Pushing Kids to Be Smarter Sooner

All across the country, parents of preschoolers have been sighing in relief. Summer brought the news that more kindergarten classes would shift this fall from part-day to full-day programs.

For parents and caregivers, the advantages of this recent trend are clear. Those in dual-earner families won't need to leave work early or pay for after-school childcare. Stay-at-home parents will be able to enjoy a few extra hours of peace—or, more likely, spend additional time doing all it takes to keep a household up and running.

If you're a kindergarten student, your benefits are not so clear-cut (though, hats off to you for perusing this article!). According to a study released in July, the academic gains resulting from full-day kindergarten diminish quickly—and even tend to be reversed within the elementary-school years.

The benefit of part-time K

The study, which appeared in the journal Child Development, used data from 13,776 children who were in the kindergarten ("K") class of 1998–1999. Though the reading and math skills of full-day K students tended to improve at a faster rate compared part-day K students, their lead evaporated once kindergarten was over. The academic abilities of the part-day K students actually increased at a faster rate between the end of kindergarten and the spring of fifth grade.

The researchers of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study believe this phenomenon is explained not by what happens in school, but in the home. The parents of full-day K students are more likely to come from lower-income homes in which both adults work and therefore have less time to support and stimulate the intellect of a child.

Going for gold

It's a shame—a heartbreaking one, for some—that parents may have to forego an ideal intellectual environment for the sake of putting dinner on the table and a roof overhead.

The impact of socioeconomics on education and child brain development is not news. But the ever-mounting pressure to be smarter sooner has increased the emphasis on kindergarten and pre-school education.

Is it a simple, undisputed fact that a child stands a better chance of mastering a skill or intellectual ability when he or she has a good head start? Is a window going to close on your child's opportunity to become a genius, a virtuoso, or an Olympic athlete?