Pre-kindergarten

Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts).

[citation needed] They commonly follow a set of organization-created teaching standards in shaping curriculum and instructional activities and goals.

The term "preschool" more accurately approximates the name "pre-kindergarten", for both focus on harvesting the same four child development areas in subject-directed fashion.

In Oregon, currently 20% of kids have access to publicly funded pre-K of any kind, and a 2016 campaign is working to fully fund pre-K to 12 education, for all kids whose parents want them to have the option of pre-K.[6][7] A 2012 review by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University identified Oklahoma, Georgia and West Virginia as among the leaders in public program quality and fraction of enrolled children.

"[9] A 2018 study in the Journal of Public Economics found in Italy that pre-kindergarten "increased mothers' participation in the labor market and lowered the reservation wage of the unemployed, thus increasing their likelihood of finding a job" but "did not affect children's cognitive development, irrespective of their family background.

"[12] The Perry Preschool Project was a study on the impact of pre-kindergarten programs on outcomes for disadvantaged youth.

[17] This is due in part to the opinion that academic skills are to be taught through formal instruction after children enter primary school.

[16] According to information from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), low-income immigrant families are less likely to use center-based childcare, such as pre-kindergarten, than children of non-immigrants.

[19] While some Latino families prefer in-home childcare, many report wanting to enroll their children in a pre-kindergarten program.

Interviews with immigrant mothers revealed common motivations for seeking pre-kindergarten placements for their children, including maternal employment, opportunity to learn English and social and emotional development.

On average, immigrants tend to experience higher poverty rates due to low wages, less education and a lack of English proficiency.

[21] Pre-K's focus on cognitive, social, emotional and physical development would address these skills and reduce the inequalities in school readiness between children from immigrant and non-immigrant families.