- Hi, thank you for joining us today.

My name is Amanda Wright.

I'm the Early Childhood Education Director at KET, Kentucky Educational Television.

We are located in Lexington, Kentucky, but we serve the entire state of Kentucky.

Today, I'm gonna share a little bit with you about our Let's Learn Kentucky resource for families and educators across our state.

So let me share my screen and we'll get started.

[no audio] All right, so let's see.

All right, so Let's Learn Kentucky is a resource for kindergarten readiness for parents and caregivers.

The objectives for today, we would like for you to learn a little bit more about how KET worked with key stakeholders to fulfill identified need in our state, and the strategies we use to create Let's Learn Kentucky.

We'll introduce you to the Let's Learn Kentucky website and share some hands-on activities that you can take back to your community.

We'll also talk a little bit about the strategies to support and encourage families and caregivers as their child's first and most important teacher.

So here are just a couple quotes, talking about the importance of kindergarten readiness.

The first one is from Dr. Donna Grigsby.

She is the general pediatrics chief at UK Healthcare.

And then James Heckman, the economist, says that, "The best way to improve the American workforce in the 21st century is to invest in early childhood education."

So as we were thinking about early childhood education in our state, there were a few needs that were identified.

All of this came about through the Preschool Development Grant of 2019 that Kentucky had.

And there were some focus groups that were put together.

Families and caregivers were interviewed, stakeholders across our state, educators, administrators, and the key findings indicated that we needed to ensure that more children in our state were ready to transition to kindergarten.

We needed consistent messaging for parents and caregivers.

We need resources to make a collective impact.

One organization, one agency, one child development center is gonna make an impact, but if we work together for that collective impact, we're gonna see a much better result across our state.

And then we also wanted to support learning at home through everyday learning moments.

So the Let's Learn Kentucky website was put together in partnership with the Kentucky Governor's Office of Early Childhood.

We met, we talked about these needs and how we could work together to fill this need in our state.

We also talked to other key stakeholders in our state, including the Kentucky Department of Education, the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives, foundations like the Prichard Committee.

We just talked to a large group of folks across our state, educators and families as well, to see what we could do.

What was the solution.

And one of the ideas was to create Let's Learn Kentucky.

So this is a video that you'll find when you visit the Let's Learn Kentucky site, and we'll get started with it.

So I just wanna share it with you real quick.

- [Narrator] More than 90% of a child's brain develops before the age of five, making these early years critical for future success.

Yet here in Kentucky, only half of kids entering kindergarten are ready to learn without extra support.

Fortunately, togetherness can go a long way to support learning development.

Reading together.

- Once upon a time, there was a little.

- [Narrator] Counting together.

- Two.

- [Narrator] And talking together.

[both laughing] You can also play and move together, which not only supports a healthy brain, but a healthy body too.

Reading, counting, playing together.

- Bye, Mommy!

- It's really that simple to increase your child's readiness, to open up a world of possibilities.

[birds chirping] - So again, with this video, we really wanted to just show that there was a problem in our state, that we needed to help more children and families as they prepare to transition to kindergarten.

But really, they're simple, easy answers.

It's all of those together things that you can do.

So this is the QR code that'll take you to Let's Learn Kentucky.

Please, you're welcome to go ahead and scan it.

We'll talk about the site, walk you through it a little bit, and then we'd love for you to come back and visit it and think about how you might use it in your state.

What does it look like for North Carolina and parents and caregivers in your state?

We'd love to hear back from you, any ideas that you come up with.

So Let's Learn Kentucky.

Like I said, we really wanted it to come together and to think about easy things that families could do together at home.

So we really kind of came up with, what we hoped, was parent-friendly language.

So read together, talk together, count together, play together, move together and connect together.

And connect together is really that social-emotional piece.

Excuse me, really that social, [coughs] excuse me.

Really that social emotional piece and just really connecting together.

So we didn't come up with this.

