Pre-kindergarten prep pays off
East Valley School District is launching a new program that will help its future students enter school ready to learn.
Children enter kindergarten at several different levels. Some have been attending preschool for years and know their letters and numbers, while others begin school at a 2- or 3-year-old level.
Statewide, kindergarten teachers report that only 44 percent of incoming students are adequately prepared to be successful in school.
EVSD’s early intervention task force began studying kindergarten readiness in fall 2005. It gathered information, researched different programs and attended workshops.
With the task force’s recommendation the district adopted the Ready! For Kindergarten program, developed through 10 years of research and parent education in Kennewick.
The Kennewick School District has shown a measurable, positive effect on student learning as a result of this program, officials there said.
Research has found that students who are behind in kindergarten are the same students who are behind in the fourth grade, and they seldom catch up.
Washington state is beginning to recognize the value of early learning. At Gov. Chris Gregoire’s request, the state Legislature voted this year to create a Department of Early Learning, an executive branch agency. Early learning programs in Washington were previously administrated by three separate state agencies.
“Early learning is the new frontier in education, and Washington can lead the nation in quality child care and early learning programs,” Gregoire said in announcing Jone Bosworth as the director of early learning in August.
Currently only 60 percent of all eligible low-income children are served by state and federally-funded pre-kindergarten programs.
The state only funds half-day kindergarten programs as part of basic education.
East Valley’s Ready! program will benefit all students, not only those from low-income families.
“Registration has been good. Our first group of trainers is very enthusiastic about the program. They’re ready to roll,” said Jan Beauchamp, assistant superintendent of academic affairs at East Valley.
The district is inviting all East Valley parents and guardians of children from birth to age 5 to attend three two-hour classes during the school year – fall, winter and spring. During these classes parents will learn about developmental levels of their children.
“Parents can start the program at any time, at any age for any class,” said Beauchamp.
Parents are encouraged to read books to their child, pointing out colors and shapes. By playing games and singing songs, parents lay the foundation for learning for their child.
Little things that families can do on a daily basis are the kinds of activities that inspire children to become successful learners. These activities can take place while driving in the car, shopping, playing outside or at nap- or bedtime.
Don’t have any books? Not a problem. The Ready! program works in collaboration with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Foundation.
A free, age-appropriate new hardback book will be mailed to your child each month, as long as a parent or guardian attends one Ready! class for the child’s age group in the fall, winter and spring.
This is also a way to build a home library. “They’ve made good choices for the books they’ve chosen. The children could have 60 books by the time they start kindergarten,” said Beauchamp.