(gentle music) - [Kraig] Our teachers tell me often that they can tell within several weeks or maybe even several days, which kids come into kindergarten with a year of preschool or more, and which kids don't - [Jennifer] The first year of life and then the first five years are really what we would refer to as very critical time period for brain development.

- [Jen] We have to make clear that what we're doing sets the stage for future learning for these individuals, for their whole life.

If they are three years old and they already hate coming to school, they're in trouble - [Janessa] We're working with young children when the most brain development happens.

So why shouldn't it be required that you need to understand how to work with young children at that time?

- [Voice Over] South Dakota's children need preparation even before their first day of kindergarten That's tonight's "South Dakota Focus".

(gentle music) - [Voice Over] This is a production of South Dakota Public Broadcasting (gentle music) (gentle music continues) - Outside, one, two, three.

Whoa!

- Ready?

Careful.

- [Voice Over] Raising a child looks different for every generation.

Much of that change is driven by new data and research.

Amy Elliot is the Chief Clinical Research Officer at Avera Research Institute.

Her focus is child health and development.

She understands how quickly new research can change what we might take for granted.

- Something that I'll hear frequently is, "But my mom did this with me, or my grandma did this with me," so for example, drinking during pregnancy.

Something that you don't have to go back too many generations.

And that actually may have been something that had been encouraged.

And now we know that the effects that that can have on fetal development, which is why there's recommendation there's no drinking during pregnancy.

However, people will say, "Well, but things turned out just fine."

The one thing I always like to say is that, that's what science is supposed to do for us.

It's supposed to help us raise the next generation better than the previous one.

- What has changed in our knowledge of child development in the last few decades?

- Oh gosh.

You could even look the last five years.

Things are developing so quickly.

We are able to look at the brain, for example, and look at brain development to a much greater degree than we were ever, ever before.

So when a baby is born, its brain is about a fourth the size of an adult.

However, by the end of that first year, it's grown so much, it's now half the size.

In fact, some have even said like those first three months, the brain is increasing every day at almost like a 1% capacity every day.

Millions of connections being formed in very short amount of time, much more rapid development than is seen at any other time period in life.

And so the first year of life, and then the first five years are really what we would refer to as very critical time period for brain development.

- Those first five years can set the stage for a lifetime of learning.

State law requires kids are in kindergarten by age six, but families have the option to start kindergarten at five.

Families might also harness the potential of those earlier years through preschool, but beyond federally funded programs like Head Start, privately run, early childhood learning programs can vary dramatically - When you're in Alaska or Kansas or New Hampshire or South Dakota, which are some of the places I've lived, those Head Start standards are the same basically in all of those States.

- Janessa Bixel is Executive Director of the South Dakota Association for the Education of Young Children.

It's a statewide professional organization.

Her work promoting early learning often keeps her on the road, so we squeeze in a Zoom interview while she's isn't here.

- When you get outside of Head Start, it's really random in South Dakota.

You can open a preschool and you don't even have to be regulated in any way in this State.

- [Voice Over] That sets South Dakota apart.

This is one of a handful of States without a State-funded preschool program, and there are no officials standards to measure the quality of private programs.

There have been some efforts to create assessment guides, but they're just that, guides.

Part of Janessa Bixel's work is expanding opportunities for early learning in a State that hasn't caught up with the importance research puts on the field.

- I would love to see an apprenticeship program started in South Dakota for early childhood educators.

There's some States doing that right now, and it seems like it could be an untapped area to support this field and really help to elevate it as a profession.

Because it truly is a profession.

We're working with young children when the most brain development happens.

So why shouldn't it be required that you need to understand how to work with young children at that time?

(people speaking indistinctly) - [Voice Over] Some of the struggle to formalize early childhood education in the State, seems to come down to a misunderstanding of what preschool actually is, childcare or early learning?

It's a theme I hear from providers around the State - And we have to make clear that what we're doing sets the stage for future learning for these individuals for their whole life.

If they are three years old and they already hate coming to school, they're in trouble.

- [Voice Over] Jen Johnson is Co-Director of the Fishback Center on the campus of South Dakota State University in Brookings.

It's a lab school where college students studying early education can get real classroom experience.

- The college students come in, they are the main staff of that classroom.

We heavily oversee it.

We heavily provide supports.

We do role modeling, help support them in doing their first developmental checklist with children and identifying goals.

- [Voice Over] Johnson and her co-director, Laura Goelege, say a lab classroom is a unique step up from more typical student teaching experiences.

- Instead of saying, "This is what I think would've happened in a classroom setting," they come back and they can actually analyze it, talk about it.

So hopefully by the time they're done with our program, they are competent, they're capable, they're confident in what they're doing, they're passionate about what they're doing.

