I have a very talented friend who started her own “graphic design” business within the stationary world. I had pitched my concept to her about an Alphabet Community of Characters that would all be individuals with their own sound identity, but they would also form friendships with other members of the community and by “working together,” new sounds and/or words would be made. She was swamped with her newly developed business and she thought long and hard about who would be the perfect fit for the job of giving a visual identity to these 26 characters and the town in which they would live. Hence, my introduction to the talented Carson Abbert.

Carson is an Art Teacher in Portland, Oregon, so we were never able to meet face to face (this amazes me even more). We spoke several times on the phone and seemed to have a shared vision for the characters..they were to be multicultural, they were to show action, they were to be motivating, they were to be enticing and friendly and they were to translate well into the letter and the sound motion. Being an educator himself, he could appreciate their purpose and he set out to bring the characters to life. If you see the map of Scholarville, you will see that he successfully met all of our initial criteria and then some.

The children LOVE Scholarville and they, surprisingly, all have different favorites. I am so pleased to see how the characters, who only had a name, a motion and a nationality a year ago, have become so vivacious and instrumental in Reading Readiness. Carson and I have yet to meet face to face, but the connection we made has been a huge blessing in my life!

Magic can be created from the right connections, don’t you agree? Do we not always try to find the right connections for our children from the moment they are born – the right doctors, the best toys, the best peer groups, the right mom group, the right school, the proper extra curricular activities and the list goes on….

What happens if we just trust in letting it be?

Interested in starting your own home-based pre-K program? Our home-based business kit has everything you need, including the lesson in the post you just read. If you’re already using Pre K Scholars, share your success stories here.

I truly believe that if you expose youngsters to a multitude of skills, you will be amazed at what they are able to retain. For example, in class this week, we introduced the letter T and some different educational components that integrated in nicely, one being telling time.

I showed the kids a large instruction clock and led them on a discovery by asking them questions and provoking some exploration: What is this? What shape is it? How many numbers are on it? How many hands are on it? Are the hands the same size? What does a clock tell us?

I simply stated that the larger hand tells us how many minutes and the smaller hand tells us the hour. Furthermore, when the minute hand is straight up pointing to the twelve, we say, “o’clock.” With that, the students were given smaller instructional clocks and asked to show many different “o’clock” times (i.e., “Who can show me 6 o’clock?”).

They loved this game. They even asked if they could take the clocks home for the week. How could I say no to the eagerness to explore further? How else can we expose our kids to early education in a motivating way?

Interested in starting your own home-based pre-K program? Our home-based business kit has everything you need, including the lesson in the post you just read. If you’re already using Pre K Scholars, share your success stories here.

A research study titled “Vocabulary Development During The Preschool Years” states that “Active participation can increase the likelihood that preschoolers [will] learn more vocabulary.”

The Guessing Game, which is only one component of Vocabulary Development addressed by the Pre K Scholars Curriculum, is as active as it gets and the children truly value being involved in the learning process. My students ask me daily, “Is it time for the Guessing Game?” It’s a favorite for all.

This week’s game provided three clues:

1. It has a face and hands

2. It’s numbered from 1 to 12

3. It tells you the time

We have already introduced both Karate Kicking Kim and Carmen the Cook, so we know the answer must begin with the hard “C” or “K” sound. Mouths are closed, but minds are thinking and eyes are widening as hands pop up.

One is called to answer: “Clock!” The child with the correct answer is given the card and may put it into the pocket chart below the corresponding beginning letter–and on to the next, until the game is completed.

While the kids are having so much fun and feeling so proud of themselves, they don’t realize they are working on phonics, letter/sound recollection, beginning sounds, vocabulary expansion and recognition, memory recall, deductive thinking, prior knowledge, listening skills, social development by listening to peers, taking turns, sitting still, raising hand and on and on…

I’m curious–how is your child exposed to new vocabulary?

