Learning Begins at Birth

School Readiness Project Helps Parents Become First Teachers

By DYANNE CANO
LAEP Learning Exchange

Smiling proudly and joyously, Teresa Cuadras looked on as her daughter received the diploma that marked their joint effort to better prepare her pre-schooler for the forthcoming elementary school years.

"I've learned how to teach her at home in many different ways. I know how to speak to her in a calmer manner," Cuadras said. "Patience is one of the most important things I learned from my School Readiness trainer."

Her daughter was one of the twenty-four children under three years old who, along with their parents, completed the Los Angeles Educational Partnership's School Readiness Project. On July 20, these families gathered at Pacoima Community Center to celebrate their successful achievement with the program. The graduation stressed that both the children and parents were responsible for the gains and accomplishments of the past months.

Funded by a grant from The Prudential Foundation, the School Readiness Project focuses on parents being the first educational role models for their child before they even begin school. Paraprofessionals work with families for six months to improve parenting skills that extend beyond the ordinary interactions between parent and child. For example, parents learn how to make the supermarket a world for their children to explore vocabulary and their kitchens into a science lab. These creative approaches to a child's education help smooth the transition to pre-school and elementary school.

One grandfather believes that his granddaughter will grow better accustomed to being in a classroom setting because of how her mom approaches her child's learning.

Another parent said that her youngest child has already learned from the paraprofessional who comes to visit Guillermo, her three year-old son who has just started pre-school. "He learns so much from Guillermo. Also, Guillermo doesn't cry at school because he's excited about learning," his mom said.

"We try to reach families who have a lot of kids as well as single mothers," said Josefina Sapriza, School Readiness Coordinator. "The parents can then apply what they learn to all of their kids." Sapriza added that during vacations parents can teach their children at home during vacation so that they do not have to depend on schools to be the only learning resource for kids.

"You know how important you are in helping your children learn inside the home," LAEP's Family Care Director Helen Kleinberg said to the parents on graduation day. "That's wonderful because you are preparing them so that they'll be successful in the classroom."

Over the past three years, the School Readiness Project has worked with more than 100 families in the San Fernando/Pacoima area. The project is coordinated by LAEP's FamilyCare initiative, which links community services to children and families to improve student achievement.

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