Selecting a preschool for your child can seem like such a daunting task. As a parent who just wants the best for their child, you’re scrutinizing schools in hopes of finding the top rated, safest and overall best preschool in the area. It’s important to take the time you need to make the decisions you feel are best for your child, but keep in mind that your academic decision-making is far from over. Fortunately, there are many resources available to help you make these difficult decisions that could have a substantial effect on your child’s path in life.

There are 30,861 private schools in the United States, educating 5.3 million PK-12 students. Private schools account for 24% of the nation’s schools and enroll 10% of all PK-12 students. One of the main benefits of enrolling your child in a private school is the smaller class size. Most private schools are small; 86% have fewer than 300 students. This may not seem like a big difference, but in reality, the smaller class size drastically increases the amount of time students can work with their teachers one-on-one. This means students enrolled in a preparatory school as opposed to a public high school consistently score higher on their SAT’s. Average national SAT scores were 497 in reading, 514 in math, and 489 in writing. Students in independent schools scored 541, 579, and 550.

While it may seem ideal to enroll your child in a private school, the sad reality is that not every family can afford it – especially parents with multiple children. If you want the best education for your child but can’t afford the costly tuition that goes along with it, don’t worry. Children who attend preschool do 21% better on math and reading tests in kindergarten than children who do not attend. That’s right – preschool attendance can also drastically improve your child’s math, reading, and overall cognitive abilities. Additionally, in a review of three separate studies, 80% of children who participated in preschool programs outperformed their peers who did not participate in high-quality early care and education programs. As you can see, getting your child into the honors program later in life could be as easy as assuring they go to preschool.

Overall, making the right academic decisions for children is absolutely vital to their well-being. If you can’t afford to send them to a private school, you can still sign them up for a reputable preschool and rest assured that your child will be ahead of the game when it comes to their education.