Bridging the Divides of Early Education: Children Need to Be Prepared for Kindergarten, Waterford Upstart Can Get Them There
Guest post submitted by Heba Abdella, Partnership Manager, Waterford.org
Education is crucial for the development of every child, but not all children have equitable access. That gap not only affects our youngest learners but our community as a whole. Without equal access to quality, consistent education, a child can remain firmly at a disadvantage that rarely gets corrected. Instead, it gets compounded and only widens the divide between those who have access and those who do not.
Waterford.org sees this threat clearly and wants to be a part of the solution from early in a child’s learning journey. Waterford.org is an education nonprofit with a mission to achieve universal literacy for children through equity, access, and parent empowerment. Through the Waterford Upstart program, families get access to educational tools that support children and caregivers alike, all at no cost to them. It truly bridges divides and topples barriers that all too often exist in early learning.
Barriers to Early Education
Unfortunately, there are many barriers to early education, and lack of financial resources is far from the only one. Location is another. In rural or remote communities, it may not be feasible for a parent or guardian to deliver their child to a physical preschool each day. Other families may not be comfortable with sending a young child to school. Many families also end up on waiting lists for PreK classes or are not able to make it into the school of their choice. Right now, across the country, not one state has a mandatory requirement to attend preschool, so not all children are entitled to a seat in class.
These barriers are exactly what Waterford.org is looking to address with the Waterford Upstart program. Every child deserves access to quality early educational tools that develop cognitive as well as social and emotional skills that will allow them to succeed in kindergarten—and every year after that.
“Research shows, when a child starts school behind their peers, they are likely to stay behind. And if a child is not reading at grade level by 3rd grade, that can lead to lifelong consequences,” said Kim Fischer, national spokesperson for Waterford.org. “On average, 92% of children who participate in Waterford Upstart are ready for kindergarten. We want to give families the confidence that their child will be ready for that first day of school.”
What Is Waterford Upstart?
Waterford Upstart helps 4-year-old children prepare for school, at home and at no cost to their families. Children develop foundational reading and social-emotional skills, and families are empowered to become their child’s first and most influential teachers. The children use adaptive software just 15 minutes a day, five days a week in the year before they start school. Waterford Upstart also fuels family involvement in their child’s early education through family coaches and fun educational activities parents can complete with their children offline.
Waterford.org is one of eight nonprofit organizations in the world named a 2019 TED Audacious Project. As a part of this recognition, the organization was tasked with reaching more 4-year-olds, including 200 children in Maine.
Why Start at Age 4?
Waterford.org has been focused on our youngest learners for decades. Research shows that 90% of a child’s brain develops by age 5, and it’s growing more rapidly than at any other time in life. That’s why we must provide positive, nurturing, and educational experiences for children even before they enter kindergarten. But not every child has access to the right educational tools to build that growing brain. That’s where Waterford Upstart steps in.
Waterford Upstart Doesn’t Replace—It Supplements
Waterford Upstart supports the great educational initiatives happening in communities and homes across the nation. Waterford.org never looks to substitute or replace any of these valuable tools; on the contrary, we are here to support and facilitate the learning process for each child. We want to make sure every child has access to the early education tools and activities they deserve. Where there’s a gap in the system, Waterford Upstart looks to fill it.
Over the years we have worked with a range of nonprofit organizations, including the United Way, the Asian Association, Centro de la Familia, Head Start centers, the Mexican Consulate, state educators, and the list goes on. We fully understand that it takes all parties working together to achieve success for each child and their future.
We have also frequently partnered with private childcare facilities and PreK programs to offer computers and the Waterford Upstart program to their children at no additional cost to the facilities or their families.
Waterford Upstart: Backed by Research
The curriculum team at Waterford.org continually works to keep our content aligned to state and national early learning standards, such as the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework. Waterford Upstart is also endorsed by the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) and has been rigorously tested by external evaluators. Based on those evaluations we know that on average:
Waterford Upstart graduates enter kindergarten reading at nearly a first-grade level
Waterford Upstart students maintain learning gains through the 4th grade
Third-party evaluations show Waterford Upstart children have significantly higher learning gains than children from control groups, as measured over several years by the Brigance Inventory of Early Development and the Bader Reading and Language Inventory.
In 2013, Waterford.org was awarded an Investing in Innovation (i3) Validation Grant by the U.S. Department of Education that provided Waterford Upstart to Utah’s 18 most rural school districts. That grant was used to administer a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that showed Waterford Upstart has a substantial impact on improving student growth and closing achievement gaps for early learners.
The curriculum in Waterford Upstart works for PreK to 2nd grade students with a focus on literacy, which includes phonological awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, language concepts, and fluency.
Waterford Upstart Success Story: New Hampshire
The Waterford Upstart program thrives through partnerships. A great example is in the neighboring state of New Hampshire, where we partnered with the Greater Nashua United Way and the Nashua School District. Thanks to these partnerships and a Preschool Development Grant, Waterford.org was able to bring the Waterford Upstart program to families in Nashua, New Hampshire.
“We are delighted to be partnering with an organization that is providing our families with a laptop, connectivity, and academic support to help them prepare their children for kindergarten,” said Robert Cioppa, Director of Student Services and ELL for the Nashua School District. “It is a very timely opportunity for our preschoolers.”
New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut also supports the Waterford Upstart program. “Early childhood learning, whether in the home or in a classroom, is key to starting children on paths to bright futures,” said Edelblut. “The Waterford Upstart pilot program will empower families with the tools and techniques they need to create a better learning environment at home.” You can see more of the Commissioner’s thoughts in this video.
Zixin Lou is a Waterford Upstart mom who lives in Nashua with her husband and two daughters. Zixin shared with us the benefits of using the program with her 4-year-old daughter early on the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re kind of very lucky. Before the school shut down, we got an email from the school, like there’s a program for kids going to kindergarten 2021, . . . so I signed her up.” She added that, “if a family is like us, like, English is not native language, Waterford helps them to learn English, so that’s kind of already helped them.”
See this family’s full story here.
Registration Is Simple and Quick
Waterford.org understands families and teachers are busy. That’s why we make registration easy, and we provide all the tools needed to use our programs.
Maine families can now apply for Waterford Upstart. Registrants should be entering kindergarten in the fall of 2022. To register your child, visit WaterfordUpstart.org and fill out the registration form. You will then receive a confirmation email and information on how to begin using the program. A computer, if needed, is mailed directly to your home. We also offer ongoing coaching and support throughout the program at no cost to the family.
Waterford.org also partners with schools, organizations, businesses, and other facilities who wish to register larger groups of families at once. If you would like to partner with Waterford, please contact partners@waterford.org.
Classroom photo by Gautam Arora on Unsplash