Tiny Thinkers: Ready by Five Helps Combat Poverty
Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 by Sara.
Recent statistics show that the graduation rate is 72 percent for Washington State. This means that one out of every five students does not graduate. A report from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, School or the Streets: Crime and Washington’s Dropout Crisis, shows that 38 murders and 2,600 aggravated assaults could be prevented each year with a 10 percent increase in the graduation rate.
Long-term studies demonstrate that at-risk children who participate in early-learning programs are significantly less likely to end up in the criminal justice system than their peers. At-risk children who don’t attend high-quality preschool are 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18 and five times more likely to be repeat offenders by age 27.
This is why programs such as Ready by Five are so essential. They provide efficient means of ensuring that at-risk children receive quality early learning and thus do much to help ensure their successful integration in society.
For toddlers involved in Yakima’s Ready by Five program, learning comes easily. While the curriculum may be intensive, allowing kids to develop motor skills and hone hand-eye coordination, it is designed to make learning fun rather than a chore. Activities, such as fishing for paper clips with magnets, develop both gross and fine motor skills. Ready by Five combines games with reading and singing to promote playful skill development.
With 42 local stakeholders, Ready by Five is a bona fide grassroots organization to promote early learning. It’s got a flair for efficiency, something that doubtlessly commends it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Its ability to supply elaborate services to 5.5 square miles of at-risk communities with only 14 full-time employees demonstrates a business savvy that certainly resulted from such a dynamic partnership.
Thus far, the program has received $10.2 million from the Foundation and Thrive by Five Washington and anticipates hefty future donations, having subscribed to a 10 year commitment. In addition, the Gates Foundation and the Buffet Early Childhood Fund expect to pay for half the cost of a new center, approximately $15 million.
While Ready by Five’s trial run, the Educare East Yakima Early Learning Center, is set to open next spring, programming has already been underway for two years at a temporary location. The center services families with children up to 5 years old in a designated neighborhood in East Yakima, one where 60 percent of the population do not have access to traditional preschool programs. Benefits come in the form of home visits for expectant mothers and families with young children, parenting groups, a kindergarten transition program and support for child care providers.
Ultimately, Ready by Five seems to be well on its way to reaching its goal of helping to break the cycle of poverty by increasing the likelihood that children will attend high school, pursue higher education, and find employment.
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How is early education financed?
Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 by Bonnie.
The million dollar question for any early education advocate. Last week Seattle CityClub held a panel discussion with Rep. Skip Priest and Valisa Smith of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to better understand how the state has financed early education. If you missed it, luck you, you can watch it on tvw.org right now (it will also run tonight on the station at 10 p.m.).
“Resources are a tough issue. I think one thing we have to do is do a better job of articulating the net cost (of early learning programs)… I would argue that if we did an effective job of the early learning, then in fact the net cost would be significantly less,” Priest said — referring to English Language Learner programs, remediation, dropout prevention and other costly programs that he thinks the state would rely on less if more money was directed to early learning.
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Education News of the Day for July 16, 2009
Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 by Lindsey.
Opening lines of communication: Students from a Philly high school and an Afghan minority group will share words and images as part of a transnational civics lesson
Lacey school to get money for remodel: State sends Lacey school $6.7 million
What’s the definition of a crisis: Our Silent Education Emergency
