“Virtually nobody was against expanding the state’s preschool program, and plenty of research was provided as to benefits of existing programs.
“But the arguments crystallized — and the attendees figuratively caught their breath – when a veteran kindergarten teacher from Freehold came forward with a packet of Week One assessments from some of her new students.
“Randee Mandelbaum’s new students were asked to draw crayon self-portraits and demonstrate how well they knew their letters and numbers. On the left side of the sheets was the work of children who hadn’t been through preschool, and on the right side were those who had.”
“‘You will see one student does not know any letters, cannot write any letters, and doesn’t even know how to write her own name,’ said Mandelbaum, a 20-year veteran. ‘While the other student can write most of the alphabet comfortably.’”
“Kindergarten Kids’ Drawings, Numbers Graphically Show Why Pre-K is Key,” by John Mooney, NJSpotlight.com, September 22, 2015
Eye on Early Education focuses on the twin goals of ensuring that Massachusetts children have access to high-quality early education and become proficient readers by the end of third grade.
As a kindergarten teacher, I can tell you: Pre-K is crucial! I have many students in my class who did not go to pre-k and they just do not have the background knowledge or development to keep up with the majority of the class. I am, of course, working with them in small groups often so they can catch up but I do sometimes think I am doing them a disservice. They just want to play and explore. Unfortunately, there is not much time for that in kindergarten anymore and they are being forced to catch up.