Between 1990 and 2013, the percentage of 3- to 5-year-olds increased from 59% to 65%. This is in direct correlation with the release of studies that show the prolonged benefits of starting your child’s social and academic learning at a young age. At-risk youth can especially benefit from such an education. In fact, research shows that 70% of at-risk youth are more likely to commit a violent crime if they didn’t receive a quality preschool education.

The focus of academic preschool activities is to help build your child’s fundamental capacity for conflict resolution, creativity, independence and a variety of other valuable characteristics. With 75% of young children throughout the country participating in a preschool program, many parents are choosing to give their child a head-start on their academic career.

Many academic preschool curriculums choose to forego the traditional approach taken by elementary schools and instead focuses on allowing your child the freedom to explore their interests freely through the use of stories, building blocks, interactive games, and much more. As one of the many benefits of academic preschool participation, the structured fluidity and freedom allowed to children is important for setting them up for future success.

Specifically, preschool is a great avenue for grade school readiness. Providing adequate socialization circumstances, preschool prepares young children for grade school in ways that are unparalleled. Learning to interact with other young children as well as authority figures outside of family members sets them up for a successful academic career.

Aside from learning things that are considered basic knowledge (shapes, colors, etc.), they will learn about social cues, develop their emotional spectrum and learn to recognize/empathize with emotions seen in others.

By enrolling your child in academic preschool activities, you expose them to a structured environment that will shape the rest of their academic career. They will experience things outside of their comfort zones while expanding their horizons exponentially. They will interact with children from a variety of backgrounds and will learn to trust themselves as well as authority figures. While they may not learn how to solve math equations, they will learn the fundamentals of very useful values.