Several local pre-kindergarten early education programs in the county have been recognized by Parent Aware for School Readiness (PASR) for implementing kindergarten readiness best practices. The children—like these kids in Little Ducklings Childcare—enjoy the play-based program.
A select group of local pre-kindergarten early education programs are the newest programs to earn Parent Aware Ratings, which let area parents know that they are using kindergarten readiness best practices to help children.
“These folks really deserve a lot of credit for doing the right thing for Minnesota’s youngest children,” said Ericca Maas, executive director of Parent Aware for School Readiness (PASR), a nonprofit that supports the Ratings.
The Grand Marais businesses being honored by PASR include personal daycare/in-home provider Maria Carlson in Grand Marais, Lynn Sheils of Little Ducklings Childcare in Grand Marais and the Cook County Community YMCA Daycare.
These providers all volunteered to adopt kindergarten readiness best practices, and verify that fact by obtaining a Parent Aware Rating.
Carlson said, “Daycare providers have many roles to play in assisting children and their families. It’s really nice to be recognized for the care and effort I put into early learning and school readiness.”
The Parent Aware Ratings are a Consumer Reports-like service that helps parents find child care and preschools in their area that are using kindergarten readiness best practices.
The best practices measured by the Ratings include use of proven, evidence-based curriculum, teacher training, teaching materials, and teaching methods.
Sheils said the recognition shows that the childcares are using early childhood best practices.
“It shows that we are using all the domains—social, emotional, motor skills, cognitive, etc.”
She added that the best practices bring fun to childcare. “We use all the domains, but it’s very play-based and child-centered.”
PASR notes that up to 90 percent of brain development occurs before age 5, making the first five years of life a critically important time to have children in stimulating learning environments. Minnesota isn’t doing well on this front. Every year, thousands of children arrive in kindergarten unprepared, and too many of them never catch up in later grades.
“This announcement is exciting for the whole community, not just the honorees,” said Maas. “The whole community benefits from the increased availability of high quality early education.”
The honorees have been given a number of tools to promote their Rating, such as yard signs, banners, window stickers, and a customized web video. These materials will all help promote the providers’ high quality to parents. In addition to the promotion materials, providers may also be able to serve children through state-government funded Early Learning Scholarships, which can only be used with Parent Aware-rated programs.
With few exceptions, any licensed childcare provider is eligible to adopt the best practices and get a Rating. Hundreds of additional providers are volunteering for the program every year. Providers who do volunteer get help adopting the best practices from state-funded quality improvement coaches and grants.
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