Preschool education

Overview

Preschool education refers to structured learning programs designed specifically for children up to five years of age. Such programs take many forms but are generally configured around activities that involve social interactions with peer groups and combine skill-building with play. Early childhood education experts promote preschool programs as a key tool for fostering both intellectual and social-emotional development in children. Education professionals and researchers also note that “[a]lthough beneficial for all children, these programs are especially important for children in disadvantaged groups, guiding them toward healthier development and giving them the tools they need before school entry” (Melhuish, 2022).

The modern concept of preschool education arose from the work of the French Lutheran pastor Jean-Frédéric Oberlin (1740–1826). Inspired by a Christian philosophical movement known as Pietism, Oberlin developed multiple programs designed to improve social and living conditions, particularly for members of the common classes. In the 1760s, Oberlin grew dismayed with the “state of neglect in which young children were left: not fit to work in the fields before the age of six, they [were] abandoned to themselves, unsupervised and untaught.” Seeking to remedy the situation, Oberlin founded a structured, community-oriented learning program for children, which combined language and fine motor skills development with physical education and introductions to academic subjects including botany and geography. Oberlin is also credited with originating the concept of distributing written learning materials to children, among numerous other educational and institutional innovations.

In the United States, early childhood education programs began to formally emerge during the 1830s and were initially designed to provide supervised care to children of single working mothers. Nursery schools, which combined supervised care with educational programs for young children, also first appeared in the 1830s and “expanded subsequently in response to pressures created by the rapid industrialization and massive immigration which took place in the latter part of the [19th] century” (Kamerman & Gatenio-Gabel, 2007). Nursery schools and kindergarten became increasingly widespread features of the US education landscape during the postwar period of the twentieth century, expanding greatly during the 1960s and 1970s in response to multiple economic and social influences including women’s increasing rates of workforce participation and heightened expert awareness of the importance of structured early childhood education.

By the turn of the twenty-first century, US social policy had evolved to prioritize the provision of early childhood educational and care programs through the public and private sectors and via public-private partnerships. Historical reviews note that during the 1990s and early 2000s, policymakers began to view structured early childhood education programs as an important social investment. This influential shift in philosophy was rooted in a growing body of research-backed expert insight linking “early learning experiences...with later school achievement, emotional and social well-being, fewer grade retentions, and reduced incidences of juvenile delinquency” (Kamerman & Gatenio-Gabel, 2007). By the late 2000s, a wide network of public and private preschool educational institutions had developed throughout the United States, with public programs mainly attracting children from lower-income families and private programs mainly catering to families with the economic means to pay the associated fees. In general, public preschool programs orient themselves more toward providing support to the family, while private programs focus on the child. Meanwhile, employers also became increasingly involved in early childhood education and care, subsidizing or covering the costs of private programs for their employees or even establishing their own onsite preschool educational services for employee use. Though refined to make early childhood education programs more accessible, equitable, and universally oriented toward developing school readiness, this general framework largely remained the standard as of the early 2020s.

Through targeted research that began in earnest during the twentieth century, experts have come to universally recognize the importance of learning during early childhood when the brain is quickly developing. As such, preschool education programs are strongly oriented toward “help[ing] children acquire learning-related skills, such as the ability to express thoughts, adapt behaviors to situational demands, control impulsivity, show curiosity, remain concentrated and be socially competent” (Melhuish, 2022). Preschool learning also typically includes basic, age-appropriate introductions to academic essentials, such as language arts and mathematics.

US preschool enrollment trends reflect the increased recognition of the importance of early childhood education. In 1940, less than 20 percent of five-year-olds participated in structured learning programs designed to foster school preparedness; by the late 2010s, enrollment rates among five-year-olds had climbed to approximately 85 percent. Three- and four-year-olds have tended to participate in preschool education at significantly lower rates. In 2018, only about 34 percent of three-year-olds and 61 percent of four-year-olds were regularly participating in formalized preschool education programs. The COVID-19 pandemic saw further declines in the rates of children attending preschool, with many early childcare centers forced to close. However, analysis of historical enrollment trends shows statistically significant increases among both three- and four-year-olds since the postwar period of the twentieth century, with major surges occurring during the 1970s and 1990s. “Growth in state funding of kindergartens...and pre-kindergartens...contributed to these enrollment changes” (Cascio, 2021).

