It's no secret that pre-kindergarten education can have a profound impact on the future prospects of children - studies have shown it for decades. But in Michigan, and in the rest of the country, only about half of kids actually attend preschool. Plenty of parents want to send their kids to preschool, there just aren't enough classes available.
To help fix the problem, Grand Rapids Public Schools has started offering preschool in the summer, to kids who are about to enter kindergarten. It's a last-ditch effort to give the kids an early start on their education.
Click "play" to hear some of the sounds I heard on a recent visit to one of the summer preschool classes.
