On this week’s episode of the Studer Community Institute’s early learning show, we talk with preschool providers about the importance of getting kids ready for school.

The show airs from 5:30 to 6 p.m. today, June 19, 2018, on Blab TV and reruns throughout the month. Or get a sneak peek here. 

This episode of “Build a Brain, Build a Life” comes on the heels of new data from the Florida Department of Education tracking the kindergarten readiness of children.

After a four-year hiatus of releasing readiness rates, DOE released data for 2018 that shows only 46 percent of Escambia County children were ready school when they started in the fall. Santa Rosa’s readiness rate was 60 percent. The state readiness rate was 53.95 percent.

That data means that Escambia County ranks 53rd out of 67 Florida counties in terms of kindergarten readiness. Of the 17 counties with a similar size population, Escambia County ranks last in school readiness.

So, there is work to do.

In this episode, we heard from two people who work every day to make sure our children are getting the skills they need to be ready for school.

Laura Colo is director Title I office for Escambia County School District. That office manages the school district sites that offer voluntary prekindergarten classes for 4-year-olds.  The district has 14 sites that serve about 600 children. 

One important piece of that program, Colo says, is helping parents understand how their interaction with their young children is so important. 

“Let your child respond back to you. Ask thoughtful questions. Play word games at the red light,” she says. “We can help teach them how to do that to just make it a natural way to interact with their children.

“It’s a community effort to help children be ready for school.”

When children aren’t ready for school, Colo says they can lack some basic skills that they will need later on in the classroom — and in life. 

“Their fine motor skills may not be developed, they may not know how to use scissors or hold a pencil,” she says. “They don’t answer in complete sentences. They may not have the confidence to do tasks like open their bookbag, take off their jacket, or follow two directions given at one time.”

Most children in Escambia County who attend a VPK will do so at a private childcare center. And one of those key community partners shared her expertise with us, too.

Brenda Hardy, director of Wee Care Day Care Center in East Hill, has worked in childcare for 30 years.  Much has changed over those years, including the increasing sense of how important those early teaching years are for a child.

“At Wee Care, we are a family. Our children are our children and our parents are our family,” Hardy says. 

Keeping parents involved in their child’s educational progress is “a daily conversation (with our parents) in every one of our classrooms,” Hardy says.

Hardy says she and her staff know how important those early interactions are — and try to encourage their parents to do the same.

“Those words start building from the time they’re six months old. We’ve seen so much growth in the ability to teach children. I feel we’ve been very blessed to have a great (Early Learning) Coalition to help us and our staff grow to the benefit of our children.”