Kindergarten readiness is about more than the preschool experience. It starts even earlier during childhood through guided play and learning activities that all build on the collective knowledge Kindergartners will need at the door.
Which is why Learning Care Group, one of the largest early childcare providers in the country, has implemented a new customized path to Kindergarten curriculum for students. The School Readiness Pathway begins in infancy and transitions from age to age, building on gradually on what will need to be learned by Kindergarten. The Learning Care Group is affiliated with Childtime, La Petite Academy, Tutor Time and Children’s Courtyard schools — all 900+ of which will be now use this Kindergarten readiness curriculum.
I’ve written before about the importance of access to early childhood education for all students but it takes more than just access – that education has to be quality. I think it is also important that we differentiate between the learning that actually takes place in Kindergarten, and the building blocks that lead to it.
Putting a Kindergarten readiness program in place is not the same as making young children hit an academic path before they are ready; it simply means that the developmentally appropriate programs put in place have a structure that places Kindergarten at the end of the journey. I think it makes sense to chart out the learning process from a very young age and not wait to start doing that when Kindergarten begins. For our kids to maximize their learning potential in the K-12 years, we need to get that ball rolling as early as possible.
