Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Kindergarten readiness – it takes a community

I am very excited to be a part of Berkshire United Way’s efforts to ensure that every Berkshire County child arrives at kindergarten ready to learn.  

Kindergarten readiness involves many things, including social and emotional development, language and communication development, health and wellbeing, readiness to learn, as well as cognitive and general knowledge.

According to the National Association for the Education on Young Children, “School readiness must be broadly defined and flexible.”  Young children develop at very individual rates. Some may be strong in language, cognitive, and general knowledge and weaker in social development, due to shyness or lack of peer relationships.

Other children may excel in social, emotional, and communication skills, but show less interest in or received less exposure to cognitive skills such as writing, identifying letters, counting and classifying objects, or understanding book concepts. 

What is most important is for children to have a positive attitude toward learning and a community that supports them by providing opportunities for positive, healthy interactions with the adults in their lives. 



Our community partners at Wee Read Pittsfield offer suggestions on ways we can do that – I invite you to visit their Facebook page for inspiration.

Stephanie Adornetto
Coordinator of Early Childhood Development

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