School Readiness is Essential
It’s that time of year again: Summer break is finally over, and kids are heading back to school.
At Nurture the Next, our main services are designed to best support families from pregnancy through their child’s 5th birthday, around the time they start kindergarten. (If you’re interested in some of our best pointers for entering kindergarten, check out our post from last year on ParentingTN.)
Our focus on these early years has a meaningful and specific purpose. According to the Tennessee School Readiness Model, our “children will be ready to succeed in school only when families, communities, and schools work together on their behalf through the early childhood years.”
Here is how Nurture the Next works at every level of the school readiness model to help children and families.
Ready Families are comprised of adults that are deeply engaged with their child, understand they are the most important people in their child’s life, and advocate on his or her behalf. They support and take a strong interest in all aspects of their welfare, development, and learning. At Nurture the Next, our in-home services are designed to address all these criteria for a ready family. We bring decades of proven strategies and insights to help parents hone their understanding of their child and how they best support their overall development.
Ready Communities hold high expectations for the organizations, social service agencies, and health care providers, and work with them to ensure they have the resources and capacity to serve children’s and families’ changing needs. Nurture the Next is just one of these organizations working in dozens of communities across the state to help children achieve their full potential. We are just a single strand in the vibrant tapestry of a ready community.
Ready Schools accept all age-eligible children and provide a seamless transition to high-quality learning environments with rich, age-appropriate learning opportunities that build children’s confidence in their skills, knowledge, and abilities. Nurture the Next does not directly impact the choices that schools make. Still, through our Statewide Parent Leadership Initiative, we educate and empower a team of parents to use their voices to advocate for and to improve outcomes for their children and other students in their local communities. (See, it is all connected!)
One Parent Leader is Bibi Hines, the Chair of the Parent Advisory Council for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). She joined the advisory council when her twin boys entered kindergarten and has served on the council for several years.
In a recent conversation, Bibi talked about the importance of parents being involved with their child’s education outside of the classroom and advocating for them every step of the way. “Whether it’s helping them manage their homework, asking questions about how their day went or becoming more involved with the PTO/PTA, there are many opportunities for parents to be there for their child or children and support their education.” She also credits Nurture the Next and the Parent Leadership Collaborative with helping to share information to help everyone stay informed on what is happening. “I’m more involved with MNPS, so anything with early childhood education, or early childhood development, I make sure to send that to the team. Whenever someone finds something out about schools in Nashville, they always pass that along to make sure I’ve seen it.”
These are just some of the ways Nurture the Next helps to build ready families, ready communities, and ready schools for the children of Tennessee. While we focus our services on children’s early years, we will always use our voice and expertise to advocate for the best possible solutions for families and children of all ages. In fact, Nurture the Next is proud to support Loud Voice for Little Kids, a campaign focused on making sure the needs of Tennessee’s littlest learners are heard. One area of particular concern is that currently only about one-third of third graders are proficient in reading. As evidence shows, when children aren’t proficient in their reading skills by third grade, they tend to stay or fall farther behind. They’re four times more likely to drop out of high school and 60 percent less likely to pursue a post-secondary degree.
Learning to read doesn’t start in kindergarten or first grade. Developing language and literacy skills begins at birth through everyday interactions with parents and caregivers, such as sharing books, telling stories, singings songs, and talking to one another. That’s why Nurture the Next remains laser-focused on these early years of child development, to ensure a better future for all Tennesseans, today and tomorrow.