PAFE rolls out 'Ready!' program

SANDPOINT - Tracy Gibson opens a booklet and spreads out a graph on the table in front of her. The lines move like waves across the chart. The topmost lines take the most dramatic jump; the ones at the bottom move at a more oblique angle.

The graph depicts two obvious disconnects in childhood learning. For those students first entering school, a "readiness gap" shows how preparedness to learn can range from the skills of a 3-year-old to those of an 8-year-old on the first day of kindergarten. The learning chasm widens by second grade, creating a "reading gap" where some children struggle while others zoom ahead.

The trend line doesn't vary to any marked degree when tracking the reading achievement of students another five years along the educational path. Children who were at the lowest reading level in second grade enter the seventh grade before they are reading with the same skills the upper-quartile students had at about age 7.

"The kids who start behind usually stay behind, and the kids who are ahead stay ahead," said Gibson, program coordinator for a new Panhandle Alliance for Education early childhood literacy curriculum called "Ready! for Kindergarten."

"But there's another gap," she noted. "From birth through age 5 is the 'opportunity gap' - and that's what we've been missing. Instead of remediation - trying to catch kids up - we can focus on enrichment."

The "Ready! for Kindergarten" classes began Saturday, attracting nearly 90 parents who came to take part in one of five training sessions.

"Our goal was 55 parents," said Gibson, a former classroom teacher. "Some of our classes have a waiting list, particularly our infant and 2- to 3-year-old classes. All of the other classes only have one or two openings."

The classes, which will be held three times a year, cover subjects such as "How and Why to Read Aloud," "Brain Development," and "Logic and Numbers."  Parents are provided with texts, learning toys and real world teaching tools so that they can maximize what learning experts believe is the most effective classroom of all - the home.

"I think a lot of people hear the term 'early childhood education' and they think 'kindergarten,'" the program coordinator said. "But it's really about the time before age 5 when they're so ready and eager. And it's also about bringing back the involvement of the home and families into our schools.

"They love their parent and they feel safe at home, so everything is ripe for optimized learning," she added. "This is the time when children are learning as fast as they'll ever learn in their lives."

The "Ready! for Kindergarten" program is based on a highly planned curriculum that will be delivered locally by a team of about 20 certified teachers. Gibson called it a "research-based program" that has already been proven successful in other school districts.

"These are things that parents always knew instinctively, but now there's brain research to show they were right," she said.

Instinct, however, has not been enough to help these same parents prepare their youngsters for a changing classroom environment. Years ago, kindergarten was seen as a transition phase between home and formal education, a place where children develop the ability to sit still, listen for extended periods of time and line up for recess. These days, kindergarten students are expected to know much more, leaving parents who thought they could wait for someone else to teach their kids number recognition, telling time and the alphabet feeling behind the 8-ball.

"It isn't about your education level or your finances," Gibson said. "What it is about is that parents want to know, 'Am I doing the right things to get my kids ready for school?'  I was the same way and I was a teacher.

"Kindergarten is very different than it used to be," she added. "The research tells us that kids are ready to learn before that and they can handle more at an early age. They're eager to learn - we just have to start earlier."

Mel Dick's "Ride for Education" (see accompanying story) has raised more than $10,000 to support the program so far and the rider said he expects additional donations to come in as those who have pledged support for his just-completed cross-country bike ride send in their checks.

"I made this 10,000-mile ride because I think of 'Ready!' as an investment - far more valuable than any Wall Street investment and much more rewarding," Dick said. "Our children are the future and helping them get ready for a life of learning is what it's all about."

Program Facts

"Ready! for Kindergarten" is an early childhood literacy program for families in the Lake Pend Oreille School District that is designed to empower parents with knowledge, educational tools and books geared toward the early stage in a child's development.

The program, created to impact children's ability to read and do math, was developed in Kennewick, Wash., by the National Reading Foundation and the Kennewick School District in response to national studies showing that children who begin kindergarten behind in math and reading skills tend to stay behind throughout their public schooling. 

For more information on the program, class times or locations, contact Tracy Gibson or Marcia Wilson at 263-7040 or visit: www.readysandpoint.org.