Creating an Outstanding Early Literacy Program

Two years ago, our Board of Trustees approved a district wide goal to have all English speaking children on grade level by third grade. Even though obtaining this ambiguous goal would require a significant restructuring of our early literacy educational programs throughout the district, our staff fully endorsed this goal. As educators, we are well aware that children, who are not on their grade level by the end of third grade, will more than likely struggle with their education over the next nine (9) years. The creation of a dynamic early literacy program is the backbone of our strategy in creating a rich and nurturing educational environment where students can become fluent readers by third grade.

We have made a significant investment in implementing the Imagine Learning early literacy program for all transitional kindergarten (TK) and kindergarten (kinder) students throughout the district. Each one of our TK and kinder students received an individual student-license, which enables our excellent teaching staff to generate individualized lessons in accordance with each child’s level of proficiency in English.

Our talented teachers in TK and Kinder have been extremely pleased that their students are learning early literacy in such a fun way. This engaging and innovative software program adapts lessons that will encourage all students to learn new skills in the English language as each child’s level of proficiency grows. An exciting component of this program is the high level graphic characters that students interact with at various proficiency levels. The program has a sound recording option to assist students in gaining phonemic awareness and improving their enunciation of words.

Having all TK and kinder students utilize this program on a daily basis has increased the academic vocabulary of these two grade levels significantly. A strong component of the Imagine Learning program is in the tutoring section. Through the tutoring components we are capable of creating individual assessments and developing the ability to record measurable gains in the following areas: vocabulary, speaking skills, letter sound connections, literacy and reading comprehension.

During the past two years, we have been analyzing our student results from the Imagine Learning software program. Our students are performing at a higher level proficiency rate for the entire grade level (TK and Kinder). They are gaining quickly the necessary phonemic awareness skills that are required as they become emerging readers. Having a software program where each child’s lessons can be tailor-made has proven to be significant support for our children who are at different readiness skills in the area of reading.

As we begin to plan for next year’s TK program, I would strong encourage all parents to visit our TK program at Opal Cliffs School. Transitional Kindergarten is a developmentally appropriate, activity based class that serves to build a foundation for early learners and prepare them for what lies ahead. Every activity is carefully chosen with great intention to improve the students’ abilities. No matter how much it looks like “only play,” it is actually a motor skill, academic concept, or interpersonal skill.

The simplest activity can be used to teach any number of skills. The systematic scaffolding of every subject is always planned with an eye towards what’s expected next year and a deep understanding of child development, allows every child to be confident in their abilities and be challenged. Our TK program provides the needed support as our children develop their skills at various levels. We want children to be highly successful at school and we want children to have a rich learning environment that included the arts, music, physical education fun academia and a sense of community

We are projecting that our TK program will grow again for the coming school year (2014-15). Children who turn 5 between 9/2/14 and 12/2/14 are eligible for the TK program. It is extremely important for all parents to register their child beginning March 3, 2014. All registration for the TK program will take place at Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary School. Our TK classes have a student to adult ratio of 12:1. We believe that we will increase our TK classes to three for the 2014-15 school year.

It is most important for children who are not ready for an academic kinder program attend our TK program. Given that our TK program has been so successful, we will only register students who are residents of our district at the present time. We will establish a waiting list for any parents who are interested in attending our TK program next year who are non-residents. It is most important to register your child as soon as possible to assure a spot in this program.

We are extremely delighted with the outstanding TK program that has evolved in our district through the guidance of our dedicated and very talented staff. A special thank you goes out to our teachers, Michelle McBride and Callie Lyon, and our instructional aides, Kay Johnson and Karen Hoffseth.