New studies affirm that nursery and preschool attendance foster vital language and learning skills, offering lasting advantages despite parental concerns about separation anxiety.
Parents who feel uneasy when a child starts nursery are not alone, but researchers say the guilt can cloud a period that may offer real benefits. A feature in Fædrelandsvennen argued that the conversation around early years care should include more than anxiety about separation, because nursery can help lay foundations for skills children will use throughout life.
Evidence from recent studies backs that view. A study published in ScienceDirect on Baltimore’s preschool development programme found that attendance improved language, early literacy and basic maths problem-solving, especially for children from low-income families, although gains in executive functioning were less certain. Separate research in Child Development found that children who attended public preschool showed stronger literacy, language, maths and executive function in kindergarten and first grade than those who did not.
The broader picture is similar. A policy report from the National Institute for Early Education Research says high-quality pre-kindergarten can lift letter-word identification and spelling, including for middle-income children, and argues for broader public funding and stronger standards. Another study in the journal Education Sciences found lasting gains among children who took part in enhanced Early Head Start and Head Start programmes, with better results in vocabulary, oral comprehension, letter recognition and maths through the early primary years.
Taken together, the research suggests that nursery and preschool are not simply places where parents hand over care while they work. They can also be settings where children develop language, learning and social skills that shape later school success. That does not remove the emotional strain of the first drop-off, but it does give parents a reminder: feeling sad does not mean making the wrong choice.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
