School Readiness
What do we mean by School Readiness?
“Readiness" is a term used to describe preparation for what comes next! Since 1990, one of the top national educational goals has been that all children in America will start school “ready to learn.” First 5 Orange County established the School Readiness Initiative in 2000 to fund school readiness coordinators in every elementary and unified school district.
Our team works work school staff, families, community stakeholders, and early care and educational communities to identify service gaps and promote best practices to ensure school readiness for all children.
We offer services to children 0-5 and their families within our district boundaries and work with local preschool providers to improve the children’s school readiness by aligning curriculum and connecting centers with parent education, health, and social services. We provide:
- Parent Education
- Development Screenings
- Resources and Referral Service
- Early Learning Provider Training
- Health Education
- Support the development and implementation of Individual Education Plans for identified students
- Transition Planning support for parents of incoming TK and K students
Why is School Readiness an Important Issue Today?
Children’s school readiness is directly affected by the quality of care and early learning experiences they receive. Research documents that positive and supportive early learning learning experiences directly influence a child’s ability to transition successfully to preschool, TK and kindergarten. Being aware of the importance of quality early education and kindergarten expectations can assist families in setting their children up for success.
Recent studies indicate that, despite our growing appreciation of the importance of early education, many children in our community are not receiving quality early learning experiences that will prepare them to enter our Laguna Beach Unified School District Kindergarten programs.
Research indicates that preschoolers who attend high-quality programs will:
- Enter kindergarten with skills necessary for school success
- Show greater understanding of verbal numerical concepts
- Receive higher ratings on social competence
- Show ability to stay with an activity longer
- Are more likely to make normal progress through the primary grades
Tips for a successful transition to TK and Kindergarten
Specific ways to help your child, or a child in your care, succeed in school is as follows:
- Engage your child with as much verbal communication as possible. Be fully available to listen and talk with your child which may require you to put your cell phone away.
- Pay attention to your child’s strengths. Set high but realistic expectations and help him/her develop realistic self-expectations.
- Encourage your child to make choices, even if it means making mistakes. Help him/her learn and grow from these experiences; this fosters self-esteem and confidence.
- Encourage your child to problem-solve.
- Offer learning opportunities to help your child develop fine and gross motor skills.
- Promote good nutrition and model an active, healthy lifestyle.
- Support learning at home including reading books to your child daily.
- Limit the use of electronics as well as TV viewing.
- Communicate with your child’s child care provider or school; stay involved and keep informed on a regular basis.
- Encourage your child to explore and discover the world. Foster new interests and help him make the most of the world around him.
- Help your child develop friendships and encourage frequent opportunities to have playdates.
- Teach your child to be sensitive to other people’s feelings.
- Teach him/her appropriate safety procedures and how to avoid dangerous situations.
Characteristics most important for a child to successfully transition into kindergarten:
- Ability to communicate basic needs
- Ability to demonstrate attentive behavior
- Show enthusiasm, interest, and desire to learn
- Demonstrate a desire to know things, to want to please, to feel good about themselves
- Display prosocial behavior
School Readiness is funded by a grant from First 5 Orange County Children and Families Commission.
What is the EDI?
The EDI is an Early Development Index filled out on all children in kindergarten that was developed by the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University in Canada. First Five's Children & Families Commission of Orange County, which invests in programs and organizations to ensure that all children in Orange County are healthy and ready to learn when they enter school, is leading this effort in partnership with the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities.
The EDI includes five key domain areas and is used to produce holistic, community-level measures of childhood development during the Kindergarten year. The EDI identifies the percentage of children who are vulnerable and on track by developmental domain and compares this information by the target community. The EDI is not designed to screen, identify or diagnose individual children. The EDI can be used to monitor populations of children over time, report on populations of children in different communities, predict how groups of children will do in elementary school, and inform policies concerning young children and their families.
Understanding the Importance of EDI
Collecting EDI data tells us how our community’s children are doing, what programs and opportunities are helping, and where additional resources need to be deployed to ensure the success of the entire community.
This report will help policymakers, nonprofit groups, educators, and child advocates to quantify the success of programs and policies in place, uncover pockets of need and collaborate to ensure necessary support reaches all children.
For more information about the EDI, please watch this important video:
How are EDI data interpreted?
This report depicts the percent of children “not on track” and “on track” in your district by the five developmental domains. Children are “not on track” in a domain if their mean EDI score for that domain falls at or below the 25th percentile normative cutoff. Conversely, children are “on track” in a domain if their mean EDI score for that domain falls above the 25th percentile. It is important to note that the EDI will be re-administered in Spring of 2022 and results will be posted prior to the start of the 2022/23 school year.
Orange County’s young children need safe, supportive, and nurturing environments to be healthy and ready to succeed in school. First 5 Orange County Children and Families Commission provides funding to our District to support our School Readiness Program.
Our School Readiness Team is comprised of a Director of Early Learning, District Nurse, School Psychologist, and Speech and Language Pathologist. The team’s mission is to provide parents with support to ensure their children from birth to five years of age are developing appropriately. If referral services are needed, our staff will guide you through the process and answer any questions you might have related to your child's development.
Our goals are to foster healthy children, early learning, strong families, and quality services. All services are free of charge. The Laguna Beach Unified School District provides the following:
- Parent Education and Referrals
- Learning Link Program
- Free Developmental, Vision, and Hearing Screenings
- Professional Development Training for Early Learning Professionals
- We support the development and implementation of School Entry Plans for identified students