Why Is Early Childhood Education Important

1149 Words3 Pages

The Great Nelson Mandela once said, education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. The question that this quote brings about is if education is so powerful why do we Americans not require our children to enroll in school as early as the age of three? Early Childhood education is the key to building a strong foundation for a child's education. It is filled with many benefits. Some which include improved social skills, better performance in grade school, and enthusiasm for lifelong learning. Children who experience life within the walls of early childhood education are no doubt walking down the path of a successful future. For young children every experience they encounter provides for an array of learning. What …show more content…

However they are wrong, the benefits of preschool greatly outweigh the negative. The large and growing pile of evidence of the great effects of preschool can be dated back all the way to the 1961 Perry Preschool study. This study was conducted by researchers at the HighScope Educational Research Foundation. They decided to conduct an experiment that consisted of 123 three and four year olds from Ypsilanti, Michigan. 58 out of the 123 three and four year olds were randomly chosen to be enrolled in an early childhood education program for two years. The other children were left without the opportunity to attend a preschool. The study was an ongoing one that was followed until the subjects turned 40. They researches found that the kids in preschool were much likely to have better grades, better test scores, and were more likely to attend college. They also found that the children who attended preschool were more likely to earn a high income. In fact they found that their income and assets were far above the poverty line. Another similar study that was conducted by the Abecedarian Project. The study followed a select amount of kids in North Carolina until they turned 35. The resulsted stayed in line with the previous study. However, it really showed the large effect that preschool has on the economy. According to Steven Steven Barnett, a professor of economics and the executive director of the National Institute on Early Childhood Research, every $1 the government invests in high-quality early education can save more than $7 later on by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancies, and even reducing

More about Why Is Early Childhood Education Important

Open Document