We didn't want to reinvent the wheel.

Kentucky already had a kindergarten readiness definition, and it was really kind of displayed through this pentagon.

So it included general knowledge and math, health and physical wellbeing, social and emotional development, language and communication development, and approaches to learning.

And so that's really what Kentucky has said school readiness is in our state.

But when we looked at that, we really didn't feel like it was as parent friendly as it could be.

What does general knowledge in mathematics mean?

So we really wanted to, again, make that more parent-friendly language.

So count together, move together for health and physical wellbeing.

Mental.

Social emotional development is more connecting together.

And so, again, not reinventing the wheel, but really thinking about language that was a little bit more parent friendly.

So once you get to the site, you're gonna see lots of great information, but once you click on, let me go back, each of these, once you get to the site, you can click on.

So you'll just kind of hover your mouse over, read together, account together, talk together, and it's gonna take you to ideas of things that you can do together.

So one of the things you'll notice is that we wanted to make it easy for families once they got inside here, to be able to identify an activity that was age appropriate for their child.

So we did label each of the activities with kind of the age range that it was appropriate for.

Once you click on each of these activities, it's gonna take you out to an outside website.

So tips for reading together.

It's gonna take you somewhere else.

That might be a PBS kid site.

It might be Sesame Street, it may be Macy.

You're gonna find articles, you're gonna find videos and activities to do together, reading together.

While we know that health is a really important piece of this, you'll notice there are only six blocks, and health is spread throughout each of these six learning areas, the talk together, count together, play together, because it encompasses a wide range of different learning areas.

So you're gonna find health activities in each one of these other sections.

And again, we also wanted to make sure that we were covering all of those early childhood years from zero to five.

So we have tried to identify a variety of activities for a variety of age groups.

So this is just a little bit of an example of a family interacting in one of the count together activities.

It's called "How Many Ways Old Are You?"

So once, my friend, Allison, and her twins, Clementine and Matilda, clicked on it, they found an activity encouraging them to find out how many ways old you are.

So they talked about that they were six years old with their fingers.

They found balls and counted out six of them, and then they even found a six on their mom's license plate.

So just really the activities we identified focused on things that didn't need a lot of materials.

We really want families to understand that it's that together time that really makes a difference as they're preparing and transitioning their children to kindergarten.

When we say transitioning to kindergarten, we know that kindergarten readiness, the preparation pieces start actually even before a baby is born.

So those counting together when you're talking to your baby as you're changing the diaper, as you are singing to a baby in the womb, or as you're counting the steps up to the top of the library, those are all things that don't require a lot of materials, that it's really just spending that time together.

So again, we're really focused on activities that didn't require families to have a lot of materials to be able to implement them, or they were things that were readily available probably at their house, or very inexpensive to be able to to implement those activities.

Also on the site, you're gonna find some answers to questions that a lot of families have.

That's another piece of what was identified in the focus groups from the Preschool Development Grant, that families, a lot of times, just didn't understand what kindergarten readiness meant and had a lot of questions about kindergarten readiness.

So we really wanted to answer some of those basic questions that they had.

So you, here you can see, you know, what is kindergarten readiness?

So there's a little short description here at the bottom underneath the mom and the child.

You can see that it just gives a very brief, what is kindergarten readiness?

But if families click on this, then it's gonna take them out to the Governor's Office of Early Childhood's website where they're gonna find a little bit more detailed information about what kindergarten readiness is.

Other questions that were identified.

What can I do to get my child kindergarten ready?

Again, it's gonna provide them just a little bit of information and take them out to an additional website for more information.

What are the developmental milestones?

What if I'm concerned about my child's development?

Those two are gonna take families out to the CDC.

We do not claim to be the experts in everything, but we really want to point families to those experts.

So we have tried to identify resources of very high quality, very trusted resources to point families to as we answer these questions, and as families look at the activities, we wanted to make sure that we really looked at those high quality, trusted resources.

