ABC
The mission of Achieving Better Communities is to enhance kindergarten readiness by addressing pre-literacy skills. Achieving Better Communities (ABC) will provide the parents of 4 year-olds with the resources to prepare their children for sucess in kindergarten.
Would you like your child to succeed in school? Any parent would! ABC can give your preschool-aged child the tools he or she needs to succeed and excel in school, and it’s never too early to prepare for excellence.
Why ABC?
It was determined by community stakeholders in 2004 that one of the most critical educational needs in Steuben County is to provide of early literacy opportunities and training for preschoolers and their parents.
What We Do:
- Make learning fun for your preschooler!
- Give parents information and resources with encouragement to be their child's best teachers.
- Get books delivered to your home each month!
The steps to your child’s Kindergarten success through ABC are:
- Enroll your VIP (Very Important Preschooler) in ABC to work with a trained volunteers in your home to focus on the alphabet, counting, shapes, colors, writing and more.
- Learn which skills your child will need for Kindergarten success.
- Schedule a time for volunteers to come to your home once each month to work with you and your child.
- Watch your preschooler get excited about learning!
Preschool age children will be assessed by an ABC staff member or volunteer using an approved curriculum during a hands-on test to determine eligibility. If a child qualifies, then two mentors will be assigned to work with the family for a 12 month period.
The mentors will meet with the child on a monthly basis--preferably at the home of the child--and work on literacy skills such as shapes, letters, sounds, colors, reading and more!
Children can be accepted through referrals by friends, family members, schools, social service organizations or others as well as self-referral.
ABC at Kindergarten
During the 2010-11 school year, ABC staff further developed working relationships with elementary principals and kindergarten teachers. Each teacher had opportunity to identify the 3 or 4 children that would most benefit from ABC at Kindergarten.
Mentors receive training specific to volunteering at the school. Each school determines what time/day the mentor will provide services to the children, where they will be located and how often mentors will be at the school.
Parents are invited to an informational meeting and asked to agree to work with their child using the resources sent home on a monthly basic from ABC.
Communication and feedback between ABC staff, mentors, parents and Kindergarten teachers provide a strong foundation for a high level of quality services being provided to the students through ABC at Kindergarten.
