• Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact

Nancy Bailey's Education Website

Revive, Rally and Recover Public Schools

  • Activism
    • Anti-Charter Schools
    • Anti-Common Core State Standards
    • Anti-Corporatization of Schools
    • Anti-High-Stakes Testing
    • State Action Groups
    • School Buildings
  • School Curriculum
    • General Education
    • Educators
    • Parents
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Math
    • Science
    • Social Studies
    • The Arts
    • Technology
    • Behavior
    • Diversity
    • English Language Learners
    • Special Education
      • Autism
      • Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities
      • Learning Disabilities
      • Developmental Disabilities
      • Gifted
      • Other
    • Early Childhood Education
    • Elementary School
    • Middle School
    • High School
    • Student Careers
  • Other Countries
    • England
    • Finland
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • Canada

What Preschool Isn’t: Waterford UPSTART and Any Other Online Program!

April 16, 2019 By Nancy Bailey 7 Comments

Post Views: 3,658

No one can deny the importance of early learning. We have years of research by developmental psychologists and early childhood education researchers built on findings to help us understand how preschoolers learn. We need to fund adequate preschools so students get a good introduction to the joy of formal learning.

Researchers have known for some time that preschool is important for learning. In 2003, W. Steven Barnett and Jason T. Husted critiqued studies demonstrating the importance of three preschool programs. The benefits of the High/Scope Perry Preschool program, Abecedarian Early Childhood Intervention program, and the Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers are well-documented.

Head Start, a federal program created in 1965 to assist children from low-income families has also seen gains in the children it serves, but the program has always been under attack by policymakers who resented paying for the program. While middle class and the wealthy have access to good preschool, the poor struggle to find affordable preschool that give children access to beneficial early learning.

What’s great about preschool? Children get to play and learn with other children. It’s a step beyond a playdate. They collectively acquire knowledge with activities that they themselves create! Play is hard work, but preschoolers don’t know it because they are having so much fun. What a tremendous precursor to learning in school and kindergarten!

Well, that’s how preschool used to be.

One maneuver that has no research in its favor is plopping a three or four-year-old in front of a computer, even in their parent’s lap, to focus on developmentally inappropriate skills. We’ve known for a while about Waterford UPSTART a Utah-based online preschool program. This program is being described as a replacement for real preschools. To save money. But there’s no research to say this will work.

The well-respected Defending the Early Years (DEY) reports that The Audacious Project housed at TED, as in TED Talks, which funds ideas for social change will throw millions of dollars at Waterford UPSTART.

Here is their letter.

The award winners will be announced at the TED2019 in Vancouver tonight, April 16. You can follow by tuning in as @TEDTalks livestreams the @TheAudaciousPrj awards 8pm ET/5pm PT and tweet your reactions to UPSTART/online preschool #RejectOnlinePrek.

In 2017, the PBS News Hour examined Waterford UPSTART and noted other online programs. They include:

  • Waterford UPSTART
  • Time4Learning
  • ABCMouse.com Early Learning Academy
  • K12
  • CHALK Preschool Online 

They seem to be trying to close the achievement gap by forcing children to learn information. Often it seems beyond what a preschooler should be learning. For example, the PBS News Hour reports on a mother teaching her preschooler sight words. When children work online they must focus on skills, not play. They miss much.

The Audacious Project has your usual corporate school funders.

  • TED
  • Skoll Foundation
  • Virgin Unite
  • Scott Cook & Signe Ostby
  • The Bridgespan Group
  • Dalio Foundation
  • Laura & John Arnold
  • ELMA Philanthropies
  • Children’s Investment Fund Foundation
  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • MacArthur Foundation
  • Mike & Sukey Novogratz
  • Craig & Susan McCaw
  • UBS Optimus Foundation
  • James Family Charitable Foundation
  • Robertson Foundation
  • Science Philanthropy Alliance

I wonder if these individuals don’t understand early childhood education. Have they read the research?

Sitting young children in front of screens to learn will likely have bad long-term repercussions. We already know that more screen time doesn’t help older children in school. We also understand that teens are too glued to screens and with social media have become increasingly depressed and anxious.