My twins just turned four on January 18^th. Between their two older sisters and their mother, who teaches kindergarten readiness classes out of the home, they have a heightened sense of academics. They pick up chapter books to have “reading time” with their sisters and they spend most of their time writing friends and family letters containing “words” and elaborate illustrations. Their stick figures are a thing of the past and we can no longer drive by a sign without identifying all of the letters it contains..We wake up to questions like, “Do I have school today?” and “B, B, B..does boy start with the letter B?”

Many would say this is great, but my problem — and I know that many, many moms share my dilemma — they won’t start Kindergarten for 19 months.

Not only do they not make the cut off for Kindergarten, but they do not even make the cut off for the Pre-K class at their preschool. The cutoff for that class is at the end of December, so my kids’ January birthdays do not qualify.

My options are a three day per week class or a five day per week class, both three hours at a time. The five day class offers more time in school but the curriculum is more of the same curriculum they are currently receiving in the three day class. What do I do?

The extra two days are going to cost more and, with twins that means that extra payment is doubled. When times are already financially tough, why pay more for more of the same? Many moms are in my shoes and I can’t seem to dodge the question that is on most of their minds right now: “What will you do in the fall?” I am blessed that Pre K Scholars is a part of my world and that I can supplement my twins’ preschool experience with the program. Thanks to a well-structured kindergarten readiness curriculum, they will be more than ready for some more academic structure and they will be emotionally mature enough to handle its contents.

If you share my situation, I hope you consider the Pre K Scholars family kit – it is the perfect supplement to any preschool program, and costs much less than I would pay for those extra days in their current preschool. What would you do in this situation?

In a January 8, 2009 news release, the Institute states:

The years before Kindergarten are a particularly fertile and profitable time to prepare young children to read and learn by teaching them essential literacy skills.”

The report also suggests that there are “a multiplicity of important skills that need to be learned and that we need to ensure that all of those skills are developed through a complete program….”

Helping children become successful learners requires early teaching, using both home and school instruction. Ideally, there must be a partnership between home and school.

The Pre K Scholars program is 22 weeks long and encompasses essential literacy skills. It is designed to explore new concepts each week while also reinforcing previously introduced ideas – building skills upon skills to provide a strong educational foundation while preparing students for Kindergarten.

We’ve designed the weekly lessons to make learning fun and engaging. In addition to ‘in class’ lessons, each student has their own “Home Activities Binder.” This homework encourages parent participation, extends the scope of the weekly lessons, reinforces basic skills and instills pride in the learning process, giving preschoolers a stress-free early start. After all, those that start ahead, stay ahead!

For more information, check out the above-mentioned report at www.nifl.gov. The Kindergarten Readiness Movement is very popular right now and we would love to hear how it’s being addressed in your area.

It’s been a good week for me as it relates to Pre K Scholars and its contribution to the Kindergarten Readiness Movement. The positive feedback we are receiving is not only amazing but serves as confirmation that we are fulfilling a current gap in our educational system.

A few minutes before class started this week, a mother could barely get her car in park before her son flung open the car door and bolted straight into our Pre K Scholars home classroom. He had a big smile on his face as he proudly carried his home activities binder under his arm and was anxious to tell us about his accomplishments during the week.

His mother came rushing in behind and said, “Watch out! You guys have released the hounds! He can’t wait to do his work and he can’t wait to come to class each week.”

She continued: “He now asks me all the time what letter things start with. I told his preschool teacher that we were taking a supplemental pre k class and she said that she was wondering, because it seemed as though all of a sudden a learning light went on with the little boy.”

Pre K Scholars was developed in response to this situation. We want to be an active part of building a bridge between all preschools, both academic and developmental, and Kindergarten. Have you seen what the new Kindergarten looks like?

In developing both the Family Kit and the Home-Based Business Kit, we talked to moms and listened to their input. We value your input moving forward, and encourage you to share your questions and comments—and your stories!