READY! for Kindergarten receives $5,000 grant
—Courtesy photo Parents have fun learning about early childhood literacy skills with facilitator Natassia Hamer.
The Panhandle Alliance for Education, which funds READY! for Kindergarten, a free early childhood literacy program for parents, has received a $5,000 grant from the Steele-Reese Foundation. The Steele-Reese Foundation is a charitable trust committed to supporting rural communities and the nonprofit organizations that serve them in Idaho, Montana, and Appalachian Kentucky.
During the free READY! for Kindergarten workshops — which are held in Sandpoint in the fall, winter and spring — parents, grandparents and other caregivers of children from birth to age 5 receive research-based curriculum and fun and educational toys, games and activities. These materials are then used by the parents at home with their young children in purposeful play. As the workshops are for adults only, free childcare for children from 13 months to 11 years is available on site (babies under 12 months may attend with parents).
For more information on READY! for Kindergarten, please go to www.readysandpoint.org or call the PAFE office at 208-263-7040. The fall 2016 session will be held on Saturday morning, Sept. 24. Registration is now open and pre-registration is required.
The Panhandle Alliance for Education is a non-profit organization composed of local citizens, businesses, and educators. The organization’s mission is to promote excellence in education and broad-based community support for the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Donations are distributed as a working pool of money used to fund LPOSD teacher grants, an LPOSD-wide writing program and other strategic programs, as well as READY! for Kindergarten. To learn more about PAFE or to make a monthly or one-time donation, please visit the website at www.panhandlealliance.org or call Executive Director Marcia Wilson at 208-263-7040.