why is pre k only for low income families?????

Question

i tried to enroll my 4 yr old daughter in pre k today but she was denied because i dont fall in the "low income" class. now while i am not poor i certainly do not have the funds to pay for montessori thats like 700 a month. why do they think that "poor" children have more right to an education?


-Outraged mother

its not that i dont teach her at home i actually do. I just want her to get used to a "classroom" setting. Im a single mom with 3 kids and i work (my 14 yr old cousin babysits for free) It just makes me so mad that I dont really have the money to send my daughter to pre k but i have to pay for other peoples kids to go via taxes i think its bs

Answer 1

I'm in PA, and the current trend here is to provide pre-k for all families regardless of income. What program did you look into? Head Start is income qualified, but sometimes accepts over-income families for a variety of reasons. I don't blame you for being upset though. Sometimes it does seem like there's lots of opportunities for the very low income, and upper income families, but very little for mid-income families. Please keep checking into this. Call your local elementary school, social service agencies, and churches and ask for lists of programs providing pre-K. Then check into those programs and see if there's one for you. The current education trend is toward providing pre-K for 4 year olds because kindergarten functions on a much more advance level now. Hopefully your state is keeping up with the times and providing this service for all families.

Answer 2

First of all, who said you had to go to a Montessori school if you don't get into public school Pre-K? I'm in the same boat as you are, my son needs to get used to the classroom setting, but as a teacher I would rather the kid who doesn't get three square meals a day and doesn't know his ABC's take my son's spot. In the end, that kid who is lagging behind will take more time away from your daughter in the classroom later on because the teacher will have to help them out one on one, and maybe Pre-K will give them a better chance to succeed.
All parents of little ones are concerned about their kids entering the classroom setting, we haven't lost any kids yet, your daughter most likely won't be lost either when she gets into school. If you are really concerned about getting your daughter into Pre-K try a less expensive one - through a church program or day care center.
In all honesty, kids who go to a Montessori school for a few years and then switch to a public school program have more trouble adjusting to the routines and the rules because they have learned a different way.

Answer 3

They don't. It had to have something to do with your application in order to get subsided payments on prek. But prek doesn't mean they will be better educated either. I paid for my son to go to school and I'm not by any means swimming in money.

He attended a prek program that I used more like child care because he is well advanced because I spend time with him at home; about 2 hours a week. And that is all that is needed. Children DO NOT need prek.

Public schools were meant to subsided education not be the means of education.

If you want your child in pre k then try another school. You can take her anywhere you want to. There are no zones to keep up with prek as with k or the upper grades.

I sent my child to a private Christian school and it cost me $135 a month. Anyone was welcome to attend as long as their was room upon enrollment.

Answer 4

It's all part of the no child left behind act. Thank your government. It's not that they think poor children have more rights to an education, but children from poorer families often times do not have the basics that children from middle class and upper middle class families have. You would be suprised what a malnurished (physically, mentally, food) child can't do. They can't write their names, can't hold pencils correctly, don't know colors; numbers or ABC's. It's all to bring them on a semi-level playing field with the other children for when the start Kindergarten. I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to someone outside of the education field.

Answer 5

Unless you are talking about HeadStart or I have never heard of this and I have taught in daycares and preschools for 15 years.
Most daycares have preschool but it would be at the daycare rate either part or full time care.

A lot of churches have preschools where you can enroll the child just for preschool. While they use the church setting not all
these schools necessarily teach religion as part of the preschool program.

Being that it is summer it may be harder to consult with the elementary schools right now but that would be your best source for a referal to a good program you can afford.

Answer 6

Its not that they have more of a "right". It is that they have less of an opportunity to be taught things at home that more affluent families normally teach their children. Students who come from "poor" families usually come into kindergarten lagging behind students who come from more affluent homes in basic skills for any number of reasons, some of which may be illiterate parents, single parent families where the parent must work, poverty level income where everything they earn must go to pay bills with nothing left for books, crayons, or other things that most more affluent families take for granted. Head Start and other programs aimed at disadvantaged children are meant to bring them up to the same level of experience and early education as their more affluent peers when they start kindergarten. Sometimes they are also designed for children who have physical or learning disabilities where they can get early interventions to help them be more successful in school.

I am sure that there are other pre-k programs in your area that do not cost $700 a month. Check your local churches, boys and girls clubs, ymca, and daycare centers to see if they have low-cost pre-school programs.

If you can't find anything, you are probably giving your daughter all she will need to enter kindergarten successfully: reading to her and discussing the story with her; talking to her; introducing her to the alphabet and numbers; teaching her to recognize her name in print; writing her name; letting her help you around the house; pointing out letters and words when you see them on signs, in newspapers, books, etc.; giving her access to crayons, paper, scissors, blank paper, fingerpaint, playdo, books; taking her on outings to parks, museums, the library; counting different things around the house (dishes, trees, flowers, shirts, shorts, etc.).

Answer 7

Not all pre-k students are low incomed because, I, myself, studied pre-k and I believe that I'm not one of the low-incomed students because I'm currently studying in one of the most exclusive private schools in Metro Manila. Maybe you should find another school that accepts early learners.

Answer 8

well i guess the government thinks that poorer children are stupider than richer children. No offense to any that use it but it is easier to be poor and live off the government than to be middle income and struggle for every penny that u have. I don't have a perfect answer but home school is the only one I can come up with.

Answer 9

honey i dont know where you live at but thats not true they take a % of low income and a % of up D's.

Answer 10

Good grief! Where do you live that they would deny a child entrance into preschool if you are willing to pay the tuition?!?!?