“Building Strong Foundations through Quality Education”
Preschool
Most children attend preschool at 3 and 4 years old. Research has shown that children who attend a high quality preschool are more likely to perform well in school, graduate on time, and be successful in life. The Family and Child Development Lab offers free and low cost resources to work with your 3 and 4 year olds to help them be prepared to enter kindergarten. As the standards for education are being raised it is imperative that our children have the necessary foundations to build on for their education. All of our resources are research and experienced based and align to the common core state standards.
Literacy Resources
The National Reading Panel Report (2000) listed five essential components to a successful reading program. These five critical areas are:
These areas of instructions should be taught and practiced in a systematic method, meaning that they are planned and delivered in a purposeful sequential manner to increase student acheivement. Research also show that a good reading program goes hand in hand with a quality writing program. Reading and writing are related to each other. Reading affects writing, and writing affects reading. Because these two subjects are intertwined they should be taught together. Research shows that children learn more when reading and writing are taught together rather than in isolation.
Math Resources
The National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has identified Number and Operations, Geometry and Measurement as the most important standards for creating a strong foundation in mathematics for children ages 3-6.
The first three of these standards come from the NCTM, the remaining three standards are used to align the preschool standards to the common core state standards used in kindergarten. Together these six areas of instruction provide children with the foundation needed to be successful.