“So here’s a radical idea: How about we listen to the people who can benefit the most from getting engaged in early education: low-income parents?

“In the fall of 2016, Wilder Foundation researchers did exactly that.”

“When asked ‘which early education program features sticks in your mind as the single most important for you and your family?’ two items rose to the top. The first most important feature parents named was full-day, full-year, multi-year services. The second was quality of care, in terms of a program’s ability to prepare children for kindergarten.

“This is encouraging news, because the same features that parents want are, according to the best available research, also the things that children need to get ready for kindergarten.”

“What kind of early-education help do low-income parents want?” by Sondra Samuels and Barb Fabre, MinnPost, January 30, 2017