Pre-K - it's not just about social skills anymore
Pre-K - it's not just about social skills anymore

Teachers at Quail Creek Elementary now use a math wall that features the days of the week and the value of money, in an attempt to lay the foundation for math as early as possible.

Instructors also have started introducing the fundamentals of science during prekindergarten.

Since the advent of federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind and the prevalence of computers in classrooms, curriculums have changed nationwide as well as here in Oklahoma. Schools that once used the pre-K years primarily to socialize children are now making use of those early years to lay the foundation for not only reading, but math and science, as well.

"I think the value is coming through. We don't want our children to be behind, no matter what school it is. And in today's society, the community expects our children to excel in those areas,” said Quail Creek Elementary Principal Jan Matthews.

"Every child deserves the best education, whether they are at Quail Creek or any other institution. That is a belief that we all share.”

In terms of math and science, communities have clearly begun to correlate success in those areas with success in high school and life in general.

"Math is so accelerated now, if we don't set the foundation for them, they are not going to be ready for the higher math in high school and college,” Matthews said.

"The requirement has come down the line, and we have accepted the challenge that we have to do our part.”

"Brain development is much more vulnerable to environmental influence than previously suspected and early environmental influence on brain development is long lasting,” according to research from the Carnegie Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Children. That report was published in 1994. In 1996, more neurological research on the early childhood learning was made available.

The above research has pointed to the importance of "learning windows” — optimal times for learning at particular developmental stages.

Since then, curriculums have responded and integrated numerous academic principles regarding math and science at younger ages.

"The current national redirection of science and math teaching is grounded in this theory, which stresses the use of a teaching/learning cycle and explorations through the manipulation of objects and materials,” a representative for the association said.

Schools also rely more heavily lately on statistical analysis to evaluate teaching methods and student success, Matthews said.

"We use benchmarks. The district has the pass objectives divided into each quarter ... and we have this new software that has benchmarks that evaluates each specific skill within math. So it lets the teachers know how many students didn't grasp a certain concept,” Matthews said.

"Data analysis is very important now in all instruction. Our district has been very, very thorough in training the teachers in how to interpret the data.

"A lot of this stems from No Child Left Behind. Research has told us that we have to know where the child is and then build on that. Then if there are gaps, if the child has moved around from various districts or has had excessive absences then we can see that. And that's where the intervention comes in,” she added.

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