Plan ahead for Santa Fe preschool

A4-year-old is not a 5-yearold. That’s not as obvious as you might think, or at least it is not to some school districts in California.

Running a preschool program in the public schools is more expensive than the government decision-makers thought it would be, so now 4-year-old kids are being commingled with kindergartners to save money. That’s a little like moving second-graders who can’t read into third grade with kids who are not only reading but starting to study subject matter. We all know how badly that turns out for poor readers.

I have a relative in Los Angeles who has run a large (52 kids) preschool for years and she has told me how bad the preschool situation is for the children in the public schools. A big problem is that many of the parents can see only that now they have a place to drop off their little ones that is free.

Santa Fe Public Schools leaders must be very careful when starting a preschool program that they are going to have enough money to keep it going the way it should be run. It is also extremely important that they hire teachers who are experienced in working with preschoolers and not just move kindergarten teachers into those positions. A 4-year-old is not a 5-year-old.

There was an excellent article by Jessica Smock of The Washington Post, published in The New Mexican (“Why kids deserve a preschool that lets them play,” Aug. 20), that pointed out the importance of letting children be children before heading to the more academic programs now being touted in kindergarten. In the end, I think the most important thing Smock pointed out is this: “Children learn by running, building, imagining, climbing, storytelling, exploring, pretending and singing.”

There are many ways to play, doing the activities just mentioned, that can be closely tied to what might otherwise be learned off a worksheet, if the teacher is well trained for the job.

I began to worry about the city starting a preschool when the sugar tax episode was unfolding. I thought it was premature to even think about the money. I think Santa Fe needs to figure out just how it wants to structure a preschool program and how it will either train teachers or be able to find ones who are ready to step in.

Putting together the needed money to start the program and keep it going would be a lot easier if the voting public could see that the “business plan” was well developed. Talking to our local private preschools would be a good place to start learning about what works and what doesn’t.

Just remember that every year we don’t offer a free preschool, a group of kids will have missed out on experiences that could change the direction of their lives. Good preschools are a good idea; poorly conceived ones are not. Our children deserve the best, and soon.