EV'S COLUMN

Child Needs Preschool But Dad Objects

Q.  My child will be four in May of 2008. I had every intention to enroll him in preschool to help him gain a step ahead in his education. I grew up in a household where education was very important. My father has two degrees; I have an associates. However my husband and his mother were only educated through high school. They also say it is far too expensive. But my own parents are considering helping out with the expenses.  How do I convince my mother in law and husband that preschool is important and worthwhile to our child?

A. First you can go online to find sites that tell of the importance of learning in the early years...and all the new research that tells us thatlearning starts very, very early, in infancy. One such site is iamyourchild.com, but there are many.  See my website www.askevelyn.com for other links and resources.  Print out what you find that will help convince them that early education is important, especially in today’s world that has changed so much in the last decade.  

An excellent way to solve your problem regarding cost is to enroll your son child in a Head Start program, which in most cases is free.  Fours are a high priority in the Head Start enrollment process, as are children with any
type of special needs, even speech.  Head Start is an excellent program with high standards for hands on learning and it emphasizes math, science and literacy in all its programs. 

There are many types of Head Start programs.  Some are joint partnerships with child care provider programs.  Some have home visitors that will come to your home to work with your child on certain days of the week and have your child go to the center on other days, or at least go to the preschool center once a month for an experience with other children.  

You may think that Head Start takes only children from low income families, but the formula also takes other things into consideration, including family size and needs, as well as income.  Also, many people do not know that Head Start also takes a certain percentage of over income children, and you might qualify in that way.  You need to call your local Head Start program to talk about your own situation.

If you can find no Head Start that has openings, at least use the National Association for the Education of Young Children to help in your search for a child care center.  Call 800-424-2460 for their free brochure about what to look for in a good program.

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