Evidence of the positive academic, economic, and societal effects of a high quality prekindergarten education has encouraged many states in the United States to sponsor prekindergarten initiatives. As part of South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds' 2010 Education Initiative, the State set goals to explore existing options related to preschool and child care in South Dakota and to look toward future needs of South Dakota children. The purpose of this study was to identify where South Dakota children spend their days during the year before kindergarten. This included determining what types of preschool and child care settings children attend, how many children attend these programs, and the frequency of their attendance.

A researcher-developed survey instrument was distributed to parents whose children were starting kindergarten in Fall 2007 across South Dakota. Descriptive analysis of the responses indicated that 90% of South Dakota children attend some type of preschool or child care setting outside the home.

A chi-square analysis determined that significantly more children in South Dakota attend faith-based preschool programs than private preschools, public preschools, or Head Start (p < .0083). Children who do attend some type of preschool program in South Dakota usually participate in these programs three days a week for three to three and a half hours, spending an average of 12.9 hours per week in preschool.

A chi-square analysis indicated that children who receive care outside the home attend child care centers either full time or part time significantly more often than they stay with a relative other than a parent or attend a home-based child care program. Results showed that significantly fewer children were in care with a relative full or part time than any other setting ( p < .0024).

Implications of this study suggest that most children in South Dakota attend some type of preschool or child care program. These existing programs may be valuable partners as South Dakota works to ensure that children across the state have the opportunity to attend high-quality programs the year before they enter kindergarten.