by Marilyn Bubb

Created on: April 22, 2009

At first glance, the idea to begin early with formal schooling seems to be a good one. After all, if it makes sense to start teaching a 5 year old to read, wouldn't it be even better to start when that student is 3 years old? Give him or her a "head start", so to speak? Seems logical...

The logic, however, is flawed.

The National Center for Education Statistics finds that there is no lasting benefit for students attending pre-school programs. Any superiority in reading, math or science scores has "faded out" by third grade, with the children who did not attend pre-school achieving at the same level as those who did attend.

In the few cases where research has shown that there are benefits to enforced early childhood education, those studies were performed on high-risk children, in intense intervention settings.

Studies on mainstream, low-risk children generally do not show a benefit from early childhood education programs. In fact, attempting to formally educate a child before he or she is ready can be detrimental to the child's self esteem and future education. Forcing a child into a structured learning environment at the wrong time can steal that child's love of learning and forge in their minds the idea that learning is a chore, rather than a joy.

In addition to a lack of real academic benefits, there are only questionable social benefits. Children who are placed in universal childcare or preschool have a marked possibility of suffering from any number of negative outcomes, from anxiety, to hyperactivity, to increased aggression, bullying, and even decreased motor skills and achievement motivation.

A perusal of statistics from the Georgia Universal Preschool program shows that "Eighty-eight percent of the study sample scored a five on the capability item, compared to eight-five percent of all students across the state scoring similarly. Statistical tests indicate that overall these differences are not significant. In other words, the study sample does not differ from the entire kindergarten population in GKAP capability scores."

Research shows that GKAP scores are the same as they were before the implementation of the universal preschool program. In ten years, the state of Georgia spent $1.15 billion dollars on the early childhood education program, and students achieved essentially the same scores as before the beginning of the program. The taxpayers of Georgia are paying dearly for a program which does not aid their children in any appreciable way.

The National Assessment of Education Progress also sheds light on the problems with programs such as universal preschool, Head Start, etc. In an evaluation of the top 10 best and worst performers among the states, with data based on 4th grade reading tests, Georgia was among the 10 worst performers in the nation, in spite of a long-term universal preschool program.

An objective look at the perceived "benefits" of early childhood education, placed alongside the risks of such a program, should bring about a sober re-thinking of the idea that earlier is better when it comes to formal learning. Learning should bring joy and a sense of achievement. Let's allow our children to reach the age where that is possible, instead of forcing something upon them before their time, and expressing dismay when our expectations are not reached.

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