Ensuring Children Are Successful
Getting Preschoolers Ready to Learn
Have you ever watched a baby examine a set of
measuring spoons, or held your ears while a toddler
belted out her latest rendition of the alphabet
song?
When you watch a child play, you might not
realize how much is going on inside that tiny head –
but in fact the human brain develops more rapidly
during the first three years than at any other time
in life. The foundation for future learning is
established – or not.
When children don’t have access to early
childhood learning experiences, they may have trouble when they
start kindergarten and are expected to recognize
letters, have basic counting skills, and even read
or pretend to read.
That’s why helping kids gain the skills they need
to enter kindergarten ready to learn is crucial –
and why it yields such phenomenal results.
Research shows that every dollar spent on quality
early childhood programs returns up to $17 in
long-term savings, since children in these programs
will ultimately have higher paying jobs and will be
less likely to commit crimes as adults.
What we’re doing:
United Way is focusing on this
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by investing in
quality early childhood programs and increasing the
number of young children who achieve developmental
milestones.
Results: Of
more than 1,000 children enrolled in United Way
Community Investment supported, quality
preschool programs in 2009, 95% gained the academic
skills they need to succeed in kindergarten. That’s
an increase from more than 840 children (90% of
those served) in 2008.
Keeping Older Kids On Track and In School
Helping children enter school ready to learn is
only part of our challenge. We know that
kids who are not on track in school when they’re in
4th grade are less likely to graduate from high
school. And children who participate in after-school
programs are 60% less likely to drop out of school.
What we’re doing:
United Way is focusing on quality
out-of-school programs that help youth improve their
academic achievement, and
we’re investing in the Well-Managed Classroom
(WMC) model for improving the learning
environment in New Britain schools, so
kids spend more time learning and less time
off-task.
Results: In
2009, thanks to
Community Investment supported after-school
programs for youth, more than 1,900 youth improved
their academic performance—or 83% of those served.
And since 2005, the WMC model, funded in part
through Community Investment, has led to a
60% drop in discipline referrals at Louis P. Slade
Middle School in New Britain and to gains in all
grades on the Connecticut Mastery Test. It has
brought similar results to two other New Britain
middle schools.