Introduction

When a child enters their first day of school, a whole world of opportunities is created. They are not only exposed to education officially for the first time, but so many other new experiences. Every day is a new experiment in a classroom, and for preschoolers it might also be chaos sometimes. The early childhood mind is developing rapidly alone and even more with all of these new encounters, making their preschool days even more crucial. As a Family and Child Science major, and an afterschool preschool counselor, I am heavily immersed in the early childhood community. As I watch children grow physically and mentally every day, I wonder what it is like to be so young again. I see some kids thrive off of playground play, and some attach at my hip in fear of socialization. These observations make me curious about how children’s development is impacted by preschool specifically, as I never experienced going to pre-k. So, I ask the question, does playground politics in a preschool setting better prepare small children socially for kindergarten?