Is Kindergarten a Good or Bad Idea? The Effects of Preschool on Children's Social, Behavioral, and Cognitive Development

Essay from the year 2016 in the subject Psychology - Developmental Psychology, grade: 10.00, , language: English, abstract: This paper examines the effects of preschool on the development of children's learning skills, moral behavior, and social competence. It is based on the research on the impact of care centers on kids. The articles considered in the paper analyze three aspects of preschool education: behavioral, social, and cognitive. Although the articles present different perspectives on the issue, the results of the studies may be attributed to the position either for or against children's attending kindergarten. As preschool is found to have possible positive influence in only one scale out of three, its impact on children is considered mostly negative. The conclusion can be drawn that attending kindergarten is not an indispensable condition of kids' development. The suggestion is made that preschool system requires innovative highly qualified and affordable programs that would use an individual approach to children. An alternative solution implies sending children to kindergarten for no longer than three hours a day followed by enhanced parents' care.