Currently, five states do not allocate state funds to preschools. What does this mean?

For parents who want to send their children to preschool to help them get a head start on fundamental academic and life skills, they do not have a “free” option, which is funded through tax payers. Instead, their only option is to choose a private preschool which most of the time, can be expensive.

For most children, preschool is the first place where they are in a structured environment with a teacher and other kids. Along with emotional and social development, this is where they further their knowledge on how to share, follow instructions, and begin a foundation of learning that will continue in elementary school.

So why does it matter if states spend funding on preschools? For kids that live in Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, or Wyoming, they might not get that head start to kindergarten like most children do just because their parents cannot afford to send them to a private preschool.

Not only do they miss out on advantageous learning skills, they also miss out on making friends and the social aspect of being in school. According to the national education association, preschool helps children be more successful in elementary school, learn strong social skills, as well as decreases crime rate in the future. Without it, kids are facing a disadvantage once they start kindergarten.

As you can see, the benefits of enrolling children in preschool are overwhelming. Most of the time it is the first structured environment for kids and because of this, they learn so much about how to behave and learn in a classroom setting. It is upsetting to see that some states still have not realized all of the important tools that early childhood education supplies kids with, which helps them be more successful in the future.