By Mary Kathryn Carpenter

NATCHEZ — For years, children began their education in kindergarten and by most accounts then everything was just fine.

Today, however, pre-kindergarten programs are growing in popularity, and many in the Miss-Lou are enrolling their children as a way to give them an early education jumpstart.

Brandon and Edward Reed’s daughter Lela will go into first grade at Trinity Episcopal Day School next school year after completing pre-k3, pre-k4 and kindergarten at Holy Family School.

Edward Reed worked as an educator for 17 years in the Natchez-Adams School District, and said he strongly recommends preschool to other parents.

“Preschool gives kids a more stable footing to begin their education,” Reed said. “I noticed Lela was more fluid with her vocabulary and able to pronounce words correctly and put them in the proper context. She was also able to understand numbers and mathematics.”

Reed said they chose Holy Family based on tradition, as he and his mother both attended school there, but also because of what the school has to offer.

“I think (Holy Family) is wonderful,” he said. “It really brings out the best in the student. It is just an overall nurturing environment.”

Natchez parents Sarah and Buck Brumfield are opting to send their 3-year-old daughter Harlyn to Trinity for the school’s pre-k3 program taught by Skeeter Hutchins.

Harlyn is following in her brothers’ footsteps as they also attended Trinity’s early education program.

“After looking at all the schools, I liked the small classes,” Sarah Brumfield said. “It was a lot of one-on-one and you feel completely comfortable having Skeeter there.”

Sarah said she noticed the success her children had at such a young age by attending preschool.

“They learn a tremendous amount,” she said. “They are completely prepared for kindergarten. They even know more Spanish as a three year old than I do.”

Katherine and Lindsey Callon have their son, Harrison, enrolled in Cathedral School’s preschool program. Harrison completed pre-k3 in May and is moving up to pre-k4 in the fall.

Katherine Callon said the program has worked out well for Harrison so far, as he is a social child and he gets to spend the majority of the day playing and learning with other children.

“The structure is good for Harrison, and he loves to socialize with other kids,” Katherine said. “His vocabulary has improved as well as his overall education on letters, numbers and other basics.”

Joanna and Clif Brumfield also have their children, Cooper, 8, and Tatum, 4, enrolled at Cathedral.

Joanna went to Cathedral herself, but started in kindergarten rather than preschool. However, after touring the school, she knew that is where she wanted her children to be.

“(Preschool) definitely made them more outgoing and able to handle new situations,” she said. “It just gave them a better idea of what a structured classroom would be like.”

Cathedral Elementary School Principal Shannon Bland said the youngsters are taught a variety of skills they will need later on in their education.

“The children learn socialization skills, fine and gross motor skills and listening skills,” Bland said. “They are introduced to letter identification and phonetics, as well as comprehension skills.”

Cathedral School Chief Administrator Pat Sanguinetti said the preschool program began as a feeder program meant to grow numbers in the elementary school, but is now strictly about beginning the education process earlier.

“The sooner you start learning, the better,” Sanguinetti said. “Those who come in preschool are more prepared than those who come in kindergarten on average.

Sanguinetti said the program for preschoolers is always filled to max capacity, providing 40 4-year-olds and 35 3-year-olds with a jump-start on their education.

Adams County Christian School Preschool Director Bridget King gave that school’s preschool a curriculum overhaul three years ago when she began her job.

King said the curriculum, called the A Beka curriculum, is a phonics-based curriculum which teaches children letters and letter recognition, as well as how to sound letters out.

“When I became the preschool director in 2013 we put the A Beka curriculum in place,” King said. “I go talk to the kindergarten teachers and ask if they notice a difference in the children, and the teachers said they see them sounding out their words and things like that.”

ACCS Principal David King said in his three years at the school, he has been impressed by Bridget King’s success in the preschool program and that enrollment has increased each year. Currently, the school has only five open slots in the entire program.

