That is why it’s so important to begin teaching your child multiple languages at a young age, for instance.
Preschool academics help your child get a leg up in the academic world by exposing them to numbers and letters as well as art and basic science. Not only does this prepare them for kindergarten, where they’ll begin to add larger numbers and learn more advanced concepts, but it will also give them confidence in their intelligence.
Preschool is an exceptional setting for engaging your child with academics and friends at an early age. Preschool provides your child with the peer interaction they require as well as the academic stimulation that will pay dividends later in life.