For Educators
Program Description
What can school districts do about incoming kindergarten skill levels? They can empower parents! READY! for Kindergarten believes that building a strong foundation for a lifelong love of learning starts at home.
As we know, you can face a broad range of skills among students when they start school. Studies show that close to 40% of children enter kindergarten with language and math skills typical of two, three and four year olds. They are already one to three years behind target on their first day of kindergarten. Add social-emotional immaturity and in many cases, this gap persists all the way through high school.
It is extremely difficult for children to catch up once they are behind. Research suggests that public schools do not actually create the gap. They merely maintain it. For most children, the gap in measurable pre-reading and pre-math skills occurs prior to kindergarten. It occurs in their homes.
The READY! for Kindergarten program supports parents and caregivers so they not only know how to prepare children for school right at home, they can enjoy it and foster a close bond at the same time. All it takes is three 90-minute interactive classes per year (one each in the fall, winter and spring) to train parents to use age appropriate materials and activities with their child.
The program is comprised of fifteen lessons—available in English and Spanish. There are three different lessons for each of the five age groups—birth to 1, 1–2, 2–3, 3–4 and 4–5 years. Classes in the earliest age group start with the most basic skills for children in their first year of life and ramp up from year to year with increasing sophistication.
A trained instructor, using the latest in presentation technology, leads the lesson. About 80% of the class time is allocated to hands-on training activities, 15% explains research and child development, and 5% ties the tools and activities to age-related targets.
READY! for Kindergarten is a predictable, consistent and replicable program. The research-based lessons and activities, designed for sequential skill building at home during the early learning years, demonstrate results.
