Is Preschool Necessary for Academic Success?

Do you need to send your child to preschool to have success in gradeschool? What are the benefits of preschool? What are the drawbacks?

McKenna on her first day of preschool

While some parents are excited and anxious for their little one to go to preschool, others do not really want their preschooler to head off to school, whether for convenience, finances, or just wanting to keep their kiddo home longer.

So for those who do not really want to do preschool, they are often left wondering, is it necessary? Will their child be hurt academically or socially if they do not go to preschool?

Preschool is Not Necessary

I don’t think sending your little preschooler to preschool is necessary. My mom didn’t send me, and I think my life turned out great. So as one who has not been there, I can say it is not a necessity.

I think a parent can quite easily teach a child everything she needs to know to be ready for kindergarten academically right from home.

Read: 15 Things Your Child Needs to Know Before Kindergarten

You can set up a preschool homeschool (I talk about how to do a preschool homeschool in this post). You can take things a little easier and do a simple learning activity of the day each day and still reach great dividends (read all about how we did a learning activity of the day here).

You can also prepare for the social aspect through various activities like small playgroups, large playgroups, playing with the neighbors, sports, and most especially church primary if you do that.

—>>>Read all about how to organize a playgroup here.

Preschool Does Have Benefits

That is not to say nothing is gained from preschool. Your child could and would learn a whole lot–and not just academically.

Studies suggest all gains made in preschool, however, are lost by about second grade. By second grade, most students find themselves on a more even playing field.

So if you are worried that your child will be behind because he didn’t go to preschool, he might be, at least for the first couple of years of school. But your child will catch up by second grade.

But on the flip side, there is the whole idea of “first impressions.” Your child only gets one shot at a first impression at school. On Becoming Preschoolwise talks about this in conjunction with being sure your child is ready for school.

If your child is not ready for school, or is ready but is behind other students, it can set your child up for difficulty throughout her academic career. That first impression might tell him he is not as smart as the other kids, and while that may be erroneous, it is still the impression made.

Does that sound dramatic? I can tell you it does not to me in the least. I have seen that happen. I believe preschool can set your child up at a better shot for success in kindergarten.

I also think a preschool teacher can better help you to know if your child is ready for kindergarten or not, which is very valuable to those children with later birthdays. Two of my kids have later birthdays, and I found the insight from preschool teachers invaluable to sending my kids on time with confidence.

Our Preschool Experience

At our house, we did just one year of preschool with each child. We did our learning activity of the day as mentioned above. That grew into a preschool homeschool as the child got older. We did a playgroup with neighborhood kids.

But the year before kindergarten, we did preschool.

With that out of the way, let me share a bit about our preschool experience here.

Brayden

With Brayden, I was able to spend a lot of time one on one with him. Kaitlyn was an easy baby and a big sleeper. We had lots of time available to us, and really needed that structured learning time each day to get us both through with some sanity.

Along came McKenna, who also was an easy baby and great sleeper. I continued being able to work with him.

Brayden also has fun neighbors and friends to play with, along with great learning opportunities in church for learning to sit quietly, raise his hand, walk, stand in line, etc.

With all of his experiences, there was no real need for preschool on any level. Never-the-less, he goes to preschool.

We started him when he was 4–his last year before kindergarten. I really must say that I am amazed at how much he learned at school. He only went three days a week for 2.5 hours at a time.

But there was something about the environment that led to him learning so much more than he did at home. He pretty much had the best preschool teacher on the planet–I am sure that something to do with it :).

I really only hoped to have him gain a better grasp on the social aspects of school, and he gained so much more. At his kindergarten screening, he scored a perfect score.

The kindergarten teacher, who has been teaching there for about as long as I have been alive, was very shocked and impressed with him. After the test, she asked me about what else he already knows and was impressed.

Now, I didn’t just send Brayden off to preschool and ignore all academic learning at home.

I noted things he needed help with and we worked on them at home. One day I was talking to his teacher and she expressed that she hopes moms are happy with what their children are learning there.

The funny thing is that struck me as an odd comment. It never really occurred to me to expect her to teach him things. Like I said, my hopes for preschool were all on a social level. I also didn’t expect her to teach my child everything he needed to know in life–that is not her job in my eyes (even though she did it). So I kind of have a different view on what is to be gained from preschool than perhaps others do.

Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn had the same preschool teacher and loved it! She had a great experience at preschool that was very similar to Brayden.

