Benefits preschool: The Lasting Benefits of Preschool
The Benefits of Attending Preschool
If you have a little one, you know it won’t be long before they’re immersed in school and all that entails. Most of the day will be spent with teachers and classmates. Homework will be a thing. Cocurricular activities will pop up. So it may be tempting—on some days or when they’re not trying your patience—to keep them home with you or loving relatives as long as you can. But hold on, Mom. Preschool may not be required, but there are plenty of reasons to enroll your child. We break down the benefits of preschool here.
RELATED: Nature Play: The Benefits of Nature Preschools
Immediate benefits to preschool learning
My son is an only child, and he was never in non-familial care before he started preschool a few years ago. It was hard to see his quivering chin when I dropped him off that first day, but he was soon happily heading off to class. His first preschool experience was two days a week; the next year, we enrolled in full-time pre-K.
I’m so thankful for both of those experiences. They helped me fill his day with purposeful activity and less screen time. He became familiar with sitting at a desk, walking in a line, sharing with other children, speaking up, listening to adults besides Mom or Dad and following the directions.
“Pre-kindergarten establishes the foundation for a positive school experience,” affirms Kristi Brown, director of early childhood for Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. “It helps our youngest learners transition from home or childcare to a structured school day. This transition allows them to hit the ground running in kindergarten because they have a solid foundation of the expectations and procedures of a classroom.”
Of course, there’s also the education. We worked on letters, numbers, colors, reading and so on at home, but preschool (full-time pre-K in particular) really cemented those concepts.
“Pre-K teachers are able to create learning opportunities through purposeful play, allowing students to learn through experiences rather than worksheets,” explains Brown.
“The Pre-K classroom has opportunities to play, explore and create in a way that is developmentally appropriate and meets the unique needs of each student. Through these experiences, it gives students the opportunity to build language skills and vocabulary that will benefit them for years to come.”
RELATED: Is Your Child Ready for Preschool?
Long-term positive outcomes for preschool students
Indeed, various long-term benefits are documented in research. A study that came out in December 2020 looked at children who attended a preschool with an enrichment program developed by Penn State. The program was designed to improve social and emotional skills plus language and literacy through “stories, puppets and other activities that introduce concepts like understanding feelings, cooperation friendships skills and self-control skills.”
Researchers found that the students were less likely to have behavior problems, trouble with peers or experience anxious or depressed feelings in adolescence.
“The program had an effect on internal benefits, including better emotion management and emotional well-being, as well as external benefits, such as reduced conduct problems,” reported Karen Bierman, Penn State Evan Pugh professor of psychology. “So not only did the program result in fewer distressed adolescents, but it also resulted in less distress for their teachers and peers, as well.”
The program in the study focused on kids from low-income families, but the ideas and outcomes are important for children across the board.
Of course, not just any preschool program will do—it’s important to vet various schools and find the program that’s best for your family. Not sure what to ask? Check out these 11 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Preschool.
This article was originally published in January 2021.
Image: iStock
6 Benefits of Preschool for Your Child
In every family, there comes a time when parents will need to decide whether they should enroll their child in a preschool, nursery, or other early childhood education program.
Sometimes this is a necessity, especially for working parents. Sometimes it is just one of many options available, including potentially keeping a child at home or hiring outside help like a nanny. In either case, every parent wants to know: What is best for my child?
Whichever situation you find yourself in, you can breathe a sigh of relief, because there’s some good news when it comes to enrolling a child in preschool: Years of studies and research tell us that children who attend preschool are better prepared for kindergarten and are more likely to succeed than children who don’t attend. And that’s because these programs bring a long list of benefits to the table that can be difficult to achieve solely at home.
Ready to take the next step? Come visit Friends’ Central to see what we’re all about!
Here, we look at 6 important ways that preschool can benefit your child.
1. Preschool gives your child an academic head start.
One of the more obvious benefits of preschool and other early childhood education programs is the fact that they help lay the groundwork that a child needs to be successful in kindergarten and beyond.
Preschool programs often aim to familiarize children with everything from their ABCs (letter recognition, basic reading skills) to numbers (basic addition and subtraction) to specials like basic science, history, and even foreign languages. This foundation, reinforced with what they’re already learning with you at home, is critical to everything they’ll learn going forward.
And they’ll accomplish this learning while singing, dancing, playing games, and otherwise having fun!
2. Preschool will help your child develop critical social skills.
In addition to learning important academic lessons, children enrolled in preschool programs have an added benefit of having more practice when it comes to their social skills. The foundation of these skills are laid at home when a child learns the proper ways to interact with siblings, cousins, and playdates, but expand greatly when your child has the opportunity to be around other children outside the household.
And that makes preschool the perfect place for your little ones to start practicing their social skills and learning new ones like:
- How to share and take turns
- How to control their emotions
- How to make friends
- How to tune out distraction
- How to interact with adults from outside the family
All of these social skills will come in extremely handy for the more structured setting they’ll experience in kindergarten, and will make it easier for them to adapt.
