A father reviews the tools and child development targets given to parents and caregivers who attend READY! classes.
It’s a tremendous honor K-12 administrators using READY! for Kindergarten recommended it to their colleagues. This award is yet another validation of the powerful impact our early learning program has and its ability to ensure children success in school.
Kennewick, WA (PRWEB) January 31, 2014
READY! for Kindergarten, a program of the national Children's Reading Foundation, has been selected as one of the best programs in education by K-12 leaders who named it to District Administration magazine’s “Readers’ Choice Top 100” in December, 2013.
In recognizing the most innovative programs and products, the annual District Administration award informs superintendents and other senior school district leaders about programs and products their colleagues across the nation are using to help their districts excel.
Children’s Reading Foundation President Nancy Kerr said, “We are thrilled to be recognized as a Top 100 program. It’s a tremendous honor administrators using READY! for Kindergarten recommended it to their colleagues through this prestigious publication. This award is yet another validation of the powerful impact our early learning program has and its ability to ensure children success in school.”
READY! for Kindergarten, which provides trainings, targets and tools to parents of children birth to age five, is offered in over 25 states and 115 school districts across the country. It is a research-based and proven program, helping communities ensure children start kindergarten at grade level and read proficiently by 3rd grade, a strong indicator of future success in school and in life. Classes and the curriculum are available in both English and Spanish.
“We are using READY! for Kindergarten as one strategy to reach monolingual Spanish speaking parents, increasing their knowledge of child development and the importance of their children starting kindergarten prepared,” said Chris Barge, Director of School Readiness at The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, located in Boulder, Colorado, the most recent community to launch the READY! for Kindergarten program. “We know children who start kindergarten behind, stay behind. Research shows the READY! program has been successful in other communities; we want to bring that success to Boulder County to help reduce our significant achievement gap.”
“Parents and caregivers of children who attend READY! classes leave with materials to use at home to build pre-literacy and school readiness skills,” said Virginia Paine, National Director of READY! for Kindergarten. “Studies show nearly 80% of children whose parents take part in READY! meet the kindergarten reading readiness standard regardless of family income or ethnicity, compared to 55% of children whose parents do not attend.”
“The READY! for Kindergarten program directly correlates with the skills we hope our incoming kindergarteners have,” said Niki Arnold-Smith, Principal at Eastgate Elementary in Kennewick, WA. “This program is a tremendous support to our parents and students as we work together to ensure our students are prepared for school and read proficiently by 3rd grade.”
“Every year 40% of children start kindergarten already one to three years behind. They struggle to catch-up, and most of them never will,” Kerr said. “We hope the endorsement from school district administrators and community leaders brings further attention to the importance of our program and inspires more communities to prepare their students to start kindergarten at grade level.”