McKenna

McKenna also had the same preschool teacher and loved it. She really enjoyed the social aspect of preschool and had a lot of fun making new friends and playing with them outside of preschool.

Brinley

When Brinley went to preschool, the teacher we had loved so much had moved on to teaching in the elementary school. She had a different teacher. She LOVED preschool and LOVED her teacher.

Brinley has a late summer birthday, so she is one who I really wanted to get preschool teacher input from on if she would be ready to go to school on time or if I should keep her back a year.

As a teacher, she saw preschoolers year after year. She saw how Brinley compared to other children who would be attending preschool the next year.

She assured me Brinley was ready, we sent her on time, and we have never once second-guessed that decision.

Read more on why we sent Brinley to Kindergarten on time here.

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Caveats to Preschool

Despite my love for preschool, there are some caveats to my declaration that preschool is worth it on many levels.

One is the age of my child. You may have noticed that my children were quite old when they go to their first year of preschool. In many parts of the United States, children go to “preschool” starting at age two. My opinion is that is uneccessary.

Some do preschool because both parents work outside the home, and that makes sense. Others do need some early intervention and get that in a preschool setting. That also make sense.

But for most kids, I would say you don’t need YEARS of preschool to get the benefits of preschool.

The age is a pretty easy decision for me. It is easy to worry your child will fall behind when you see others around you sending their kiddos to preschool at a young age.

In my area, most parents don’t send their kids to preschools or any sort of organized sport until age three at the earliest (other than perhaps swimming lessons). Most don’t until age four. There isn’t some written rule we all follow, it is just what we do. When I ask moms about it, I get comments about moms wanting to keep their child home with them for as long as they can.

This isn’t some inability to cut the apron strings. The moms around me are highly concerned with moral values. They want their children armed with the ability to make moral decisions correctly before sending them off unsupervised. Yes, a teacher is present, but you cannot expect a teacher to be able to control every word and conversation said in the classroom.

This ties into another caveat of mine, and that is the environment. If there were no preschools and teachers around where I could trust the environment, I wouldn’t send my children at all.

Yes, a teacher can’t control everything, but she can try and she can pass on those same values you hold dear to your children. Most kids love their teachers.

Hearing the teacher say, “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit” is another authority figure in your child’s life teaching about accepting what you are given (don’t you love that phrase?).

I was able to trust our preschool teachers. There were times a child of mine came home and said something I didn’t like. It wasn’t ever profanity or anything, just whining words or calling a sibling a “goose.”

Because of the years at home with our moral training and because of his age and ability to understand moral reasoning, I can tell him we don’t say that word or call people names and that is the end of it.

This age of four is a great time to work on this with your child.

Remember that moral comprehension really starts around the age of three. Up until three, you have been teaching correct actions without much explanation.

Based on the maturity of your child, somewhere around three you start to add moral reasoning. Instead of just “we don’t pick the flowers,” we add in “we don’t pick the flowers because they aren’t ours” or “because other people want to be able to look at them, too.” So you now have a year or more to apply the “why” behind your “hows” with your child.

So by age four, your child is ready to step out of the home without mom hovering over him for short periods of time. He can practice what he has learned.

He can test the waters while the stakes are low and while he still cares about what mom has to say. At age four, mom is still cooler than a classmate. Mom is still the smartest person around and still has the final word.

With that in mind, I still don’t want to send them at age three. I remember when Kaitlyn was three. Kaitlyn was ready and greatly desired to go to school just like Brayden.

She could have gone at three; our teacher did a three year old class.

Kaitlyn was very smart and very socially capable. I wanted to send her because she would love it. But I felt very strongly that I need to keep her with me that extra year to continue teaching her these morals.

I wanted her to be one year stronger on her moral front when I send her out there. I think a three year old is still tender. A four year old is much stronger in that regard.

With that said, just because it was the best call for Kaitlyn won’t mean it is the best call for your little one, so decide what is best for your child.

Conclusion

So there are my rambling thoughts on preschool. These are some things for you to think over in application with your own children.

Always go with your “gut.” You know your children best and you are able to physically visit the preschool and get the vibe there.

There are always unseen and unknown factors, which is why you need to trust your instincts on what to do. One of my best friends started her little one in preschool as a 2.5 year old and she is one of the most morally straight on people I know. So it might be great for your little one.

On the flip side, no preschool at all might be great for your little one. I never went to preschool and I did very well in school.

