Since most children have parents that work out of the home, a full day preschool is needed until they are ready for kindergarten. When looking for a full day preschool, one of the excellent options is a private school.
Experts agree on the importance of early childhood education, and there are obvious advantages with choosing a private school for your child. In general, studies have shown that children who attended private school had higher high school graduation rates than those who didn’t. Furthermore, these children also had higher college acceptance rates.
Another advantage to a private full day preschool is the teacher-student ratio. Private schools tend to have fewer students, so children receive more one-on-one attention. Another benefit of these smaller classrooms is that the children will have more opportunities to interact with each other, thus creating friendships and further developing their social skills.
Private schools also encourage parents to be more involved. They are able to have a voice in their child’s education as well as assist with classroom activities, serve on a school committee, or organize other events such as field trips.
Preschool classes usually have children from the ages of three-to-four. While you may only want or need your child to attend part-time, there are benefits to having them in a full day preschool.
When your child is enrolled in a full day preschool, they will be learning something new all day. Here are some of the activities your child will experience when they’re enrolled in a good preschool:
- Learn to recognize numbers and geometric shapes
- Make structures in the block center
- Create art with geometric shapes
- Learn the names for colors
- Learn to recognize the alphabet
- Learn the names for different body parts
- Indoor and outdoor games
- Sing and dance
- Storytelling
- Free play
Through a variety of activities, your child will also develop their strength, balance, and other motor skills such as hand-eye-coordination. During indoor and outdoor games, they may jump in place, stand on one foot, run, kick a ball, play relay, and of course, dance. There may be songs or music that accompany these activities as well as lots of cheering.
There are, of course, additional advantages of private schools, especially when your child attends a full day preschool.
In general, private preschools will track your child’s key developmental indicators. Basically, these measure your child’s social and emotional development. When it’s time for teacher-parents conferences, you’ll be able to discuss your child’s progress and voice any questions or concerns.
If you’re still deciding whether to enroll your child in preschool, you may be interested to learn about the results of three recent studies.
In one study, it was found that 14,162 kindergartners with high pre-reading and math scores had attended preschool. In a second federally funded study, it was found that 1,364 children demonstrated a superior level of language and memory skills than those children who didn’t attend preschool. In a third study conducted with adults, it was determined that adults that had attended preschool were more likely to attend and complete college. They were also more likely to earn advanced degrees.