- [Voice Over] SDSU offers the State's only Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education.

The Fishback Center specializes in an approach that follows children's natural curiosity to meet age appropriate goals for learning.

Laura Goelege shares an example of a trip she organized to a local art museum when she thought the kids would get excited about the sculptures and paintings.

- Sure enough, one of the little girls in my group pushed the emergency button on the elevator.

Sirens went off, people came running.

But when they came back in their small groups, they really asked, "What did you learn from the museum today?"

And there was a group of children that had questions about this elevator, "Why do we really have elevators?

What are they used for?

How do they move?"

That small group then studied elevators for the rest of the semester.

So it was a group of four and five year olds that did counterweights and pulleys to see how the elevators would move.

They ended up creating their own elevator out of a paper box, one of our big rolls of paper boxes.

And then they wrote all the labels out for it.

They even put themselves in, so they were spelling words like decorations and lights and buttons and things.

So you can get their content in something that they're really are engaged and meaningful for them, and they remember it longer - [Interviewer] At that young age.

Is really incredible, I think.

And I think young children don't give the credit that they deserve.

- [Voice Over] The same is often true for their teachers.

- When I started even, the people who know me, and I mean my close family, friends, you always get that, "Oh, you're gonna play with children.

Well, no, I'm not gonna be playing with children.

I'm going to be challenging them and helping them grow into people that they're going to be be someday.

- I've been in the field for almost 30 years and so when I first started, it was very much early childhood was babysitting.

I just kinda fell into the early childhood, more of the preschool type setting and discovered that was my love.

And I have seen over the years it, it changed where there's more research out there now that supports the importance of brain development, the importance of what we do.

- [Voice Over] Advocates for early childhood education are highlighting that research around the State.

But support isn't the only obstacle.

The very same problems that plagued the childcare industry, like availability, provider burnout and cost to families are the same for preschool.

You might hear people use childcare and preschool interchangeably.

Nicole Weiss says quality benchmarks could make the distinction unnecessary.

Weiss is the Early Learning Director for the YMCA of Rapid City.

- Honestly, to me they should be the same.

I've always said like, if we have people's children, let's do the best that we can for them.

And so personally to me, I think that childcare and preschool should coincide.

They should line up - [Voice Over] Weiss sees a need for quality control while the State doesn't mandate credentials to teach preschool, her program does.

- Preschool is a interesting time in a kiddo's life because they need more than just love and freedom to roam and and learn.

But they also don't need to be sitting down with worksheets and having their whole days scheduled out.

And so it takes some education to understand that.

All of our teachers start with at least a child development associate credential, which is a one year degree and they have to have a minimum of that to be a lead teacher in our program, - [Voice Over] There is some State support to promote the Child Development Associate Credential, or CDA.

Autumn Gregory is the Executive Director of Early Childhood Connections, a group that provides the training, - The State of South Dakota supports CDA.

So currently right now, they pay for the coursework, they pay for the scholarship for the assessment and credentialing.

And so they are really trying to promote professional development - [Voice Over] While the state promotes the credential.

Early Childhood Connections requires it for teachers in another program it administers Starting Strong is a preschool scholarship program.

It helps a range of families afford early learning opportunities through a number of programs.

- What makes Starting Strong somewhat unique is that parents can choose where they want their child to go.

And the participating program is allowed to charge their market rate.

- [Voice Over] That means providers don't lose money by taking scholarship kids.

Not only that, but starting strong providers' also get access to funding for professional development.

- We have an in-home registered Family Childcare.

We have a couple that are faith-based.

We have one that's for-profit.

We have one that's a non-profit.

- [Voice Over] The Rapid City YMCA is one of those providers.

- You know, in our state there is no quality rating system.

There is no expectations really.

We have pretty bare minimum for licensing requirements.

And so starting Strong has put some indicators in place.

They've said, this is quality, this is quality, this is what training your teachers need.

This is access to assessments, this is access to curriculum, this is access to training money.

And so through our partnership with that, I think that it shows people that we're serious, that we wanna be a very quality preschool experience for kids and families.

And it also helps provide us with the resources to get to do those things.

- [Voice Over] The funds for Starting Strong in Rapid City came mainly from the John T. Vucurevich Foundation, a local philanthropic organization.

Callie Tysdal is the Communication Director for the Foundation.

- And Starting Strong was one of those really large investments that we made starting in around 2011.

We've put around $4.4 million into Starting Strong.

And that dollar amount is important, but the outcome is really why we do that work.

And what we have learned by and large is that these children are entering kindergarten ready to learn.

- [Voice Over] Tysdal says the benefits ripple beyond the students.

- I think we also see the great benefit to parents, right?

