With her suitcase under her arm, Shanya Wilson returned from destinations unknown with her friends to a kitchen filled with food and people. While Jamire Ulmar flipped fish in a pan, Shelby King-Oliver chopped at a carrot.
These 5-year-olds have made a world of their own at the Rankin Christian Center, where this isn't just playtime -- it's school time at a Head Start program.
"Kids this age need to play to learn," said teacher Amy Resetar. "It isn't about me saying 'OK, this week we're going to learn to count.' It's a very active process, where, say, Shelby learns counting by cutting her carrot."
Across the country, early childhood education is increasingly being emphasized. Pennsylvania this year introduced the Pre-K Counts program that provides schooling for 3- and 4-year-olds from families whose income can be as much as three times the national poverty level.
About 1,400 children in Southwestern Pennsylvania are enrolled.
Both Pre-K Counts and its federal counterpart, Head Start, provide youngsters with a play-learning atmosphere that introduces education and socialization.
The programs are not without their critics, who fear that some children are enrolled before they're ready.
"Some children can handle being in a group of 10 or 20. For some, it's too overwhelming. All children are very different," said Julia Williams, program director for the Early Childhood Programs at Duquesne University, Uptown. "If you know your child is not socially and emotionally there, if they can't separate from you for more than an hour without crying, then this isn't for them.
"Too many people think these programs are glorified baby-sitting."
But they are much more. Children choose activities they want, but each has an educational component.
The goal is to prepare them for kindergarten, where they will interact with dozens of students from all backgrounds. While Pennsylvania doesn't mandate that students attend kindergarten -- or even attend school until age 8 -- the typical child begins school at about age 5, Williams said.
"We're really trying to promote the idea that kindergarten readiness begins at birth," said Chris Rodgick, director of the Early Childhood Education/Head Start Program for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, which oversees 165 such programs in the county. "No child should be without preschool in this day and age because they would be so far behind."
To enter this year's Pre-K Counts or Head Start, students had to be 3 by Sept. 15, 2007. Each classroom has children both 3 and 4 years old. The mix of maturity is a challenge for teachers like Kelly Hamilton when planning the day's activities and the week's homework.
That's right: There's homework.
"It's something the parent can work together on with the child," said Hamilton, a Pre-K Counts teacher in Penn Hills. "We've done things like sending home tiny cups with numbers written on it so they work with their parents to count things into it."
Overall, an early childhood education experience is about more than learning ABCs and 123s. Stephen Bagnato, professor of pediatrics and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and the director of the Early Childhood Partnership at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, said the most important aspect of these programs is encouraging socialization and creativity.
Whether a child is put in a play group or into a structured creative play and learning program is up to parents. Bagnato said they need to remember their child isn't necessarily ready to be bombarded by academics at age 3 or 4.
"It's about balance," he said. "In some settings, it's too much play, but in others there's not enough time for creative play that is unstructured."
Instead, children can use creative play to learn how to get along with one another as well as start learning basic concepts, Bagnato said.
Local teachers have learned that just because children can print their names at age 3 doesn't mean they're ready to enter kindergarten.
"I had a child already able to identify the alphabet and count, but didn't have a clue how to button pants or put on their coat," Resetar said. "All kids have different needs. The key is balancing themselves out so that they have all the basic skills, from putting on shoes, tying them, asking when they need help. Those skills are just invaluable."
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