When my introverted son started preschool, he was able to leave my side and enter the classroom but he was unable to interact with his peers in the classroom. His teachers found a way to get him engaged with other kids by handing him a digital camera. It was his Dumbo feather, giving him the confidence to approach kids in the classroom, while looking through the lens and clicking away.
At the end of the year the teacher gave him a flash drive filled with the pictures he took. The first photos showed the objects that initially captured his interest: blocks, plastic dinosaurs, and the classroom’s stained glass windows. Eventually they showed the kids that captured his interest, playing in the kitchen area or at the sand table or with cars.
Eighty-four percent of children in Northampton County and 75 percent of children in Lehigh County do not have access to high-quality preschools (http://papartnerships.org/publication_files/state-of-pre-k-county-table-legal.pdf). There are programs like Pre-K Counts and Head Start that meet the criteria as high quality, but the amount of public funds available only help one in six children access these programs.
“Pre-K for PA: All children ready to succeed” (www.prekforpa.org) is an advocacy campaign launched In January led by a statewide coalition that includes Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children, Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, Mission: Readiness, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, Pennsylvania Head Start Association, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, Pittsburgh Area Association for the Education of Young Children, Public Citizens for Children and Youth, and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey.
By 2018 they want every three-and-four-year old child in the Commonwealth to have access to a public or private pre-k program that meets high quality standards.
Today my son is eleven years old and was elected fifth grade class representative, a position that required him to deliver a campaign speech on stage in front of 1600 of his middle school peers. As a parent, I’m grateful that the teachers at his private nursery school had degrees in early childhood and knew enough about child development to find innovative and appropriate ways to help his social and emotional development.
Many families across the state can’t find or afford high-quality preschool that could help their children’s cognitive, behavioral, educational and economic outcomes. These outcomes could help Pennsylvania in the long run by reducing the need for special education, increasing graduation and college enrollment, and decreasing drop-out rates, crime and incarceration.
Upper Saucon Patch – March 30, 2014 – Read article online