Children benefit from more time in preschool

Children benefit from spending more time in preschool, and that benefit would be increased if the programs focussed more on certain skills, reports a new study in the journal Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

According to researchers at Michigan State University, preschool programs help children acquire valuable literacy skills, especially when the children attend preschool for two years, instead of just one. The researchers felt, however, that the schools could do a better job teaching other important aspects, like vocabulary skills and self-control.

"In terms of kindergarten preparation, I believe preschool does a very good job in certain areas in promoting children’s skill sets. But it might do a better job if there was also explicit attention directed at building children’s self-regulation and vocabulary skills," explained Lori Skibbe, one of the study’s authors.

Tough economic times have governments thinking of cutting back on publicly-funded preschool programs. Skibbe and her co-authors, on the other hand, are recommending that the programs be expanded instead.

"Children should be spending more time in preschool, not less, because the results appear to be cumulative. Children who spent two years in preschool, for example, did better in literacy," she explained.