Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Programs offered to get kids ready to learn

This is the first in a series of features about Fallbrook public school education.

Public school education in Fallbrook has never been more rigorous.

Beginning with programs geared toward infants – including Parents as Teachers, which won a 2007 Golden Bell award from the California Department of Education – through advanced placement classes for teenagers, the two districts that serve public school students in Fallbrook offer every beneficial educational asset possible.

Times have changed since Dad went to work each day, leaving Mom with the joyous task of teaching baby the first rudiments of education: the alphabet, colors, numbers.

In today’s economy, most homes have two working parents, or a single parent who works, so getting a child ready to learn before going to kindergarten is a daunting challenge – even for families with a stay-at-home parent.

Moreover, the US Census reports, “Forty percent of people in California speak languages other than English at home,” which is still another barrier.

With public school education under scrutiny by state and federal government to elevate test scores, charter schools that promise small classes, a push for vouchers and home schooling and private schools gaining popularity, deciding how to educate their children can leave parents in a quandary.

In a January 23 report in Educational Week magazine, author Helen Ladd, writing about the failures of No Child Left Behind legislation, said, “We are kidding ourselves if we think the education system can significantly reduce achievement gaps all by itself. Any serious effort to do so will require greater investments in early-childhood programs…”

Smart educators, like those in the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District (FUESD), already know this and have established ways to ensure students are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten.

According to Stacey Larson-Everson, FUESD director of special projects, “Research shows children who attend quality early childhood programs are less likely to be retained in a grade or placed in special education, do better on achievement tests in second grade, have fewer behavior problems in third grade, more likely to graduate from high school, get better jobs and earn more money, and participants from low-income families do better academically and socially when they get to school.”

Further, these children are less likely to break the law or participate in other delinquent acts, she says.

From early childhood programs at the Mike Choate Educational Center to Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) training beginning in elementary school and continuing through high school, children who attend public school in Fallbrook have advantages not available elsewhere.

Five separate programs are administered by the elementary school district, each with a special focus that helps children become better learners and invests their families in the process.

The Mike Choate Early Education Center, located at the corner of Mission Road and Fallbrook Street, houses two of the early education programs: Pre-School and Parents as Teachers.

Pre-School offers six sessions each day, three in the morning from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and three in the afternoon from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Included are two special education classes.

At present, 72 students are enrolled in the Pre-School program. Children must be 4 years old to register. All preschool classes are conducted in English.

The program emphasizes school readiness and is not a daycare operation.

Parents as Teachers asserts parents are the first and most influential teachers in the early stages of a child’s life, critical for optimal development, and they provide the foundation for success in school and in life.

The goal of the program is to increase parent knowledge of early childhood development, thereby improving parenting practices.

Parents as Teachers has three elements: parent-child activities such as music, rhythm and health; parent education on topics that include managing discipline and diabetes; and home visits designed to equip new parents with skills for exposing children to early learning educational methods.

Three hundred fifty-six families with children ages 5 and under are registered with Parents as Teachers. The average daily attendance is 94 children.

Parents as Teachers opened in 1993.

Ready, Set, Go! is part of Parents as Teachers but is conducted at the historic Maie Ellis Elementary School on Elder Street. It is a parent-child drop-in program that operates from 8:15 to 11:30 a.m.

The program includes crafts which incorporate literature, language, vocabulary, letters, sounds and numbers.

Also offered are creative play centers; theme and concept development that includes topics such as families, weather and the five senses; sensory elements, such as puzzles and cause-and-effect toys; and a special area for children 1 year and under that focuses on developing hand-eye coordination.

On average, 19 children participate daily.

Ready, Set, Go! began in November of 2006.

Jump Start started February 4 as a pilot program at Maie Ellis and at Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary School, located on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. There are 20 children enrolled in each class.

Jump Start is developed for children whose fifth birthday falls between December 3 and February 4. It offers a curriculum that provides opportunities to learn by being involved in developmentally appropriate materials in language arts, mathematics and physical development.

This program provides a pre-kindergarten experience that assists a child’s academic and social readiness for the fall school year.

Enrollment in Jump Start does not automatically move children to first grade in the fall but to the full-year kindergarten program at the child’s school of residence.

There are 40 children currently enrolled in Jump Start.

Preppy-K is designed for developmentally young children who are old enough to attend kindergarten but not ready for the academic rigors of the curriculum.

It focuses on oral language development, fine motor skill development and building school behaviors and allows children the opportunity to access kindergarten standards over a two-year period.

Children are tested in August to determine eligibility for the program.

“Kindergarten is no longer the ‘milk and cookies’ environment of socializing where children prepare for school,” says Diane Studinka of the child development department at Palomar College.

State standard English/language arts curriculum for kindergarten covers vocabulary development, reading comprehension, writing, oral language and listening and speaking.

The mathematics standards involve number sense, algebra and functions, measurement and geometry, statistics, data analysis, probability and mathematical reasoning.

While the curriculum is presented for a young mind, Studinka says some children have not yet learned to sit still for 10 minutes, use scissors with one hand or even hold a pencil or crayon.

Preppy-K classes are held at Maie Ellis and Mary Fay Pendleton. It follows the same daily schedule as traditional kindergarten.

There are 20 students enrolled at each location.

These programs are specifically designed to get children ready to learn and “…strengthen the bond between parent and child,” says Larson-Everson. “It’s all about getting experience.”

Approximately 33 percent of the children are English learners. The parents involved include mothers, fathers and grandparents. The educational staff is certificated in their areas of expertise.

No fees or tuition applies to any of these public school programs.

For information about placing a child in any of FUESD’s ready-to-learn programs, call Superintendent Dr. Janice Schultz at (760) 723-7000.

 

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