The Building Blocks to Kindergarten / LJWorld.com

Lawrence preschools are part of a statewide pre-kindergarten pilot program that some hope will eventually be available to all 4 year olds in the state.

Learning through Play

Banging sticks together while singing songs, getting familiar with the letter D, reading stories about going to the dentist - and it isn't even noon yet. It's been a busy morning for this group of four-year-olds who are part of the pre-kindergarten pilot program. In what might look like play, early childhood educators say there is lots of learning going on.

By Christine Metz

Advocates tout benefits of pre-K programs

The other day Sonya Lancaster and her 4-year-old son, Sam Sharp, had a discussion about enamel. Except, Sam didn't use the actual word. He referred to it as something like "there is just one thing that doesn't come off your teeth. It is the white part." "Yes," Lancaster said. "That's enamel." The conversation was brought to them courtesy of the letter D, which prompted a unit on dentists in Sam's pre-kindergarten classroom at the Children's Learning Center.

The first kindergarten was established in 1856. And, early childhood education has been gaining ground ever since. As researchers publish more and more findings that critical learning and developmental skills are formed years before kindergarten, the push for educating children earlier has grown. Here's a timeline of some of the key events that has brought the early childhood education movement to where it is today.

A look at some of the students in the pre-K program at the Children's Learning Center.

Name: Sofie Howard
Age: 4
What she’s learned: The ABCs, numbers and how to spell simple words like cat. She now refers to herself as an artist.
What the parents like: Twice the private day cares that Sofie had been in closed down. Mom Heather Howard feared a center would be cold and institutional. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said. “It does a great job of preparing children for kindergarten.”

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