What is Kindergarten Readiness, and Why Is It So Important?

Kindergarten readiness matters. It includes exposure to activities that extend far beyond learning the letters of the alphabet or how to hold a crayon. It involves a basic understanding of core subjects as well as acquiring language skills, self-care skills, and social skills kindergartners need going into a classroom with other children. Research also tells us that providing a high-quality education for children before the age of five results in significant long-term benefits for students. Children who participate in early childhood programs are:1

  • Less likely to repeat a grade
  • Less likely to be identified as having special needs
  • More prepared academically for later grades
  • More likely to graduate from high school
  • Higher earners in the workforce

The more prepared children are both academically and emotionally for kindergarten, the more successful learners they will become. The first few years are critical to help young children navigate and transition to a variety of settings and situations, while developing their emotional skills. Beyond their emotional development, it is equally important that pre-K students develop the academic skills they will need to form strong foundations for their kindergarten curriculum in various areas, including reading, counting, and social interaction.

Of course, school readiness begins at home, as parents nurture their children’s critical-thinking skills along with their ability to focus, think logically, and speak clearly. It’s important that parents and caregivers have access to the proper tools and reporting mechanisms designed to measure progress over time as a condition of kindergarten readiness and child needs. 

 

Providing a Strong Foundation for All

Preparedness requires access to adequate support and educational stimulation to foster the qualities a preschooler needs to be a successful learner. As preschools and day cares struggle to stay open as a result of COVID-19, school readiness becomes more of a challenge outside of a traditional classroom setting. Unfortunately, certain barriers to high-quality education have also presented challenges for children of color, as well as those from disadvantaged families, and have prevented them from achieving their full potential as early childhood learners.

According to the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER):2

  • 48% of 3-year-olds are not enrolled in any early childhood education, including state-funded, locally funded, Head Start, special education, or private programs.
  • 33% of 4-year-olds are not enrolled in any early childhood education, including state-funded, locally funded, Head Start, special education, or private programs.

This is where Gale Presents: Miss Humblebee’s Academy comes into play. It’s an online preschool curriculum that, with support from local libraries, is lowering the bar to appropriate educational access for students from all walks of life. The main content of this mobile-friendly classroom environment lays the foundation for a lifetime of learning success for children ages 3–6, while offering their parents and caregivers the tools and resources they need to measure progress toward kindergarten readiness.

1.     McCoy, Dana Charles et al. “Impacts of Early Childhood Education on Medium- and Long-Term Educational Outcomes,” Educational Researcher 46, no. 8, November 15, 2017.

2.     National Institute for Early Education Research, The State of Preschool 2019.

Gale Presents: Miss Humblebee’s Academy

Gale Presents: Miss Humblebee’s Academy is an award-winning online educational resource that looks beyond the ABCs to prepare pre-K learners for kindergarten proficiency with hundreds of guided lessons using videos, music, eBooks, teacher-led tutorials, and more. To help balance screen time, the off-line curriculum makes up 40 percent of the material. This curriculum includes lessons, extension activities, printables, and practice worksheets that help them move from gross motor skills to fine motor skills development, for example, cutting with scissors.

The program is a welcoming space for children ages 3–6 and is designed to prepare future kindergarteners for a lifetime of learning success by building their skills in core subject areas, including language and literacy, math, science and social studies, art and music, along with social and emotional learning and fitness. It is an inclusive experience modeled specifically after the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, giving children the opportunity to interact with characters and situations that are familiar to them while preparing for a kindergarten curriculum. Recent program enhancements related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) include the removal of binary, gender-based language and the addition of more diverse characters, student avatars, and on-demand video instructors.

Product Highlights

  • Provides a comprehensive learning experience. Children benefit from hundreds of guided lessons and activities that prepare them for a kindergarten curriculum, including social and emotional learning (SEL); offline science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM); teacher-led videos across all subjects; and Bee Fit resources to promote a healthy lifestyle.
  • Makes learning fun and exciting, not overwhelming. The self-paced program teaches children how to regulate their emotions and develop self-confidence, self-control, and problem-solving through digital animations, real-life video modeling, songs, interactive eBooks, and hundreds of other activities designed to stimulate and excite young developing minds.
  • Offers multiple pathways to learning. Parents can choose from three pathways, based on their child’s individual learning style and social-emotional needs: guided learning, subject/skill-based learning, or thematic-based lessons.
  • Covers all subjects in teacher-led videos. Short video lessons, appropriate for the attention spans of pre-K students, are led by real preschool teachers addressing kindergarten-readiness skills and concepts across subject areas, including SEL, and help prepare for future interactions with a kindergarten teacher. 
  • Supports parents and caregivers. Helpful resources include interactive kindergarten readiness checklist and age-related development milestones; printable trackers, charts, planners, and schedules; and weekly progress and performance reports.
  • Clearly measures pre-K success. Weekly email notifications provide a snapshot of a learner’s progress and performance, helping parents to identify their child’s strengths, pinpoint trouble spots, view improvement over time, and measure their progress through a kindergarten readiness assessment.

 

Award-Winning Instruction

Gale Presents: Miss Humblebee’s Academy has earned numerous awards, including:

  • 2021 Tech & and Learning Award of Excellence in the Best Remote/Blended Learning Tools for Primary Grades (K–6) category
  • 2021 CODiE Finalist in the best preK/Early Childhood Learning Solution category
  • 2019 EdTech Cool Tool Finalist