Did you know? 

3,500 children are born into poverty in Douglas and Sarpy County each year.¹ 

Without access to necessary educational resources, these children are highly likely to enter kindergarten unprepared for a new learning environment.  If kids start out with a disadvantage, it’s more likely that they will drop out of high school later in life.  Preparing children for school is essential to their future success, and that’s why Early Childhood Education is this week’s Issue At Hand.

So how do United Way funded agencies help kids prepare for their first day of school? 

In order for kids to be ready for school, it’s important to make sure they have the mental, education and physical skills necessary to succeed. 

Agencies teach children basic social skills from an early age, working with parents and children together to show families how to encourage learning in their youngsters.  Kids also learn basic educational skills such as counting and the alphabet that will give them a head start on kindergarten.   Including parents in the process is essential to a child’s early success and it’s through the work of Kids Can Community Center, Lutheran Family Services, Heartland Family Service, YMCA of Greater Omaha and many more that children can begin school with the confidence necessary to succeed.  It’s a family process and United Way is committed to providing these opportunities to all children, no matter their background.

So why is it important to provide children with education services in the early years of development?

According to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study², 2- and 4-year olds in poverty have significantly lower proficiency in listening comprehension, expression of vocabulary, letter recognition and proficiency of numbers and shapes.

The facts are:

• Of 2-year-olds in poverty, 29% demonstrated proficiency in listening comprehension, compared with 39% above poverty
• 55% of 2-year-olds in poverty were proficient in expressive vocabulary compared with 67% above poverty
• Of 4-year-olds in poverty, 20% were proficient in letter recognition, compared with 37% above poverty
• 45% of 4-year-olds in poverty were proficient in numbers and shapes, compared with 72% above poverty

Children in poverty need structured programs to help them catch up to the expectations of a preschool environment, and United Way agencies are there to provide support to parents and children. Tutoring services teach children the basics, and parenting classes teach parents how to continue education in the home. 

Ready-In-5, a United Way initiative, is an important Early Childhood Education program that provides educational and language tutoring to children of international immigrants.  Many immigrant families are new to the English language and need a helping hand as they prepare their children for preschool and kindergarten.  The program teaches children cognitive skills with a focus on vocabulary, numbers, shapes and letter recognition.  The program is a joint venture between Heartland Family Service, YMCA of Greater Omaha and United Way of the Midlands.

The following video shows how the Ready-In-5 program works with families from different countries to prepare their children³:

Did you know?

Last year, United Way of the Midlands committed $248,000 to Early Childhood Education⁴.

Supporting children in their early days of learning is important to the future of our community and we recognize the need to support these programs. Success early on can translate to success later in life and it's important to give children all of the tools necessary to succeed.

¹ Building Bright Futures
² U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). The Condition of Education 2009 (NCES 2009–081), Indicator 3.  (Found at http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=90)
³ This video was filmed in collaboration with Heartland Family Service and YMCA of Greater Omaha 
⁴ http://www.uwmidlands.org/2011-2012-donor-funding-by-programs.html