Not all families send their children to preschools. For some kids, they may have started their formal education in kindergarten whereas others may have had a head start in early childhood educational programs. There are a few states that require children to attend preschool, but most of the USA leave it as an option for families to participate or not. 

Evidence has shown that teaching education and social skills to children before the age of five years old can have many benefits to children’s learning. Positive effects include improvement in language, math, literacy, and socioemotional outcomes. 

Investing in preschool programs to further improve the quality can also positively impact children’s education and life skills. With the evidence that preschools themselves can provide benefits to young kids, the better the quality of preschools, the more we can observe improvements in children’s development! 

To read more, click here! 

Ashley Bejar, UConn KIDS Research Assistant 

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