Harvard Researchers recently found that “children who got at least a year of quality prekindergarten did better in reading and math than kids who spend the year in day care, with relatives, or in some other kind of preschool.”

Paula Starling, Kindergarten teacher at MGCS for 12 years, agrees.  Over the years, she has observed significant differences in preparedness between students who have attended preschool, those who have attended a “Play School” and those children who did not have any preschool: “I’ve noticed that students with a quality preschool experience are better prepared for a successful year in Kindergarten and beyond. Preschool is different from a ‘playschool.’  A preschool will be more focused on early academic experiences.  Play is highly important in both paradigms but, in a preschool like MGCS, play has a purpose.”

She notes that students who have attended preschools with a developmentally appropriate and academically challenging curriculum have developed the skills needed to learn.  These children typically…

• Know how to line up and behave in a line, and have better self-control than their peers without preschool
• Know when and how to listen to the teacher and are accustomed to listening to and following a set of directions
• Are more confident in the classroom
• Know all or most of their alphabet, numbers 1-10, letter sounds, and can even read a few words
• Have a greater vocabulary and more developed communication skills
• Separate from Mom and Dad easier
• Can effectively use school tools like scissors, glue sticks, pencils, and crayons
• Have more developed large and fine motor skills
• Have more self-help skills (putting on and taking off their own outerwear, buttoning, zipping, opening food/snack items, carrying a plate of food to the table, etc.)
• Are more skilled at socializing and have greater success in social settings
• Score better in their academic subjects than children who have been to a ‘playschool’ or have had no preschool experience
• Come to school READY to learn.

Paula Starling is the mother of two MGCS Graduates.  She graduated from UNCW with a B.A. in Psychology and a K-6 Teaching certificate.