School Readiness
Why is School Readiness Important?
Today we know more than ever before about how young children develop and about how best to support early learning.
The first five years of life are critical to a child’s lifelong development. Young children’s earliest experiences and environments set the stage for future development and success in school and life. Early experiences actually influence brain development, establishing the neural connections that provide the foundation for language, reasoning, problem-solving, social skills, behavior and emotional health. (footnote)
We now know that school readiness includes much more than just developing fundamental cognitive and language skills. Readiness for school is multi-faceted, encompassing the family, community and schools as well as the physical, social, emotional and cognitive skills that children need to thrive.
CHECH leadership has decided that the work of the initiative should be reframed in terms of the status of children in the city and their readiness to succeed in school, and we will view our work according to the following indicators:
- Ready Child – Children have the physical, social emotional, language and cognitive capacity to succeed when they enter kindergarten.
- Ready Family – Children have the nurturing, supportive, safe and stable home and family life necessary for them to thrive. Economic self-sufficiency, educational attainment and family stability are all factors that create a ready family that prepares a child for school.
- Ready School – Children will enter schools, fir kindergarten and beyond, that are able to provide the highest quality learning environment.
- Ready Community – Children live in the safe and healthy communities with access to the resources and programs necessary to support and enrich them and their families.
