Upstart Summer Learning Path Prepares Children for Kindergarten
Adapted from media release submitted by Heba Abdella (she/her), Sr. Partnership Manager | Waterford.org
Based on the success of their early learning program in Maine in 2021, Waterford Upstart has launched a new condensed summer program for rising Kindergartners/PreK children in Maine in 2022, called Upstart Summer Learning Path.
Waterford Upstart is an adaptive learning software program offered by Waterford.org, a national early education nonprofit with a mission to achieve universal literacy through equity, access and family empowerment. Waterford Upstart is an in-home, personalized PreK learning solution that prepares children for kindergarten by giving families the tools they need to become the first and most influential teachers of their children.
The program runs from June 6 to August 28, 2022. Registration closes June 6!
Registration is currently open to Maine children starting Kindergarten in the fall of 2022. Waterford offers the computer, PreK online software program, and internet access (if needed) at no cost to families, thanks to support from the Overdeck Family Foundation. Upon completion, the families can keep the computer.
All participating families receive phone calls from a coach, and they can sign up for tips that facilitate academic instruction offline. In June, children in Maine will begin learning to read using the Waterford Upstart Summer Learning Path for 20 minutes a day, five days a week. There is a math-and-science component families can take advantage of, if they choose.
“My favorite aspect of the program, what I call the ‘secret sauce,’ is the way adults are encouraged to engage in their child’s learning,” said Waterford.org national spokesperson Kim Fischer. “It builds confidence in both caregiver and child. And when families are involved in a child’s education, research shows the child does better.”
Summer Learning Path is a condensed version of the full-year Waterford Upstart program. It was created at the start of the pandemic to provide an academic boost for children who were removed from their classrooms.
“We just want kiddos reading and learning with confidence from the moment they enter the classroom,” Fischer said. Research shows that the average Waterford Upstart graduate enters kindergarten reading at nearly a first-grade level and maintains those gains through the fourth grade.
Families who believe their children could benefit from Waterford Upstart Summer Learning Path can enroll today by going to waterford.org/summer or calling 1-888-982-9898.
Waterford.org is an early education nonprofit with a mission to achieve universal literacy for children through equity, access and family empowerment. Waterford develops educational tools that guide students along adaptive, individualized learning paths toward fluent reading and lifelong learning. We empower caregivers as a child’s first teacher, and we support teachers in taking the right actions at the right time for their students. Waterford serves more than 300,000 children every year through all of our programs, and that number is continually growing.