RSG | Press Page: Preschools Vary Lessons, Share Goals

Whether public or private, pricey or practically free, preschools have become the place to be for 
the pint-sized set.

About two-thirds of America's preschoolers now spend some of their days outside home, often at a 
preschool. The increase in working women has contributed to an enrollment surge. So has research 
showing the early years are critical to children's academic futures, particularly reading.

But preschools vary widely in quality, philosophy and price. Here is a snapshot of five Central 
Florida programs and how they handle literacy:


East Orange Head Start Center

This center off Colonial Drive is one of 30 run by Head Start of Orange County, which serves more 
than 1,550 kids and has nearly 400 more on its waiting list. Head Start is free for eligible 3- 
and 4-year-olds whose families live in poverty.

As part of a new focus on pre-reading skills, instructors now have kids recite nursery rhymes, 
listen to stories and keep journals in which they color and learn to write their names. Everything in 
the classrooms, from the cabinets to the doors to the chairs, is labeled, helping kids see the 
connection between printed words and the objects they represent.

On a recent morning, teacher Barbara Whitaker led children in a song about the days of the week, 
then asked which nursery rhyme they wanted to do.

"Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater!" called out one boy.

Her students seem eager to tackle new skills, Whitaker said. "They go on field trips," she said, 
"and they're trying to read signs."

Lake Highland Preparatory School

This private school in downtown Orlando accepts 45 prekindergartners from more than 200 who apply. 
Tuition is nearly $8,000, but that helps buy teachers who at least have bachelor's degrees. The 
curriculum is academic but recognizes the students are very young, said pre-K teacher Elaine Probst.

"We still have to respect where they are developmentally," she said. "We want our children happy 
and not pressured."

By the end of their school year, Lake Highland's students should know all the uppercase letters, 
most of the lowercase ones and many of the letters' corresponding sounds.

"Reading readiness" lessons are presented in kid-friendly ways. When kids work on the letter D, 
for example, they draw dinosaur pictures and read dinosaur books while learning what the letter 
looks and sounds like.

Probst recently played a game with the D sound and the sounds of students' names. "If Jonathan 
started with D, what would he be? Donathan," she said. The kids giggled.

Probst is teaching them skills they'll need in kindergarten. When her students get to school, she 
said, "they're more ready."

Pine Crest Elementary Pre-K

Housed in a portable classroom at the Sanford elementary school, this publicly funded program aims 
to prepare children from low-income families for kindergarten. Parents pay based on their 
income.The Seminole County program started pushing literacy more heavily a few years ago. Teacher Ann 
Silvius reads with her students and has them work for 12 minutes a day on a computer-based preschool 
literacy program. They also take home books to read with their parents.

"What letter is this?" Silvius asked Alexis Koch, 4, who wanted to try writing her name on the 
paper she had just colored.

"C," Alexis said, looking at the letter in her last name.

"That's right," Silvius said. "Now let's make one."

The school district has offered these pre-K classes since 1989.

They make a "big, positive difference," said Carol Crownover, a pre-K resource teacher.

Wesley Child Development Center

Run by the First United Methodist Church in Orlando, this center is one of 635 in Florida 
accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Tuition for the 4-year-olds' 
class is $105 a week.

The center takes a developmental approach based on the theory that academic skills are learned 
best through play. On a recent morning, for example, two 4-year-old girls worked on counting by 
separating blue lions from the other small toy animals in a bucket.

"Our class is noisy but busy," said Director Betty Wade.

Kids are taught the ABCs during a short "circle time" each morning. "We do not drill them, 
however," Wade said. Some officials of the national association worry that a growing push for literacy 
will lead to a push for paper-and-pencil academics and testing in preschool. Wade worries about 
that, too.

"What scares me is that kindergartens are going to expect a lot more, the parents are going to 
expect a lot more, and the children just aren't going to be ready," she said.

Mount Dora Montessori

This school follows the principles of Maria Montessori, an Italian doctor who devised an education 
method in the early 1900s based on children's natural love of learning. It cost about $3,000 a 
year for a half-day program.

Children ages 3 to 6 are encouraged to work on their own in hands-on activities. They bake rolls, 
wash dishes and polish silver. Even the more-academic lessons involve touching objects -- 
geography by piecing together wooden puzzle maps, for example, and reading by tracing sandpaper letters 
with their fingers.

"Because they felt it, they know it," said director Merry Hadden.

Teachers help children learn the sounds of letters but not the traditional ABCs -- that won't come 
until they are 6 or 7 years old. So a teacher working with three young girls on a recent morning 
pointed to the letters on a table and said, "Show me uh." She didn't mention it was the letter U as 
the girls ran their hands over the sandpaper letters.

Such lessons, coupled with Monetessori's emphasis on language and vocabulary, aim to get students 
ready for reading.

"I think this is the best foundation you can give them for literacy," Hadden said.

Leslie Postal can be reached at [1] lpostal@orlandosentinel.com or 407-772-8046. 

Copyright (c) 2005, Orlando Sentinel