(From the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education)
As studies continue to show the importance of high-quality early childhood education, the Department has announced Missouri will apply for a federal grant that would produce needed funds for pre-K education in the state.
The U.S. Department of Education Preschool Development Grant would provide the state with up to $17.5 million per year to expand high-quality preschool for 4-year olds in targeted high-needs communities. The grant is renewable for up to four years and would allow Missouri to greatly expand its early childhood education program.
The Department held a roundtable discussion on Tuesday with more than 60 stakeholders including educators, early childhood experts, teaching organizations and other interested groups to discuss the need for more high-quality early childhood education in Missouri. The session focused on how to best present those needs moving forward.
“It is important all children have access to high-quality early childhood education,” said Janet Rinehart, director of the Missouri Preschool Project Learning Community Program and Project Construct. “This is the first step in ensuring all Missouri children have that.”
According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, Missouri is near the bottom in terms of funding for pre-K programs, ranking 38th out of 41 states with a state preschool program.
“It is clear that investing in early childhood education is imperative for the success of Missouri’s children,” said Stacey Preis, assistant commissioner in the office of Early and Extended Learning. “We must continue to increase the availability of high-quality preschool in Missouri so children can enter kindergarten ready for school.”
States that receive the grant will be announced in December.
Ensuring that all Missouri children enter kindergarten prepared to be successful in school is one of the primary goals of the Department’s Top 10 by 20 initiative, which calls for Missouri to be one of the top 10 states for education by 2020.
Will preschool be required? If not, many of the very people you are trying to reach will not participate. Many parents just don't like to be bothered with getting their children to school, no matter what the age.
ReplyDeleteWill the mandatory age requirement for school be changed? Right now, children are not required by law to be in school until they are 7 years old. That means we can't even require children to go to kindergarten now.
I am not against early childhood education. I'm just not sure that this is the answer or fix.
To start, parents need to parent. Children need to be talked with, played with, sung to and read to. They should be fed and clothed and kept clean. Their play should include playing outside, games (non-electronic), blocks, playdoh and jump rope rhymes. They should get to explore water, sand and various art materials. They should get to count the spoons while they put them on the table, sing the alphabet while taking a bath, color, draw and write with pencils, crayons and markers, cut coupons, find letters on boxes and cans in the kitchen and hear stories read at bedtime.
These are the things that help kids be ready for school. When these things happen, children will come to school ready to learn. When these things happen, teachers won't be dealing with students who have never seen a book, touched a pencil or crayon and can't recognize their own name.