Back To School: Pre-K Options For St. Louis Families

July 30, 2020

Pre-K, serving children ages three through five, offers children an age-appropriate start to their formal education – learning through play, building relationships with peers and nurturing adults, and getting ready for more structured school environments. As the coronavirus pandemic has revealed for many families, pre-K programs offer young children much-needed learning opportunities and consistent, trustworthy care parents seek. Many pre-K classrooms across St. Louis are open and providing safe, reliable care. Let’s discuss more about Pre-K options for St. Louis families.

Why Enroll In Pre-K?

Children are born learning. From the moment they come into the world, their experiences and interactions with other people shape what they know and the skills they build. Early childhood is an important period of learning that creates the foundation of future education will build on.

While the imaginative play and finger paint you might see in a pre-K classroom don’t look as rigorous as high school calculus or English literature, it is just, if not more, important because students are learning the core skills – like planning, focus, self-control, building relationships, and the basics of reading, writing, and critical thinking – they will need throughout their lifetime. During the pre-K years, children’s brains undergo a burst of development, making it the perfect time to establish and strengthen these skills.

Decades of research show that attending a high-quality pre-K program leads to immediate and long-term gains; pre-K graduates are more likely to achieve academically, graduate from high school, go to college, and get a good job in adulthood.

Finding The Right Program For Your Child

Pre-K programs are almost as varied as the children they serve. As you consider different pre-K options to find the best match for your family, it’s important to find out:

  • How each program approaches instruction.
  • Their goals for student learning.
  • How they work with families to support student learning.

It’s Also Helpful To Weigh:

  • The number of days per week offered.
  • The hours per day of care provided, including extended day services.
  • Access to additional community resources and family support that may be available.

Program Quality

It is important to choose a pre-K program that meets the needs of your schedule, which is close to where you live or work, and that is affordable. As you consider different options, it is also important to learn more about the different markers of program quality. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offers tips to help parents spot high-quality programs and an overview of what children should be learning in them.

To make sure programs meet certain quality standards, parents can also:

  • Confirm that a program is licensed, meaning it meets the state’s basic requirements for safety and instruction.
  • Determine whether a program has earned NAEYC or Missouri Accreditation – more rigorous sets of program standards.
    • Learn more about the NAEYC standards here.
    • Learn more about the Missouri Accreditation standards here.
  • Contacting Child Care Aware of Missouri for search support.

Cost

High-quality private programs can be costly, but there are a number of resources available for families that need financial support for pre-K that make it affordable.

Investing time and energy in weighing your pre-K options and selecting the program that’s right for your child will pay dividends for your entire family now and in the years to come. Start your pre-K journey by searching for pre-K programs in St. Louis.