So there’s little doubt that pushing preschoolers to do their learning on computers is a huge mistake.

We know how important activity and play are to children. Without it, they miss important early learning foundations. We also know how poorly children learn with a sedentary lifestyle of viewing and little doing.

Parents are so concerned that programs like Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) are becoming household names.

Parents worry about privacy. But more than that, they collectively care about how young children are learning and what the future will have in store for all of us if today’s preschoolers don’t learn well. We will have to fix the mistakes that online learning will cause when good preschool programs fall by the wayside! What kind of preschool programs will be left for children? How much will today’s preschooler miss?

Most of us do not reject technology. It would be hypocritical for a blogger to do so. Technology is a reality and can be used for good when teaching children, even young children. But replacing authentic preschools with online programs is not a satisfactory answer. We have no proof these programs work. Better funding of real preschools is what’s needed.

Please go the DEY website and read about their fight for good early education. Start with the report “Young Children in the Digital Age: A Parent’s Guide,” by Early Childhood Specialist Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige.

Other posts about Waterford UPSTART:

The Devil’s in the Details, Utah September 9, 2016.

“Disruption” Using Technology is Dangerous to Child Development and Public Education  November 13, 2018.

 

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Defending the Early Years, Funding Preschools, preschool, preschool learning, Waterford UPSTART

Comments

  1. Jo Lieb says

    April 16, 2019 at 4:52 pm

    How cognitively dissonant is TedTALKS supporting child abuse?

    Reply
  2. Andrea Gudmundson says

    April 26, 2019 at 3:27 pm

    Thanks for this post about the importance of preschool and why technology apps do not replace the benefits that children receive from high quality preschool education. As a K-3 literacy specialist I see first hand how time spent in preschool helps boost children’s success in primary grade education. While I think technology and these apps can provide parents with quality supplemental experiences for their child (if they choose to use technology for their children at all). Your claim that you end with is spot on: what we truly need to focus on is better funding for our preschool. Here is the state of preschools across the nation in 2017: http://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/State-of-Preschool-2017-Full.pdf. This document allows us to compare funding, training, and other information and compare state’s to each other. I live and teach in Arizona and according to this we are 39th for preschool funding, spending $3,590 per preschooler. Sadly though only about 4% of our preschool age students in Arizona are actually attending preschools. Seems to me that we must also focus on awareness and promoting preschool access, in lieu of these “apps” that are trying take the place of what we know students need: high quality, real life, preschool experiences.

    Reply
  3. Kristine says

    August 21, 2020 at 6:04 pm

    What this article left out is that Upstart requires only 15-25 minutes a day of screen time. The rest of the day can be spent playing and interacting. I see no problem with 15-25 minutes of screen time, especially with new studies coming out saying that interactive screen time vs. just watching a movie or show are very different types of screen time. My child gets to spend a little time each day working on the building blocks of reading skills and most of her day in free play.

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      August 21, 2020 at 6:16 pm

      The message of this program is that children will be “kindergarten ready” which is worrisome. There’s no research to indicate that screen time will lead to better reading results, and I can tell you’ve bought into the idea that you have to teach young children reading with the “building blocks” statement. The best thing to do is to read and get children curious and excited about stories. I’d focus on fun and interesting picture books.

      Reply
      • Samantha Lucas says

        November 28, 2021 at 4:17 pm

        As a mom who used upstart with my now 7 year old I have to say it’s a great program. It is very limited in terms of screen time and he was ready to learn to read in Kindergarten. He’s still very advanced in 2nd grade. I can’t say it’s all Upstart but I do feel it is a solid curriculum. We were very careful that he had proper playtime and social opportunities as well. Online supplement learning is great used correctly.