Despite the noted increases in government funding for preschool education programs, the United States continues to lack a coherent national framework for providing structured learning opportunities to children from birth through age five. Public and expert opinion also remains divided on the question of whether preschool education should be primarily a government responsibility or centered in the private sector with some public participation. “The federal government and states have established a range of [early childhood education] programs...but many of these programs are uncoordinated, insufficient in scope, inaccessible, and of variable quality” (Learning Policy Institute, 2021). The United States lags behind many other developed countries, both in terms of nationwide public-sector support for preschool education and its funding. Close analysis of preschool funding reveals that the United States only commits about 0.2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to early childhood education, compared to an average of approximately 0.7 percent of GDP among its economic development peers, according to the Learning Policy Institute. The analysis, therefore, indicates that other high-income countries spend about 350 percent more on the public funding of preschool education than the United States.

Further Insights

Research into the benefits of preschool education strongly indicates that it delivers considerable long-term and even lifelong value. One landmark study, which was launched in the 1960s, followed participants in pre-kindergarten learning programs from childhood into middle age. Researchers “found that those who attended the preschool program demonstrated beneficial outcomes throughout their lives, including having superior health outcomes and being less likely to be incarcerated” (Bowen, 2021).

In terms of immediate and near-term skills development, preschool programs are associated with many specific beneficial outcomes. Preschool education tends to “increase children’s intellectual abilities, positive social behaviors, school commitment, and their likelihood of graduating from high school” (Melhuish, 2021). Students who participate in early childhood education programs are also less likely to have to repeat grades in primary and secondary school and pose a lower risk of engaging in antisocial behaviors during their adolescence. Notably, researchers have documented these benefits in countries across the income spectrum, and experts have also strongly associated these positive outcomes with programs that share two critical core features. These features include a curriculum specifically oriented toward “supporting and strengthening children’s learning and development,” along with a “positive classroom environment that increases children’s extrinsic motivation to learn” (Melhuish, 2021). With respect to curricula, researchers have also found that preschools that design their own expert-led programs “tend to provide better outcomes as they integrate different types of approaches and take into account children’s emerging aptitudes” (Melhuish, 2021).

At the same time, researchers continue to grapple with the question of how to ensure that the developmental advantages they gain through preschool programs follow them throughout their educational journeys. One such issue relates to what observers frequently refer to as pre-kindergarten (pre-K) fadeout, which results in the early gains made via preschool education waning as a child proceeds through elementary school. Observers believe that the closer integration of preschool and primary school, particularly through third grade, can help lessen the impact of pre-K fadeout or even prevent it.

Educators have also devised preschool programs specifically designed for children with disabilities. These programs are typically available to preschool-aged children with disabilities at no cost through their local public-school networks, in keeping with Parts B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which was passed in 1990 as a reauthorization of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA). Children with disabilities can access specialized, publicly funded preschool education programs as they transition out of early medical interventions or at the discretion of state governments. As with preschool education programs for nondisabled children, private providers also offer custom-developed early childhood education services for children with disabilities.

Recognizing the need to address disparities among various racial and socioeconomic groups regarding preschool education accessibility and quality, the United States Department of Education’s Administration for Children and Families issued a set of four recommendations in June 2022. The new recommendations were designed to “ensure that all young children and their caregivers have access to high-quality resources that equitably support social-emotional development and mental health.” The recommendations seek to integrate evidence-based social-emotional development practices, build a larger and better-equipped national network of early childhood educators, secure increased funding and reduce obstacles to program access, and draw on data to build toward equity-oriented program implementation strategies and learning outcomes. Furthermore, leaders at the state and federal level increasingly pushed for universal preschool in the US in the 2020s.

Viewpoints

Education experts categorize the many pedagogical approaches to preschool education in various ways. One layperson-friendly classification model divides educational philosophies into five main families: play-based, theme-based, activity-based, inquiry-based, and emergent curriculum approaches. Each of these approaches emphasizes different learning strategies, and preschool education curricula can integrate multiple styles into their programs.

Play-based approaches can involve purposeful, facilitated, guided or free-play and are spontaneous, free-to-fail, enjoyable, challenging, intrinsically motivated, engaging, imaginative, and sociable. They create strong associations between enjoyment and learning and help children build empathy by sharing their preferred playthings with others.

Theme-based learning integrates all aspects of the educational curriculum with a common theme, such as nature or ecology. With "theme-based approaches, the learning is facilitated among students, when [students] have their own ways of learning the concepts" (Kapur, 2019). It allows students to build complex and multifaceted understandings of the subject matter associated with the theme while simultaneously developing a broad range of intellectual skills.

