Scott Mooneyham nails it when he says,”If preschool and child care programs do not produce significant gains in social and cognitive development or those initial gains are not sustained as the children go through school, then these programs are simply a waste of money. It is worth the time and money to find out how these students fare as they progress through school.”
I say… we must do different to have different! We should be regulating the public dollars spent on early childhood in every state, local municipality and nationally. It is true, early childhood is an economic investment for our country. There is no denying its impact on crime, welfare and employability. However, when is enough… enough? When do we begin assessing whether or not the parent is being accountable for being the first teacher? Wouldn’t that matter for the use of our public dollars? Would you give money to a drug addict for rehab when he continues to use drugs? Would you purchase and pay insurance on a car for a family member that refuses to drive in a safe manner?
So then… would you pay for a child’s education when the parent is taking very few or no steps to make the most of that education? The parent doesn’t attend parent/teacher conferences… doesn’t send the child to school regularly… doesn’t enhance the learning at school with practice at home… doesn’t use the public library for reading daily… and the list could go on and on.
Again… when are parents going to held accountable for the public dollars we are spending on early childhood education? Maybe… just maybe, no one has thought to require them to be active participants working toward increased cognitive, social, emotional and physical abilities. If parents don’t want the responsibility, then they don’t get the services. Many families don’t have the priveledge of these services because household income is too great. And, as funny as it may sound, the children who aren’t served through our public education dollars are scoring sometimes two times higher on standardized tests than the “uncontrolled group” receiving the services. Is it the teacher’s fault… I think not!
Did anyone ever read The Little Red Hen? You know… you don’t do the work… you don’t reap the reward! We must start expecting more from those that are the most influential in a child’s life. Being your child’s first teacher is every parent’s job – the rich, the just-getting-by and the poor!