In the end, do what is right for your individual child and family.

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17 thoughts on “Is Preschool Necessary for Academic Success?”

  1. Thank you for posting this, Val. In my area (Northern VA), almost all my SAHM friends send their kids to preschool at age 2 and to me, it just seems like daycare, which is fine, if you're ok with spending that kind of money every month so you can have some time alone (or perhaps to have 1 on 1 time with your younger child(ren)). For us, it just doesn't seem worth the money so I would like to wait until the year before kindergarten as well. My husband is a little worried about our 2 year old, though, and wonders if we should send her earlier. She is very shy when she's in a large group of people that she doesn't know really well and tends to stand off on the sidelines and just watch. I encourage her to join in but she generally refuses…I try not to push her too much so it's not a fight. In my opinion, it's probably just a phase that she will grow out of and even if preschool would solve the issue, I'm not sure it's worth it for that alone. DH wonders, though, if she should be in a "school" setting to get her more used to being in groups. We do lots of playdates and activities as it is and she is very comfortable with the people she knows well…it's only when we're with people she doesn't know as well that she gets uncomfortable. Frankly, I'm the exact same way so I don't think it's anything to worry about. If you have any insight on the concept of kids learning social skills and being "socialized" at preschool, though, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks again!

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  2. Wonderful post, Valerie.I do want to mention something about age, morals and preschool that I gleaned from your post. You mentioned that Kaitlyn is 3 and would love to go to preschool but that you want to continue to teach her for another year before you let her into a preschool environment. I think this is wonderful because according to BW a child cannot morally understand his actions, or I suppose the actions of others, until he or she is 3. When you send your child to preschool before or around the age of 3 you are allowing others to shape your child's moral self without your presence. That is concerning.Now, here is my kicker, our little girl, age 2, is scheduled to start a morning preschool this Fall. She will go 2 days per week in the mornings. Our reasoning was really her personality, she is somewhat introverted around people she does not know and my husband and I wanted to get her in these structured situations with other children her age before she became "set in her ways" and there was no going back. Lately, I have been wondering if this was the right decision because of her age and my controlling tendencies…ha. 😉 The preschool she will attend in a Christian school, with Christian workers, so that helps ease my concern a bit regarding their morals, etc. Looks like my husband and I have some new things to pray about.Thanks for such a timely and thought provoking post.

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  3. Laura,Here are my 2 cents.So many people send their children to school to be taught morals and while morals have a place in schools, although some would disagree with me on that point, morals need to be taught at home. The foundation for ALL learning should take place at home. ABC's, 123's, colors, morals, faith…should all be grounded in the home.I do not believe you need a cirriculm to teach your child morals, it isn't something you need a formal learning session for, many moral lessons are taught while living our daily life.Laura, are you thinking about homeschool? I think it is a wonderful option for many families.

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  4. Wow. Thanks for making me, and perhaps other working moms, feel really lousy. I have really enjoyed your blog and have obviously understood that you stay home with your kids. Please realize what a blessing that is.

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  5. Thank you! This post is very timely — I've just been thinking about organized activities and cutting the "apron strings". I agree with all you've said! Thanks for the reinforcement.

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  6. I think you mentioned you were going to do a post on Brayden's kindergarten requirements, and this kind of builds up on that. Can you elaborate on what you do/did for structured learning activities every day for Brayden and Kaitlyn who is almost a preschooler? I see a lot of routines with "structured learning" time but was wanting to know a bit more specifics about what is done in there. I'd like to see if I'm on the right path:) Or maybe get some good ideas.I noticed Brayden's preK is only 2.5 hrs day. I think that length is perfect! Most here are 9-1, which is 4 hrs and I personally find that a little long for their first experience at young age (I was thinking for my 3 YO who'll be 3.5 in the fall, although it might be 4 based on this:) I really like that length. I feel my LO maybe will be overwhelmed for that long.But I am curious, in your area, is kindergarten a full day program? I know there are some areas that still have half day programs but not most. So do you think going 2.5 hrs 3 days a week and then going 5 days a week fulltime is going to be a rough transition? It seems like a big leap. We have only full days here (I think 7:45-2:30 which is a LONG day!)

