It's an issue South Dakota legislators have debated several times in the past few years.
New data may give lawmakers the extra push to create voluntary pre-k standards for providers to follow. Last session, the legislature killed a bill that would have set voluntary standards for such programs.
Some believe doing so would lead to mandatory attendance for 3- and 4-year-olds. But others argue the standards would just ensure that the state money going to pre-k programs would be used in the best ways possible. Now a recent independent study says Starting Strong, a pilot pre-k program sponsored by the Sioux Empire United Way, scored high marks in educating kids in its first year.
Researchers say eighty-five percent of a child's core brain structure is formed by the third birthday. And that's reinforced by a new program called Starting Strong, which targets at-risk 3 and 4 year olds. It's been about a year since the pilot program started, and the goal has remained the same: to give kids an opportunity they otherwise wouldn't have.
A University of South Dakota study shows the pre-k program for at-risk children helped kids increase their literacy, math, language, and motor skills.
Typically, the children join for less than seven months, but quickly gain ground on fundamentals. Jackie Polzin, pre-k pilot director for Starting Strong, says, "Even within one or two months of the program we saw a tremendous amount of ability to get along with kids." They're also able to get comfortable with starting school. Polzin says, "Being able to be familiar with a book, being able to hold a book and to read -- tell a story that they really like and have been read to several times."
A story they can try to read at an early age. Polzin says, "We need to get these kids a very early age, 3, 4, 5, to make a difference in their lives…ready to learn." And the hope is the experience will last a lifetime. Polzin says, "Those 145 kids are going to be adults someday, and maybe our kids in the working field, we're going to see that we made a difference."