3. Preschool helps build fine motor skills necessary to success.
If you hand a crayon to a three year old and ask them to draw you a house, chances are good that the picture you get is going to look more like a bowl of spaghetti than a house. Even if a child knows what a house looks like, they likely just don’t have the fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination required to complete the picture.
Luckily, the hands-on nature of most preschool activities all work to help your child build those fine motor skills and become steadier.
In fact, the activities offered in preschool settings are typically designed to specifically aid in fine motor development. Everything from holding a pencil to buttoning their jacket, gluing elbow macaroni to construction paper, and hand-signing along to The Itsy Bitsy Spider will help further develop those skills.
And those fine motor skills matter. Developing those skills early will allow your child more ability and freedom to pursue necessary tasks, and may even have an impact on future academic success. A number of recent studies have found that early fine motor skill development were a predictor for math and reading achievement in elementary school and beyond.
4. Preschool is a baby step into the more structured setting of kindergarten.
Teaching your children about rules and structure is a natural part of being a parent. That’s why we tell them “no” to things that might be dangerous, why they can’t have cookies for dinner, and why we make sure they stick to a schedule.
But even the most structured of home settings is vastly different from what a child will experience in kindergarten, where they’ll be expected to raise their hand when they want to speak, follow instruction, and pay attention.
Though not as structured as kindergarten by any means, preschool begins to introduce children to the structure that they’ll encounter in the grades above. This will make that future transition much easier for everyone involved.
This structure also introduces children to the basics of self-care, reinforcing positive behaviors that parents introduce at home. Daily tasks like helping to set up for an activity, cleaning up after play, washing hands before snacks, etc. all help children learn to be accountable to both themselves and others.
5. Preschool will give your child a chance to be independent.
Building independence is an important part of growing up, and the sooner that children are able to start practicing those skills, the better equipped they’ll be when they enter kindergarten.
Preschool helps children flex their independence muscles in a number of ways. They may be encouraged to make decisions for themselves (in terms of what snack they’d like to eat, or what activity they’d like to take part in). They will be encouraged to make their own friendships (with guidance, of course). And they’ll be encouraged to ask questions and explore.
All of these skills will be helpful as your child continues to develop academically and socially—really, on all levels.
6. Preschool exposes children to people different from themselves.
Preschool is a great way to begin teaching children the important lessons of diversity, and it achieves this by introducing your child to other children from different cultural, religious, and economic backgrounds. This is done through both the curriculum—through books and stories about characters from all across the world, for example—as well as through the direct experience of working, learning, and playing with children and teachers from other backgrounds.
Frankly put, diversity lays the foundation of equality and fairness, important qualities for children to have, and helps children learn to respect both each other and themselves. Students who attend high-quality preschool programs are taught to celebrate both the similarities and differences that we all have.
And diversity also plays a positive role in academics. By introducing your children to the life experiences of others, they can begin to view the world from perspectives other than their own, aiding in critical thinking and even in cognitive and language skills.
More Than Just ABCs
Preschool isn’t just about teaching your child their ABCs and their 123s. It’s also an opportunity for them to begin developing important social skills, grow their fine motor movements, and ease into the more structured school setting that they’ll experience in kindergarten. All of this while encouraging them to develop independence and a loving, caring attitude for others.
It’s all of those benefits taken together that really make preschool so important for young children.
Parent’s Guide – Teacher’s Newspaper
There are a number of benefits available to parents of children attending kindergarten.
Photo: press service of the Ministry of Education of Russia
According to the State Services: for Parents Telegram channel, there are many benefits in the kindergarten. Using some of them can greatly simplify the life of parents of kindergarteners.
Admissions Advantage
Parents usually apply to the preschool and wait in line. But there are several categories of citizens who have a priority right to enroll in kindergarten. These include, for example, children of judges, prosecutors, employees of the Investigative Committee, military personnel, police officers, FSIN, FSSP, FCS and firefighters. In addition, children from large families and children of parents with disabilities can count on preferential enrollment.
Also, priority in enrollment is given to children whose older brothers and sisters already go to this kindergarten. Regions may, at their discretion, include additional categories of citizens. nine0005
Reimbursement of parental fees
It is also possible to refund part of the parental fee for kindergarten. Parents pay for kindergarten visits on the basis of an agreement. Some families are eligible for benefits. One of these measures is the compensation of parental fees for a child. It is calculated as follows:
- at least 20% for the first child;
- at least 50% for the second child;
- at least 70% for the third child.
- in compartment carriages, SV 1 , reserved seat, general and seated carriages in domestic traffic – up to 65% discount;
- in carriages of the Soft class in domestic traffic – free of charge.
nine0027
Parents must first pay for the services in full, and only then part of the funds will be returned to their account. Sometimes regions establish additional conditions for receiving compensation. To apply for a benefit, you must apply directly to the kindergarten where the child goes. Sometimes this can be done through the regional portals of the State Services, at the MFC or through social security.
