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DISCOVERY CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER
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Episode 28 - Importance of high quality pre-k

Dr. Suzanne Bouffard, author of The Most Important Year: Pre-Kindergarten and the Future of Our Children, joins us to discuss her research studying pre-K classrooms, and why high quality programs are so valuable for children and families. 
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Importance of High Quality Pre-K

Episode 28
​Dr. Suzanne Bouffard, Author of the Most Important Year: Pre-Kindergarten and the Future of our Children, joins us to discuss her research studying pre-K classrooms, and why high quality programs are so valuable to children and families.

Benefits of Attending PreK

  • First 5 years of life are fastest time for brain development
  • Brain more flexible and pliable than at any other age, gets rid of pathways not being used
  • Social and emotional capabilities to help them be successful in school just as important as cognitive skills
  • Children on average are more successful if they have gone to high quality PreK
  • Less likely to be held back and placed in special education if attended PreK
  • Cost-benefit studies have found that for every dollar invested in high quality preschool, country saves $3-10 over the long-term 
  • Benefits for peers of children who attended preschool - More kids have the skills to function successful in the classroom
  • Children learn how to wait and listen
  • No matter how well teach at home to be self-regulated, cannot simulate the classroom environment
  • Taps into natural curiosity of children
  • Environments are set up for children to thrive
Quality PreK
  • Develop Curiosity in Kids
  • Teach children how to think about problems
  • Think about how things work
  • Try new things
  • Experience and understand what they are learning ex. walk through a garden and really understand the parts of plants
  • Learn how to be part of a group
  • Teach routines such as waiting their turn
  • Opportunity for children to learn independence
  • Not about controlling children, but teaching skills to help children learn to self-regulate
  • Helps children learn to exert strategies later on their own and will not have to rely on external reinforcements
  • Help develop cognitive skills in the context of getting excited about learning and self-regulation
  • Meet children where they are
Benefits of Play
  • Children retain more when they learn through play, especially scaffolded play
  • Asking kids questions while playing
  • Pretend play is a fun way to teach a lot of cognitive skills
  • Helps a lot with self-regulation skills
  • When you take on a role, need to take on expectations of that role ex. Child who is the food server will learn to bring the food over and customer learns to wait for food
  • Help other children learn social expectations and then learn to regulate themselves
  • Pretend play can also help with impulse control and waiting
  • Stephanie Carlson’s study “What Would Batman Do” showed that when children were given a role as a character were able to wait longer and had more impulse control. Kids have distance and can step away from the situation and are less tempted
  • When children have distance from a situation, and can step away from the situation, they are less tempted​
Play vs. Academic Preschools
  • Does not need to be either academic or play-based
  • Strongest prediction of reading comprehension is background knowledge
  • Greater vocabulary and knowledge of word leads to better comprehension
  • Need challenges to meet them where they are 
  • Focus on fundamentals rather than outcomes
  • Word play really important - play with rhymes and alliteration
Engaging Children at Home
  • Have children express needs in words 
  • Help develop strategies for waiting
  • How to work out conflicts
  • Give children language to use when someone is unkind
  • Teachers can give parents strategies they can try at home
  • Encourage curiosity
  • Teach children to notice things in their environment ex. what do you think will happen next?
  • Everyday challenges - count stairs as you go up and down, pointing out when you see something that start with a letter of their name
Show and Tell
  • Take a look at teachers when touring preschool
  • Do they look happy, are they engaging the children?
  • What are the children in the classroom doing?

The Most Important Year - Pre-Kindergarten and the Future of Our Children by Suzanne Bouffard
The Batman Effect: What My Research Shows about Pretend Play and Executive Functioning by Stephanie Carlson
​

Serving Cary and Morrisville since 2010
About
At a Glance
Discovery Story
Meet Us
Calendar
Philosophy
Contact Us
Photo Gallery
Parents 
Testimonials


​Blog


Admissions
Schedule a Tour
​Tuition
Programs
Young Preschool
Preschool
Pre-K
Kindergarten/TK
​Summer Camps


Podcast



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Discovery Child Development Center
11000 Lake Grove Blvd.
Morrisville, NC 27560
919-234-0735
email: info@discoverychilddevelopmentcenter.com
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  • Home
  • About
    • At a Glance
    • Discovery Story
    • Meet Us
    • FAQs
    • Calendar
    • Our Philosophy
    • Contact Us
    • Photo Gallery
    • Parents
    • Testimonials
  • Programs
    • Young Preschool
    • Preschool
    • Pre-k
    • Kindergarten/TK
    • Remote Learning
    • Summer Camps
  • Admissions
    • Schedule a Tour
    • Tuition
  • Podcast
  • Blog