The READY! for Kindergarten program is heading to college.
Since becoming the first community in Minnesota to adopt the school readiness program in April 2008, officials have worked to steadily expand the program and the locations where its offered.
The latest expansion, announced this week, takes READY! onto the campus of Minnesota State University where employees will be able to attend the classes free of charge during the work day.
“MSU agreeing to run this program is huge,” said Kelley Olson, program director. “We want to reach as much of the community as we can. ... Eventually, we want to reach everybody.”
The READY! program was developed by the public school district in Kennewick, Wash., in the early part of this decade as a response to the growing trend of children being unprepared — physically, socially and academically — for the start of kindergarten.
The program consists of three parent classes per year for the first five years of a child’s life. Classes are focused on child development and using simple strategies for bolstering learning skills (for instance, reading with a child five minutes a day, or spending 30 minutes conversing every day). Parents also receive free materials and educational toys.
For the complete Free Press story about the READY for Kindergarten program, go to http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_218235022.html
For more Free Press news go to http://www.mankatofreepress.com/.
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