That parents are able to go to work knowing that their children are safe, knowing that their children are well looked after and also growing in their enthusiasm for learning.

And of course then this benefits businesses, right?

That they have a workforce that's not worried.

They're actually able to focus in at work, and come to work ready to contribute - [Voice Over] Data from the Rapid City School District suggests the benefits can be significant.

Autumn Gregory says the District has tracked former starting strong students to see how they compare to their peers.

- Our data shows that they are where they need to be and sometimes above.

What does that really articulate to?

That articulates into less dropouts, less teen pregnancies, less juvenile delinquency, all those sorts of things that strengthen the community because that's really what starting Strong is about.

It's about the Rapid City community.

- [Voice Over] And Rapid City isn't the only community that sees the benefit to a focus on early learning.

(gentle music) Huron's largest employer is the Dakota Provisions Meat Packing Plant.

When the plant started recruiting Korean refugees in the early 2000s, the demographics of the isolated East River City changed quickly.

There was an influx of children who didn't speak English, a major challenge for the school district.

When we visited Huron earlier this month, Rhonda Kludt was our guide.

She's the former Executive Director of Huron's United Way.

She remembers coming home from a conference in 2007 when she got a phone call from a friend in the school district.

- I'll tell you, when I came back, it truly was so timely because the curriculum director was a good friend and she knew I'd taught kindergarten for 20 years and she said, "Oh, I have this money and we can open our own preschool for all the Korean kids.

And I went, "No, no, no, no, no.

They need to be immersed with all of the other children in our community.

And I mean, it was within days after coming back from the State United Way program that I received a phone call from her.

and we just went to work.

- [Voice Over] Huron's Preschool Partnership launched soon after, linking families with affordable preschool thanks to funds from local nonprofits.

Maryanne Fran was one of those early partners.

She spent a preschool teacher for 45 years.

I have to imagine the language barrier would've been such a unique challenge.

Can you talk about how you address that, how you approach that?

- I feel that kids all speak one language.

- Say more.

- It's not Vietnamese, it's not Korean, it's not English or German or whatever.

They speak one language.

If you sit back and you watch kids interact between each other, they know what they're talking about.

And the child who doesn't speak English catches on really quickly.

In that first five years of life, the brain is developing so rapidly, it's taking in everything and it's responding beautifully and that's the way it's supposed to be.

So when kids are in preschool and they don't speak the language, within a few months they're speaking and they're speaking to the point where we've had kids who after maybe five or six months in the program, they're telling us stories.

- [Voice Over] We met some of the former preschool students at Huron Middle School.

All three of these boys are Korean and have families who came to the United States to escape violence.

- [Interviewer] Why do you guys suppose it was important for your parents that you went to preschool?

- I think it was important for my parents because when I went to preschool, I couldn't speak English fluently then but now I can.

So I can help my parents translate when they need and I can help them read when they can't.

- I think for my parents thought of it as a starting point for us childrens, and I think it helped out greatly for me.

- It helped my parents because they grew up with nothing and they wanted me to have a good life.

Because they grew up with no money and they would have to like escape war and stuff.

- It helped me make new friends and just learn more before I get to higher grades, to be more ready.

- [Voice Over] The Huron Preschool partnership splits the tuition cost with the family paying half and the rest covered by the local United Way and other organizations.

There are often scholarships available for families who can't afford their share.

In fact, Huron's partnership program has helped a wide range of students attend preschool.

- My first language is just Spanish.

And so when I went to preschool, I feel like it really helped me to learn English.

And so then when I got to kindergarten, I didn't feel so left out, I felt more included because I understood what the other kids were saying.

Even if I couldn't pronounce words accurately but I still felt like preschool really did help me.

- I loved preschool because I was such a nervous little kid that the extra like social experience made it so much easier going into kindergarten, I made all my first friends, it made it a lot easier because I was more willing to listen to the teachers and learn because I wasn't just like scared to be by myself.

- [Voice Over] A school district staff member directs Huron's preschool program, Superintendent, Kraig Steinhoff, has no doubt the partnership is worth it.

He wants all Huron students to have at least one year of preschool.

- Our teachers tell me often that they can tell within several weeks or maybe even several days, which kids come into kindergarten with a year of preschool or more, and which kids don't.

- [Voice Over] Much of that difference is behavioral.

Amy Schoenfelder is an instructional coach at Huron's Buchanan K-1 Center.

She also taught kindergarten for 23 years.

- The kids adapt easier to the routines of kindergarten because they've been through the routines of preschool.

So they adapt better and are ready to follow those.

They're able to listen to directions better, and stories.

They have some academics, but really the academics aren't as important coming into kindergarten as those social and emotional skills.

- [Voice Over] The science backs this up.