        Reply

Trackbacks

  1. What Preschool Isn’t: Waterford UPSTART and Any Other Online Program! – Mister Journalism: "Reading, Sharing, Discussing, Learning" says:
    April 16, 2019 at 3:49 pm

    […] Read more of this post […]

    Reply
  2. 2019 Medley #9 | Live Long and Prosper says:
    April 29, 2019 at 12:26 pm

    […] What Preschool Isn’t: Waterford UPSTART and Any Other Online Program! […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

front cover

An education glossary with an attitude.

Buy Now

front cover

Do we really want an America where we no longer own our public schools?

Buy Now

front cover

This book says “no” to the reforms that fail, and challenges Americans to address the real student needs that will fix public schools and make America strong.

Buy Now

Follow me!

Enter your email address to subscribe to my blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Connect With Me!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Nancy E. Bailey Follow

Author, Ph.D. Ed. Leadership and longtime teacher, Blogging for Kids, Teachers, Parents & Democratic Public Schools.

NancyEBailey1
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
beebryhte Belinda Whyte @beebryhte ·
9h

https://nancyebailey.com/2023/03/26/the-science-of-reading-and-the-rejection-of-picture-books/
Not sure I could agree more...thanks @NancyEBailey1

Reply on Twitter 1640122924026978304 Retweet on Twitter 1640122924026978304 3 Like on Twitter 1640122924026978304 6 Twitter 1640122924026978304
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
nancyebailey1 Nancy E. Bailey @nancyebailey1 ·
1 Mar

Unstructured play has been driven out of early childhood classrooms for years! Goals are to micromanage everything a child does. Few seem to connect play's importance to learning & mental health, or they don't care if schools fail. https://twitter.com/Cabal_Educator/status/1630938079170109440

Kimberly Blodgett @Cabal_Educator

Let them play!

Reply on Twitter 1630961018854621185 Retweet on Twitter 1630961018854621185 8 Like on Twitter 1630961018854621185 14 Twitter 1630961018854621185
nancyebailey1 Nancy E. Bailey @nancyebailey1 ·
10h

Science of Reading camp never discusses the importance of picture books. How much time do children get to explore them? How often are they read to for enjoyment? This is worrisome. https://nancyebailey.com/2023/03/26/the-science-of-reading-and-the-rejection-of-picture-books/

Reply on Twitter 1640105213276180480 Retweet on Twitter 1640105213276180480 11 Like on Twitter 1640105213276180480 43 Twitter 1640105213276180480
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
nancyebailey1 Nancy E. Bailey @nancyebailey1 ·
25 Mar

@BetsyDeVos So much research shows that 3rd gr retention is bad for students it's hard to believe you think this is fine. There are many alternatives. https://nancyebailey.com/2017/10/09/force-flunk-destroying-a-childs-love-of-reading-and-their-life/

Reply on Twitter 1639663340321492995 Retweet on Twitter 1639663340321492995 3 Like on Twitter 1639663340321492995 16 Twitter 1639663340321492995
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
jerseyjazzman Jersey Jazzman (Official... no, really) @jerseyjazzman ·
25 Mar

We "get to know where the money is being spent"? Great! So every private school receiving tax dollars will have to open their books and be subject to the same standards of financial transparency as public schools, right? Right?

(Is this thing on?) https://twitter.com/HouseGOP/status/1639291755479613441

House Republicans @HouseGOP

"Today was a win for every mother, every father, but most importantly, for every student in America. You have a Parents Bill of Rights now." - @SpeakerMcCarthy

Reply on Twitter 1639629781057560581 Retweet on Twitter 1639629781057560581 16 Like on Twitter 1639629781057560581 60 Twitter 1639629781057560581
Load More

Archives

Tag Cloud

Arne Duncan Autism Betsy DeVos Bill Gates charter schools class size Common Core Common Core covid-19 disabilities dyslexia early childhood education Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Florida high-stakes testing kindergarten learning disabilities Online Learning parents Personalized Learning phonics preschool private schools privatization public schools reading recess retention School Choice school libraries School Privatization school reform schools Social Emotional Learning special education students Students with Disabilities Teacher Preparation teachers Teach for America teaching Technology testing the arts vouchers

Copyright © 2023 Nancy E. Bailey · Website powered by Standing Pine Media.