Kentucky has reported that only 39% of children attending kindergarten in Owen County are prepared and equipped to succeed. In many Kentucky counties, limited resources or the environment may hinder healthy lifestyle choices related to early childhood development and physical activity.  

As an innovative strategy to improve early childhood development skills and increase kindergarten readiness with Owen County residents, the Family and Consumer Sciences Agent having partnered with multiple community partners including the local Family Resource Center, Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative, Owen County Schools, Owen County Public Library, KET, and more to implement Preschool Days.  These educational, fun filled days are hosted seasonally for parents/guardians to participate with their child.  Through this program, participants work on improving early childhood development skills and increasing kindergarten readiness. Over 40 adults and more than 60 children have participated in this program over the last few years. As a result of this program, 60% of parents reported reading to their child(ren) at home more frequently and 72% of parents or caregivers reported using an increase in emotional and social preparation including following simple rules, playing and sharing with other as well as cognitive skills.  In addition to individual behavior change 42 % reported giving their child new opportunities to try new foods, and 57% reported their family conducted activities learned from Preschool Days at home.  

Multiple activities were intentionally planned to focus on specific skills and a parent shared “the activities are geared to help specifically with fine motor skills and trying new things. We love these days and learning about different activities we can do at home together.”  At each program we always had one station as a sensory station and one child shared that they “liked playing in the beans.”  This specific station was a bean bin where the kids had fake flowers, planters, and little plastic critters to play with and enjoyed using fine motor skills to fill planters and place flowers. 

At the completion of the program, many participants shared benefits being gained by both the child and the adult.  One parent shared that they “love watching my child learn while having fun.” Another parent shared that “my child enjoyed the gardening activity and is looking forward to doing it at home now.  Regarding the many resources available one grandparent shared that they “appreciated the great resources provided to give me the opportunity to connect with the school and others in the community.”