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  7. I'm one of the readers that asked for this post and THANK YOU for it!!! I always noticed in your daily schedules that you didn't mention pre-school so I was curious. My plan has always been to start my son at 2 1/2 3 days a week for 2 hours a day as I hope to have baby #2 by then and thought it was important to have that quality alone time with that child. You've FOR SURE given me something to pray about and think over!!! I totally agree that moral lessons come first and I may hold off until he's at least three and just see how things go. Thank you so much!! I don't know you personally but I tend to value your parenting opinion over people who I do know 😉

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  8. Abby, I would agree with you that it is both an age thing and a birth order thing. It could also be a personality thing. She might get more accustomed to large groups if she were in a school setting, but that wouldn't mean she would enjoy them any more. And it is normal for two year olds to not play with other children. They typically play around other children, but don't interact much. From what you described, I would guess she is a little shy and likes to observe and get to know people first before jumping right in, which can actually be a great and wise quality 🙂 She also could get "Socialized" in ways you wouldn't like at school 🙂 Brayden was always reserved around people he didn't know at that age. He is currently usually the "leader" among his peers, so he doesn't have social issues or anything. He just likes to analyze situations before stepping in.

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  9. Laura, here is the shortened version of my answer. It would probably deserve its own post.I am not a homeschooler nor will I be.But I don't have anything against homeschooling.There are moms I respect who are hardcore homeschoolers and think it is the only way to go.There are also moms I respect who are very adamently anti-homeschooling and think it is aweful.I really am just of the mindset to each his own. I think no matter which path you take, there will be challenges and hurdles to overcome. For those who go to school, you will have to be extra diligent in moral teaching. For those who homeschool, you will have to be very sure you provide social opportuities adaquately so your child learns to interact with people in life. Learning to deal with conflict and how to communicate effectively with others is much less painful at 5 than at 18. I don't think that can be taught fully simply in the home.If I were to homeschool, I would get some training in teaching children–preferably even a degree in childhood education. I am one who is of the opinion we should teach our children how to live in the world, but not be of the world. I think we can and should do a lot of good, and you can't do that if you try to lock yourselves away from the world (I know not all homeschoolers do that, but some do).However, if I lived somewhere where things were taught in school that I didn't agree with or the school was dangerous, I would likely homeschool.I also think if you choose to homeschool, you need to take that position of teacher very seriously. You might need to hire a cleaner to clean your house so you can dedicate the time necessary to teaching your children. You would have to treat it as a job. It can't just be something you say you do but you then end up pushing it aside for other stuff, which I see happen a lot. I think with the right effort and mindset, you can do either homeschooling or…school schooling? sucessfully.

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  10. Stephanie, I definitely did not to intend to offend working moms. Moms who asked for this post are moms who are able to make the decision and wondered why I hadn't started Brayden in preschool until he was four. I answered it honestly, and I couldn't leave reasons out that would offend moms who already have their children in schools of any sorts for any reason. If you have your children in schools/daycare, you can definitely put in the effort to do your best to make sure negative things aren't learned in the environment, both by your own actions and by making sure the environment is the best one for your child. Also, if you feel like that is best for your child, then go with it. Like I said in the post, my friend Kelli started school as a two year old. Her mom was a SAHM. And Kelli turned out great. Her mom went with what she felt was best for her individual child. None of her other children (four of them) started school that young. Kelli was the second oldest.

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  11. Emily, something else to consider is disruption to baby. If you are driving to school and picking up 3-5 days a week, that can get really disruptive. Some times it can't be helped–like McKenna was a baby when Brayden started preschool. But if your only reason for school would be to get one on one time with a baby, I really don't think it would be needed. Your older child can have independent play and would still have a nap at that age, so you can work it in quite easily. Just some things to think about 🙂

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  12. Hi Val,You send your children to public school, correct? I am a former public school teacher, and I have lots of friends who have decided to homeschool their children. My DD turns 1 today, and I have been thinking a lot lately on what I'm going to want to do when she reaches kindergarten age. I know it's a personal decision, but I am curious about your thoughts on public school vs. homeschool. Or maybe you already have a blog post about this?TIA, Kim

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  13. We are doing a co-op preschool with my 3-year-old twins, and for us it's a perfect halfway step toward full preschool when they are four. Like Kaitlyn, they are smart and socially capable, and looking forward to going to school.I know the curriculum all the moms will be using (Joy School), and I am confident it is the right thing for my two right now. I love Joy School because it is value-based, and I know my kids will have plenty of opportunities to learn academics (and we work on those daily already), but the time I have with them to give them a good foundation in good morals and values is short and precious. Joy School will help reinforce and support what we are teaching at home already.

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