“When I go see what those kids are learning, it is pretty impressive,” David King said. “I can’t imagine it not being a great jumpstart to their education.”

Trinity pre-k3 teacher Skeeter Hutchins said she thinks the most important thing she teaches her students is not academic.

“Basically, the main thing I teach them is how to go to school,” Hutchins said. “I teach them how to go to school, how to get along with others, how to follow rules, how to respect each other and adults.”

Hutchins said she does not think it is vital for students to go to pre-school, even though she thinks it gives them a helpful boost toward their ongoing education.

“I don’t know that (students) are really behind (if they do not attend), but I think it is to their advantage to start in pre-k3,” Hutchins said. “The most important thing is getting them into being in a classroom.”

Hutchins said because of the help the 3-year-olds receive, as they enter their next year of school they are better prepared by already having exposure to letters and numbers they may not have been introduced to if they were not attending preschool.

Aside from generally believing early education is in a child’s best interest, Hutchins said she would choose preschool over daycare.

“Preschool has certified teachers, and that is where I feel like it is an advantage for our students,” Hutchins said. “If you are going to a daycare, I don’t know if the teachers are certified or not.”

Rhonda McElroy, the director of Little Blessings Daycare, said the program at Little Blessings is not designed to be a replacement for preschool.

“Preschool is targeted to three and four year olds,” McElroy said. “Our daycare is usually geared towards two and under, and during the summer we will have older kids.”

McElroy said on the occasions when 3-year-olds are a part of the program, they are given lessons that help with sensory development, such as learning shapes and colors.

“People are really interested in their kids being in a learning environment,” McElroy said. “We have 3-year-olds that can write and recognize their names.”

McElroy said the program rarely hosts a 4 year old, and even when 3 year olds are there, it is because they were too young at the beginning of the school year to begin preschool.

Sue Harvey, owner of Hansel and Gretel Childcare for 41 years, said as a licensed childcare facility, she is required to offer a curriculum to her students.

“I have always offered more than babysitting,” Harvey said. “That is a thing of the past.”

Harvey said there is no difference between her childcare program and a preschool.

“(Early education) builds a foundation for learning,” Harvey said. “You can leave your child here until kindergarten, and they will be just as well off.”

And in between those daycares and preschools, there are “hybrid” programs, which vary in what is taught and done.

First Presbyterian Playschool offers a “hybrid” of daycare and preschool.

Armetric Day, a pre-k4 teacher at the playschool, called the school a learning based daycare.

The school accepts children from six weeks old and up, even taking children up to seven years old in the summer.

“This is the critical stage,” Day said. “Their minds soak in everything. They learn more in this stage, and it sticks with them more than if you had waited until they were 5. Their minds are like sponges.”

Torri Webber, who recently retired from the Concordia Parish School District as a kindergarten teacher and took a job at ACCS teaching first grade, said that in the last 10 years, she has not noticed a difference between students that attended preschool versus those who attended daycare.

“I can say that years ago there was a tremendous difference,” Webber said. “The kids that came from an organized preschool were much more prepared than those from a daycare, but now daycares have a different learning curriculums.”

However, she does think that as students are preparing for kindergarten, attending pre-k4 is a better choice than daycare.

“When a child reaches four years old, I would say a pre-k program would be best, strictly because they need to learn the social and academic aspects that are now required to do well in kindergarten,” Webber said. “In the past 10 years I have seen a shift in that direction with daycares, but at four years, a preschool setting would be my choice.”

Retired kindergarten teacher Becky Junkin said it was very common for her students to attend preschool, and she cannot remember having a student during her last 10 years of teaching that did not attend a preschool program. Junkin retired seven years ago.

Junkin taught at Cathedral and said those students who attended preschool at Cathedral had an easier time in kindergarten.

“The ones that came up from pre-k4 already knew how things worked at Cathedral, and I didn’t have to teach them,” Junkin said. “However, those that didn’t go to preschool catch up quickly. It’s just not quite as easy in the beginning.”