CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Let's go back to a time when we were learning our ABC's and 1, 2, 3's while playing with the other kids in the schoolyard.
With the Biden Administration’s 'Build Back Better Act', learning the ABC's may come sooner for many schoolchildren as $380 billion would be put towards free universal preschool for three and four-year-olds as well as lower the cost of childcare. The administration claims it will help more than six million kids.
Their plan is to decrease childcare costs so that families earning $300,000 or less won’t pay more than seven percent of their income on childcare.
Storybooks School in Corpus Christi is a school that teaches kids from birth to 5-years-old.
Sandra Cantu, or as the kids know her, Miss Sandy, is the founder of the school and said an early education is beneficial to kids later on in life because they learn social skills as well as engage in educational opportunities.
“We provide a lot of that social development that’s very key to learning later in life so we want to establish that love of learning at an early age,” Cantu said.
Cantu said the school provides kids with the opportunity to learn about music, speaking Spanish, and even coding at just 4-years-old.
Her daughter, Anjanette Bustillo, is the director of the school, and said social skills like learning how to communicate with peers and how to follow directions is also essential to the learning process.
“The older the kids are starting school, the harder time it is to be away from their parents. They struggle more because they’re not used to socially interacting with other students,” Bustillo said.
Parents of the school said they have noticed their kids improve socially as well as academically.
“Our son’s an only child, so he gets to interact with other children. He gets to learn from them what he doesn’t get at home,” said Blake Mosley, the father of a 3-year-old at Storybooks School.
Thomas Cruz is the father of a 1-year-old, and said he is noticing that his daughter is taking more initiative by going to the school.
“Probably the best thing that we get out of the learning that she’s receiving is she’s able to tell us what she needs,” Cruz said.
Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 357 in 2017, which provides free preschool to children of firefighters, peace officers, and first responders who have received the Star of Texas Award for exemplifying courage.
