Should children be required to attend preschool?

Question

I am writing an essay and my thesis is that children should NOT be required to attend preschool...please state your opinion in "quote" structure...Thank you...(especially mention if your child went or did not go to preschool...and how it affected them)

Answer 1

My 2 1/2 year old goes to pre-school and it has been great for her. She loves the socializing and the fun things they do in class. Although I doubted my decision at first - her first few weeks were a bit traumatic with her crying when I left her at school. But now she is a pro at it, has learned to trust that mommy is coming back, and is proud of herself for dealing with a new and difficult situation. The change in her self confidence is quite notable.

However, I don't think that pre-school is for every child or family. 1) It is expensive. 2) Not all pre-schools are as well staffed as ours, one teacher for every four children, which I think is very important for safety and ease of transition for the children. 3) Not all children are emotionally ready for the separation from the parents.

Answer 2

"My child attended preschool because we believed the propaganda that it was important. He started kindergarten well prepared. He gradually went downhill in school from the first grade until the 8th. We began investigating other options in the 3rd grade, and it was in the first of the 8th grade that we decided to homeschool. It works for us.
I would like to regain those wasted years of him being in classroom, but life doesn't work like that. We are going from where we are now, doing what is best for him instead of listening to tax paid experts.
It is not so much that preschool was bad for him as it is that the whole system of classroom structured school. There are other ways to learn. A formal preschool might teach a child to draw the ears on the face (part of the prek test for readiness) but knowing this has nothing to do with success in the classroom for the next 13 years of public school."
This is all in quotes because it is all my opinion and experience.

Answer 3

I believe all children should be required to attend one year of preschool. It helps develop social skills such as sharing, teaches gross and fine motor skills during play time and craft time, and helps introduce the child to the structure of school so they can more easily adjust.

My son attended a variety of daycares and one preschool for a variety of reasons. When he started his first daycare, he was just a year old. By the time he was two, he was so far behind on his speech development he needed to start attending speech therapy. He spent so much time with small children who did not encourage him to ask or point for things, he refused to do so at home, and his inability to communicate his needs to my husband and I was the source of many tantrums.

As his speech improved, his tantrums lessened. I also took him out of daycare because I lost my job. In the four months he was out of daycare, his speech therapist said he had improved approximately 9 months in speech progression because he was now around adults who used full words and made him "use his words".

His preschool was wonderful. They worked on fine motor skills with all the children at various times through the day using crafts, and played games and sang to work on vocab and memory. He learned his days of the week and months of the year when he was four years old.

The best part, though, was telling him that when he was done with preschool he would get to go to kindergarten and seeing his eyes light up. "Really?" he would ask. "I get to be a big boy?"

"Yes, you get to go to the big boy school," I would say every day. And when the first day of kindergarten rolled around, he didn't even look back. No tears, no pleading; he went to school and had very few problems because he knew there would be a routine and he adjusted quite well.

So I think one year of preschool should be required one to two years before kindergarten, but before that, daycare only if necessary. Not because you don't feel like taking care of your child, not because they 'need' it, because you can play games with your children, and they will sleep better at home rather than at a strange school or daycare.

Answer 4

while I don't think it's absolutely necessary, it is a good way to teach children how to get along with others. they need to be with other children for socialization skills, such as learning to take turns. they can learn the alphabet and numbers at home with just the parent to teach them, so school related learning isn't a good reason for preschool. (unless the parent won't or can't teach the child.) both of my children went to preschool because I worked. I took care of their intellectual development and the preschool took care of their social development. children that go to preschool, even part-time, adjust better to kindergarten than children that are home with a parent.

Answer 5

well, sorry, but i'm not doing a quote structure, but i'll share my opinion.

i'm 15 years old, and i never went to preschool.
it did not make a difference in my education [if anything, i'm smarter than most people in my hs], and i have a pretty good social life.
even in kindergarten, i was pretty social.
of course, my parents always had me playing fun, educational computer games, so i got used to computers early on & that kinda made up for preschool.

Answer 6

"My daughter went to nursery from 14 months old and it was the best thing for her. She is a bubbly, confident nearly 5 year old now who reached milestones early for her age. Her school have commented on how it's easy to tell the children who have been to nursery/pre-school than those who have not. They are the ones who ooze confidence."