I thought it was interesting that while preschool is GOOD for poorer families, it was the middle-class white people that had the least benefit, both socially and academically. Preschool can be bad for middle class families when the alternative is quality time with their mother- one who isn't a dead-beat drunk and as a middle class woman, has a decent education and vested interest in their child, as most middle-class stay-at-home moms (or dads) do. That's what I think this boils down to. I would argue Doman's point, that mothers make the best mothers. That's not always possible when mom has to work, but I would argue that it's the gold standard whenever possible.
They also touched on the quality of the preschool. The reason Mexicans may have benefited more by preschool is because they go to programs like headstart, while white kids go to the neighbor's preschool- one which might be awesome or could be nothing more than a babysitting service. There's a wide discrepancy in quality while headstart is more uniform. And while I often cringe at the "just let them play" crowd because they don't want any school time at all, I do agree that children need time to play and a good preschool will have a good balance between academic support, structured play, and free play with adult supervision.
Children really do gain a lot from being with their peers though. My kids get plenty of that at home,
. But if I had an only child, I would make a special effort to involve him in community outreach programs, like the nature center class that's awesome only I couldn't help my kids with their craft projects while juggling the baby so we stopped. But story time at the library is central to our week! It motivates me to read before we take the books back and keep checking more out.
I loved this article. Thanks for sharing!
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