Exemption from kindergarten fees
There are categories of children who are exempt from kindergarten fees. These include children with disabilities, orphans and those left without parental care, children with tuberculosis intoxication. Regions can also add other citizen groups. nine0005
Dietary meals
If the child is entitled to dietary meals and the parent has submitted a certificate of this to the preschool institution, the kindergarten is obliged to organize a dietary table for the child. For this, a nutritionist is involved. He makes a menu suitable for each child so that the portions meet the standards. To use this benefit, parents need to write an application addressed to the head of the kindergarten and attach the necessary medical documents. Documents can be submitted in person or by mail. nine0005
If the kindergarten ignores the appeal and continues to feed the child with products that he cannot, then the parent has the right to file an application with Rospotrebnadzor and the prosecutor’s office.
Sometimes the kindergarten pays extra for dietary meals. To find out the amount of payment, you need to go to the website of the city administration or check directly with the head of the kindergarten.
Compensation for the lack of a place in a kindergarten
If the child is not given a place in a kindergarten, the parent can claim compensation. Unfortunately, such a benefit is not provided at the federal level, only at the regional level. Therefore, the conditions for obtaining it and its size can vary greatly. nine0005
There may be different requirements for the age of children, the amount of the payment and the level of family income. In one region, such compensation is provided for parents with disabilities, and in another – for low-income and large families. For example, in the Arkhangelsk region, such compensation is equal to 2245 rubles for children from 1.5 to 6 years old. At the same time, the family must have an income not exceeding 1.
5 living wages per capita. To find out about compensation, you must contact the kindergarten itself, social security or another education authority. nine0005
Benefits for children traveling by rail
(for specific questions about fares, etc., please contact Russian Railways directly at
or call tel.0005
| Benefits category | Travel concession | Documents for issuing a discount ticket |
| 9. Pupils and pupils of general educational institutions over 10 years old |
1. 50% discount on travel in common, reserved seat and carriages with seats for long-distance fast and passenger trains in domestic traffic. 2. When traveling in branded fast and branded passenger trains in domestic traffic, the passenger pays 50% of the fare in a regular fast or passenger train and the difference between the fare in a branded fast or branded passenger train and the fare in a regular fast or passenger train. In 2017 (as in 2016), Russian Railways provides a 50% discount for children from 10 to 17 years old from June 1 to August 31, 2016 for travel in reserved seat, common cars, cars with train seats long-distance routes of the “fast” and “passenger” categories plying in domestic traffic, and cars of the 2nd and 3rd class of the multiple unit rolling stock. There will be ADDITIONAL INFORMATION about discount travel in the summer of 2018. You can issue a reduced ticket for trains departing for 90 days. When issuing a railway ticket in the online system, the discount is provided automatically when you specify the “full” fare and enter information about children from 10 to 17 years old. When issuing tickets for these trains, it will be sufficient to present the number of the birth certificate or the child’s passport (or information about identity documents). When traveling to / from the Kaliningrad region, a discount is provided for the entire route. This discount does not include reduction coefficients to tariffs offered as part of the promotions of JSC FPC (a subsidiary of Russian Railways) for travel in reserved seat, common carriages and carriages with seats. nine0005 IMPORTANT A school certificate is not required during the summer period. In the period from September 1 to December 31 and from January 1 to May 31, when boarding a train, an underage passenger must present a travel document and an identity document (or a notarized copy of a birth certificate for children under 14 years old), on the basis of which the travel ticket was issued document, and a certificate from a general educational institution (indicating the number of the certificate). The age of the child is determined on the day of travel. nine0005 |
When buying a flight, it is indicated that a student, and when boarding a train, a certificate of a student, a pupil of full-time education is required |
| 10. Children |
1. 2. The passenger has the right to carry on separate seats children aged 5 to 10 years old with payment in accordance with the children’s fare, which includes a discount from the cost of an adult fare in domestic traffic and with the CIS and Baltic countries (depending on the train category, type and wagon class and service, distance and route): 3. Benefits for the travel of children in interstate traffic (foreign countries). |
Certificate birth |
nine0005
A passenger has the right to carry free of charge 1 child under the age of 5 years, if he does not occupy a separate seat in compartment cars, SV 1 , reserved seat, general and seated cars, and not older than 10 years in Soft class cars. (the child’s data is entered in the passenger’s railway ticket) 1 SV carriages are marked as L (luxury) carriages when purchasing travel documents.
nine0005
Useful information
A child under 5 traveling with an adult on a long-distance train, if he does not occupy a separate seat, is issued a non-cash travel document.
Children between 5 and 10 years of age must purchase a child ticket. The children’s ticket has discounts on the fare. The cost of a child ticket is approximately 35% in regular carriages and 50% in carriages with services of the ticket price for an adult
Only one child under 5 years of age can travel free of charge with a passenger, unless they occupy a separate seat. If an adult is carrying two children under 5 years old, then for one of them you need to purchase a child ticket with a seat. nine0005
Children under the age of 10, unaccompanied by adults, are not allowed to travel on trains. As a document for a child who is a citizen of Russia, under the age of 14 inclusive, his BIRTH CERTIFICATE is indicated. You can also indicate the PASSPORT of the child, if any.