Upgraded Preschool Programs Urged

Children need two years of high-quality preschool, but too many programs simply mark time waiting for “real” education to begin in kindergarten, a report by the New York-based Carnegie Corp.’s Task Force on Learning in the Primary Grades says. Preschool programs should connect with what parents teach their toddlers as well as with what kindergarten and elementary school teachers will try to accomplish when children start school, the report says. Preschool also should complement afterschool programs and what children watch on television or learn on the Internet or at community activities, the report says.