In activity-based approaches, teachers initiate learning through structured instructional sessions that typically focus on a single skill or subject area, such as learning the alphabet, counting numbers, creating artwork, or playing a rules-based game. Experts widely recognized activity-based approaches as being crucial for student learning.

Inquiry-based approaches are generally more suitable for students at the older end of the preschool education range, as they involve longer-term commitments to exploring or solving more focused and complex intellectual questions. Typically centering on projects lasting from approximately one week to one month, inquiry-based learning has the benefit of prompting students to engage with both their peers and teacher(s) as they carry out their work. Inquiry-based learning thus builds interpersonal, collaboration, and communication skills alongside critical thinking and depth of knowledge.

Emergent curriculum strategies approach “the philosophy of teaching and [curriculum planning] that puts the major emphasis on being responsive to the needs and requirements of the students and creat[ing] meaningful learning experiences for them” (Kapur, 2019). The framework considers the individual interests, strengths, and areas for developmental improvement unique to each learner, and involves activities designed to build on areas of strength and help children overcome areas of weakness. It is rooted in the work of influential early childhood development researchers including John Dewey (1859–1952), Jean Piaget (1896–1980), and Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934).

In the twenty-first century, concepts associated with the pedagogical paradigm known as social-emotional learning (SEL) or social-emotional development have become increasingly integrated with preschool education. Social-emotional learning broadly seeks to develop “the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success” (Committee for Children, 2023). Associated pedagogical concepts can be integrated into a complete set of approaches to preschool curricula development, with research indicating multiple beneficial outcomes when SEL is sustained across a student’s educational experience from preschool through secondary school. According to the Committee for Children, these include a 42 percent lower likelihood of engaging in physical aggression, 20 percent reductions in bullying behavior involving students with disabilities, 13 percent improvements in academic achievement, and 5–12 percent lower school dropout rates.

Bibliography

Administration for Children & Families. (2022, June 14). ED, HHS Issue Recommendations to Improve Young Children’s Social-Emotional Development, Mental Health.United States Department of Education,www2.ed.gov/documents/students/hhs-ed-dcl-early-childhood-mental-health-20220615.pdf

Bowen, J. (2021, May 21). Ask the Expert: Why Is a Preschool Education Important? 'When Children Attend High-Quality Pre-K Education Programs, They Really Get a Great Boost in Early Skills That Set Them Up for Success in Elementary School,' Says Assistant Professor Michael Little. North Carolina State University College of Education.ced.ncsu.edu/news/2021/05/21/ask-the-expert-why-is-a-preschool-education-important-when-children-attend-high-quality-pre-k-programs-they-get-a-really-great-boost-in-early-skills-that-set-them-up-for-success-in-element/

Cascio, E.W. (2021, April). Early Childhood Education in the United States: What, When, Where, Who, How, and Why. National Bureau of Economic Research, www.nber.org/system/files/working‗papers/w28722/w28722.pdf

Center for Parent Information & Resources. (2023, May). Special Education Services for Preschoolers with Disabilities. www.parentcenterhub.org/preschoolers/

Committee for Children. (2023). What Is Social-Emotional Learning? www.cfchildren.org/what-is-social-emotional-learning/

Ferreira, M., Reis-Jorge, J., & Batalha, S. (2021). Social and Emotional Learning in Preschool Education—A Qualitative Study with Preschool Teachers. International Journal of Emotional Education, vol. 13 no.1, pp. 51–66.

Kamerman, S.B., & Gatenio-Gabel, S. (2007). Early Childhood Education and Care in the United States: An Overview of the Current Policy Picture. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, vol. 1,pp. 23–34.

Kapur, R. (2019). Pedagogical Approaches in Early Childhood Education. International Journal of Professional Studies, vol. 8,pp. 1–11.

Melhuish, Edward. (2022, March). Synthesis. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, www.child-encyclopedia.com/preschool-programs

Protestant Museum. (2023). Jean-Frédéric Oberlin (1740–1826). museeprotestant.org/en/notice/jean-frederic-oberlin-1740-1826-3/

Steed, H. (2024, May 2). Universal Preschool Is Welcome News for K-12. The Education Trust, https://edtrust.org/the-equity-line/federal-state-push-for-universal-preschool/