Author: Lynnette Allen
Planning Unit: Breckinridge County CES
Major Program: Nurturing Parenting
Plan of Work: Building life skills through youth programming
Outcome: Initial Outcome
In Kentucky the need for early childhood development and school readiness continues to be identified. When looking at the 2019 Kentucky Center for Statistics, Breckinridge County was listed with only 48.4% of its youth being kindergarten ready. With this, 44.3% of the youth possessed satisfactory self-help skills and 42.3% met recommendations for well-being. With only 400 slots in licensed and certified childcare facilities, local young children are not in structured learning environments to always be school ready when they start kindergarten. Therefore, the Breckinridge County Community Early Childhood Council (BCCECC) conducted the new 2019 Kindergarten Strong event at the Extension Community Building. FCS Extension staff and volunteers assisted in the planning and conducting the program by serving as presenters and coordinators. The event provided the opportunity for families with young children ready to start kindergarten to visit with school staff, local health care providers and service agencies to learn about school readiness and the requirements that children must meet before starting school. School administration shared registration paperwork and the health department and other agencies shared developmental and health screenings requirements and resources. The event also provided hands-on learning stations for the youth and parents to explore self-help development activities, literacy tools and nutrition and wellness activities that families could work on at home in the weeks leading up to the first day of school. Simple things like putting on a coat, tying shoes, cutting up food, holding a pencil, using scissors, establishing and following a routine, listening to stories, setting still for extended periods of time are all examples of the learning activities that the participants completed. After visiting the various stations, families received a stamp declaring them Kindergarten Strong and a backpack full of school supplies and learning activities for home. Forty-four families attended the new event. School administration reported that the event was greatly needed. Parents and grandparents reported gaining awareness and resources to would help their children be ready for the transition to school. The positive response from all prompted the scheduling of the 2020 Spring event but due to the Covid 19 pandemic it was postponed. Alternative planning is being done for a virtual or drive through event before the 2020-21 school year.
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