12-04-2025
Growing importance of preschool part of week celebrating early childhood education
The hallway of the Berry Preschool, part of the Logansport Community School Corporation and located at the intermediate school, was full of children Wednesday morning. They were divided into groups of four and working to build towers out of plastic drinking cups.
There was a lot of noise as towers rose and towers fell. But the noise was enthusiastically loud.
After they cleaned up the detritus of their hard work, they lined up along the wall and practiced the songs they are learning for pre-school graduation.
It was all part of the Berry Preschool's participation in the Week of the Young Child, an annual program sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
The Week of the Young Child is meant to recognize the importance that the early childhood years, from birth to age eight, play in the foundation of a child's success in school and life.
The first Week of the Young Child was held in 1971.
Each day of the week the children participate in different activities. Wednesday was Work Together Wednesday.
'What kind of tower are you going to build?' one teacher asked.
'A big one!' a young boy shouted, jumping into the air and stretching out his arm to illustrate his goal.
Berry Preschool director Melanie Lang said the week is focused on the importance of early childhood education.
'In the state of Indiana, we now have to retain third graders who don't pass the IREAD,' she said. 'The greatest indicator to encourage a child's academic growth is to involve them in early childhood education. That's a proactive thing as opposed to a reactive thing where the state says we have to retain them.'
Alex Pasquarosa, an instructional assistant at the preschool, called the week chaotic but said the kids loved the activities.
She said some of the goals for the week was for the kids to work together and try new things.
'Yesterday was Tasty Tuesday and we tried new foods,' she said. 'They loved it.'
She said teaming up with other students was good for building communication skills, especially given the different languages spoken at the preschool.
During Tasty Tuesday, the children also made their own treat which brought them great joy, said preschool teacher Jen Corcoran.
'They got to enjoy something that they made by themselves,' she said.
Corcoran said she hoped that the community would see what an important week it is for the children and the school.
'Preschool is sometimes underrated and we just want the community to know how important preschool is,' she said. 'They are building social and emotional skills, fine and gross motor skills (building large muscles needed for walking, jumping, etc.) and look how well they are working together.'
The week included Music Monday, Artsy Thursday and will end with Family Friday.
'Monday the Logansport Intermediate School sixth graders came to play their instruments,' said Sarah Beck, a teacher at the preschool. 'Friday we will have families come into the classroom and do activities with us.'
Lang said she enjoyed watching the children participate in activities that encourage creative problem solving.
'All of their creativity is so fun,' she said.
Lang hopes the state will begin to recognize the importance of early childhood programs and begin to fund preschool.
'It's something that needs to be funded universally to be more proactive about the concerns that people have,' she said. 'People are very concerned about our scores as a country right now in education but the best indicator of how to get ahead is not being funded in all 50 states. I'm very blessed to be in a school corporation that is choosing to fund it from within the corporation even. It's a passion project of (Superintendent) Michele Starkey's.'
