Prekindergarten Programs Add To Learning Experience

STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER • @NWASAMANTHA Jalena Howard, right, watches as Emma Grace Garner, 3, jumps into a foam square during the Pre-K Literacy Fair. during the Pre-K Literacy Fair.
STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER • @NWASAMANTHA Jalena Howard, right, watches as Emma Grace Garner, 3, jumps into a foam square during the Pre-K Literacy Fair. during the Pre-K Literacy Fair.

ROGERS -- Numbers and letters, shapes and sharing are hallmarks of early learning and prekindergarten represents a hands-on start to school, educators said.

Aedyn Liljenberg, 5, of Rogers, said he likes playing outside and story time in his prekindergarten class.

Web Watch

Prekindergarten

You can search Head Start, Arkansas Better Chance and private prekindergarten facilities through the Arkansas Better Beginnings program. Visit www.arbetterbeginni… and select the “find child care” button to search for programs in your area.

At A Glance

State-Funded Programs

Preschool is publicly paid for through the Arkansas Better Choice program in both public and private settings. Public schools can pay for classrooms through grants, but state formula funding is for grades kindergarten through 12. Head Start programs are federally paid for and serve families considered at poverty level.

Source: Staff Report

"I like all the parts of my school, even nap time," Aedyn said.

Mom Tiffany Liljenberg said she thought about teaching Aedyn at home for prekindergarten, but after two weeks of classes, he had adapted to school, even nap time. He's learned about schedules and his social skills are better, she said.

She had high expectations for the program and wished her son had more solid reading skills, Liljenberg said. Still, her second child will join the prekindergarten class this fall. She wants her children to be ready to learn, Liljenberg said.

"They're pushing kids a lot sooner to learn more earlier," she said.

State rules for the Arkansas Better Chance program require teacher certifications, daily schedules, individual education plans, an open door policy for parents and 60 minutes of outdoor play during the children's seven-hour prekindergarten day.

Classrooms are required to have a minimum of eight stations: blocks, dramatic play, stories and language development, art, discovery and science, sand and water play, manipulatives and music.

While national studies recognize Arkansas for its program requirements, not all children are able to attend. Public prekindergarten access in Arkansas is limited to families with incomes within 200 percent of the poverty level.

For 2013-14 that means a single parent with one child making $31,020 or less, or a family of four making $47,100 or less, would qualify. There are 2,310 seats in the Arkansas program between Benton and Washington counties.

Public schools can add seats to the state programs, but only if they are grant-funded. Between grants and Arkansas Better Chance there are 280 program slots in Bentonville public schools, 120 in Fayetteville public schools and 340 in Rogers public schools. Rogers has 84 children in a home-based program.

Springdale anticipates adding slots through federal grants and will have 880 seats for prekindergarten children in the fall.

Children who attend prekindergarten may be better with colors and counting, but they also recognize more words, said Jennifer Bowman, a training adviser at Early Care and Education Projects at the University of Arkansas. Bowman pointed to a paper estimating children will be exposed to 13 million words versus 45 million words, without prekindergarten.

The Arkansas Longitudinal Report, a study that compares children enrolled in Arkansas Better Chance with children who had no prekindergarten lessons, found early differences in math scores. By fourth grade the greatest point differences were in reading, fluency and comprehension, according to the 2013 report.

Literacy is about teachers reading, but also about making a connection between the child's world and what they are about to learn, said Cathy Davis, early childhood director for the Rogers School District. Teachers read to children, but children replay the story through picture representations, or play, or telling one another their favorite part.

Prekindergarten introduces letters and sounds, and by the end of the year, children are pushing them together and beginning to read, Davis said.

"It starts in prekindergarten, so that they never get behind," Davis said.

Simple conversations can build vocabulary, said Deniece Honeycutt, assistant director of Early Care and Education Projects at the University of Arkansas.

If a prekindergarten isn't an option, parents should talk with their children, she said.

"They get more vocabulary out of a simple children's picture book than a TV program," Honeycutt said.

The words may be the same, but the adult can connect the dots between the child's experiences and the new information, she said.

The Rogers prekindergarten program hosted a literacy fair for area parents last week. Children took home books and practiced writing their names, threading beads and playing with blocks.

Tracie Young of Rogers said her 4-year-old daughter is ready for prekindergarten come fall. She will be in line when enrollment starts next week in Rogers, Young said.

"She wants to learn everything that her brother knows," she said.

NW News on 04/13/2014

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