In Sioux Falls, Avera's Chief Clinical Research Officer, Amy Elliot says data shows the same benefits that Huron has experienced.

- Pre-K teaches kids so many things.. And sometimes I think the things that are taught, the most important are on the behavioral side.

Maybe not getting everything that you want, right when you want it, having to take turns, following a schedule.

Kids love schedules.

There's more knowledge to be gained on things, the earlier kids can read and do those things can help set them up for success in school.

That being said, there shouldn't be pressure that kids have to be able to read or do those things before school but it's good for them to be exposed to letters and to colors and to sounds and to like looking at books.

That looking at books has been fun and good associations with it.

Kindergarten teachers would love it if all the kids came in with that hunger to learn.

- [Voice Over] In recent years, state lawmakers have considered a number of proposals focused on early childhood education without results.

But as scientific consensus builds in favor of preschool, the main obstacle often becomes funding.

Though Governor Christie Nome has not publicly proposed anything like a state funded preschool program, she acknowledged the need for early literacy education in her recent budget address.

- We're going to trust the science, the science of reading.

My Department of Education has launched a statewide literacy initiative based on the science of reading.

It includes an emphasis on phonics, which is the best way to teach kids how to read.

I am dedicating 6 million in one-time funds to continue this effort.

Let's make sure that our teachers are equipped to deliver this proven model for each of every one of our kids.

(lawmakers applauding) - [Voice Over] Lawmakers hadn't seen the details yet, but Republican House majority leader Will Mortenson said he's on board to make improvements.

- I have a 6-year-old and so it's really apparent to me that for the first three or four years of education, we are having kids learn to read and then after that they read to learn.

If you can't read by the time you're 12 years old, your life's gonna be pretty difficult, and our proficiency scores aren't where we want 'em to be and so we can sit around and and gripe about that or we can try to do something about it.

- [Voice Over] The proposal sounds good to Republican Senator Tim Reed as well, though he has some other ideas for where that money could go.

- There's also a lot of studies that show that you've gotta get these kindergartners up to speed, so they're all kind of at the same starting line when they take off for their education.

And one thing that can take care of that, or at least help with it, is quality childcare.

So if you're actually investing in childcare, and we all know that childcare is very limited in South Dakota, but if you actually step forward and say we're gonna do it quality wise, then those kids are getting some benefit of reading and some of those kind of things.

So I'd still like to see some of those funds actually come back to improving childcare.

- [Voice Over] Once again, it comes down to cost.

Without state dollars to bridge the gaps, it's up to private entities that see the value of early education.

The Vucurevich Foundation in Rapid City is positioning itself to launch another program that increases access to childcare.

- Throughout the years we've been connected with a lot of different collaborations at the State level and even at the national level.

And one thing we kept hearing about is the concept of TriShare.

TriShare is a nationally tested model.

It's been tested in Michigan and North Carolina where the employer, the employee, and a third entity actually each to pay a third of the childcare costs.

- Callie Tysdal with the Vucurevich Foundation says the approach benefits everybody.

- First and foremost, we're not seeing the parents having to shoulder the incredible burden of an eight or nine or thousand dollars childcare cost.

Businesses are able to invest and retain their employees and then this third entity is able to show that this is a community investment that we all need to really wrap around to make it work.

- [Voice Over] The details are still in the works, so Tysdal can't share the business partner just yet.

She says the Foundation's investment of just under half a million dollars will support childcare spots for 30 children in Rapid City.

- We're doing this in a different way than other places have.

In other states, the State is the key third entity that provides funding.

For us we're doing it a little differently here.

We're taking ownership as a Foundation.

We're hoping that this pilot becomes something that other people in our community can contribute to.

That way we can expand from 30 childcare slots to many, many more.

- [Voice Over] That program is set to launch in January.

Nicole Weiss at the YMCA of Rapid City says something has to give, especially when early childhood educators can get paid more in almost any other industry.

- I think parents should still get the option.

They should still get to decide if grandma's the best preschool provider, if she can meet these high quality standards, or if a Center like us is the best preschool for their child, or if maybe it's in the school.

I think that should still be a parent's choice, but we've gotta figure out a way to supplement so the parent isn't paying all of it because they can't.

- [Voice Over] Preschool is a long-term investment, but people like Autumn Gregory with early childhood connections have a long-term perspective.

Spending money on education puts society's emphasis in the right place.

- If you build a really expensive prison, you can see that prison, but you don't see, if you invest in a toddler and their early education.

You're not gonna see the fruit of that investment until they're adults and raising their own families.

So it's sort of like, do we pay now or do we pay later?

And if we pay later, it comes at a much bigger price.

(child chattering) (child helper chattering) (gentle music)