The Most Important Year

Pre-Kindergarten and the Future of Our Children

By: Suzanne Bouffard

Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer

An eye-opening look inside pre-K in America and what it will take to give all children the best start in school possible.

At the heart of this groundbreaking book are two urgent questions: What do our young children need in the earliest years of school, and how do we ensure that they all get it? Cutting-edge research has proven that early childhood education is crucial for all children to gain the academic and emotional skills they need to succeed later in life. Children who attend quality pre-K programs have a host of positive outcomes including better language, literacy, problem solving, and math skills down the line, and they have a leg up on what appears to be the most essential skill to develop at age four: strong self-control. But even with this overwhelming evidence, early childhood education is at a crossroads in America. We know that children can and do benefit, but we also know that too many of our littlest learners don't get that chance - millions of parents can't find spots for their children, or their preschoolers end up in poor quality programs.

With engrossing storytelling, journalist Suzanne Bouffard takes us inside some of the country's best pre-K classrooms to reveal the sometimes surprising ingredients that make them work - and to understand why some programs are doing the opposite of what is best for children. It also chronicles the stories of families and teachers from many backgrounds as they struggle to give their children a good start in school. This book is a call to arms when we are at a crucial moment and perhaps on the verge of a missed opportunity: We now have the means and the will to have universal pre-kindergarten, but we are also in grave danger of not getting it right.

©2017 Suzanne Bouffard (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Bouffard's interviews with educators and administrators give insight into the landscape of the pre-K debate and support her call for universal pre-K.” (The New York Times)

“Suzanne Bouffard's new book, The Most Important Year, may be just what parents of preschoolers have been waiting for; a guide to what a quality pre-K program should look like.” (NPR)

“Something amazing is happening in America: We are building a new public education system, nearly from scratch - to serve 3 and 4 year olds. The grand 'pre-K' experiment has consequences for our economy, our democracy, and, of course, the little children who will one day lead us all. Suzanne Bouffard is the tour guide we need to understand what is happening and what we can all do to make the experiment a success." (Elizabeth Green, author of Building a Better Teacher)

Early Educator Opinion

I work in early education and advocacy and found this to be extremely true of our experiences. A great reminder that we all have an important role in building and bridging our future. A wonderful read for anyone looking for systems change in early Ed. Our state is in the building process and I found this to be a well articulated view of the most important early years.

A good overview of Pre K but lacking

Disclaimer: I am not an educator nor do I consider myself very knowledgeable about the problems facing public education.

I am however a concerned parent who listened to this trying to prepare my young children for school and find that this wasn’t very helpful in that regard. At the very least it stoked fear about the current state of affairs in our schools. Which I suppose can effect change to some degree. But I just didn’t think it outlined any real solutions. Seemed mostly anecdotal.

The writer obviously cares deeply about the quality of early education and laying a solid foundation. And at the root of this she seems to advocate for teachers. But I’m struggling to identify what exactly she’s advocating for. It could be that I missed it but maybe that’s not my fault? It seems if you’re going to write a book about systemic problems that affect early education, you would clearly and plainly lay out potential solutions. In some sense she helps the reader identify things to be mindful of when looking for a healthy and vibrant learning environment. But I think her intended audience is also educators? I think you miss the mark if you’re not saying step one: step two: kinda thing.

Look, I get that it’s a complicated problem and if it was easy we wouldn’t have to worry about it, nothing to fix. But I feel that if you invest the time in writing about it, there has to be a final chapter restating the problem(s), contributing factors, root cause. These are some recommended courses of action. Then I will feel more like my time and money vested in listening is worth it.

Hope this comes off in a constructive or helpful way and not in a way dissuading people from checking it out. Overall I did enjoy it, there is value in it. Just left me feeling more deflated than energized and prepared.

Blah

I feel like I wasted my time overall while listening to this book. Sure it gave me a good overview of preschool classrooms, but overall gave me hardly anything I can take with me to my own preschool classroom. What annoyed me most was the author’s leftist biases. Not what I came here for.

Book about nothing

There is nothing good or bad about that book...provides no information to parents.....complete waste of money and my time.