And then finally, the last question here, a day in the life of a kindergartner, what does that look like?

So this is gonna point them out to Elmo, talking about kindergarten and working with one of his friends or following one of his friends through a day in a life of a kindergartner.

So it shows this little boy, he gets up, he brushes his teeth, he has breakfast, he gets on the bus, he goes into the classroom, he hangs up his backpack.

So it just kind of really helps, we hope, to alleviate some of those concerns that children and families might have as they're preparing their child to go to kindergarten.

So it's just a cute video with Elmo.

Can't help but love Elmo, right?

All right.

We also know through the Preschool Development Grant that families needed kind of that one-stop shop, that one place to find all kinds of kindergarten readiness information.

So along with the activities and answering questions that they might have, we wanted to provide them with a list of helpful resources.

So we have a whole section of resources here kind of broken down into different categories.

You can see here at the top, one of the questions that, again, that we found through that Preschool Development Grant is that a lot of families didn't understand the importance of an early learning, a high-quality early learning program.

We wanted to point them to what a high-quality early learning program looks like.

So once they click on the second article here, it's gonna take them out to information from Childcare Aware here in our state, that kind of gives them some tips and tricks as they're looking for those high-quality early learning centers, as they're visiting, what are some of the things that they can look for to help indicate that a program is of high quality?

Also, one of the things that we heard back from the Preschool Development Grant is that, that families, you know, really look to the educators as their teachers, as their child's first teacher.

And so we really, really want to reinforce that they are their child's first and most important teacher.

So once you scroll on down the page, you're gonna find some articles about empowering families that they are their child's first and most important teacher and really kind of working with their child's classroom teacher, how they can partner, questions that they can ask, things that they can do to really make it a good experience for their child and really to help prepare them for that transition to kindergarten.

You can see here also at the top of the page, we have helpful resources.

There is the parent and caregiver section, but also there's a educator and community partner section.

So we know that, we at KT, do not have direct connection to families on a daily basis.

You know, our child development centers, our schools, our family resource centers and libraries, places like that that do have direct connections with families on a everyday basis, it's really important that we reach out to them and provide them resources to help get the word out about Let's Learn Kentucky.

And again, this is where we have really worked to partner with community organizations to fill that need here in our state.

You also can do that in your state.

One of the things that we really suggest as you're thinking about creating helpful resources for families as their and caregivers as their children are transitioning to kindergarten is to be involved in different organizations.

You know, attend different meetings.

Know who the players are in your state, and really, you know, get out there and make sure that you are spending time getting to know your community, who those partners are, and how you can work together to really help families make that transition to kindergarten.

So again, one of those ways that we did that here as we created the Let's Learn Kentucky, is to provide some tools for community partners and stakeholders, educators out in the field to reach families in their communities to share the word about Let's Learn Kentucky.

So here under the social media section, we have photos and videos that partners can use to help share the word about Let's Learn Kentucky.

That video that we watched, it is a YouTube clip.

So they can share that on their social media.

And then we also provided some sample post copy, you know, to really make it easy for busy people to share the word on social media.

They didn't have to even think of it.

Everything's there, the photos or the, you know, post copy are all there for them as they are preparing social media posts.

We also have the Let's Learn Kentucky under this Word of Mouth section, the Let's Learn Kentucky logo.

We provided the QR code.

We just think it would be great if you could put that maybe even on your parent board so that, you know, families that are looking at that parent board for other information, can quickly scan the QR code to Let's Learn Kentucky.

It'll take them to the website where they can find more activities and ideas and articles to help them as they're preparing to transition to kindergarten.

Another tool that we have created is co-brandable flyers and bookmarks.

We know that our childcare providers, educators here in our state, they need families to know who they are as they're making contact.

So we've made these co-brandables so that it has the Let's Learn Kentucky logo and website, but they can also include their contact information.

So if you're a Headstart program, and you're at a recruitment event, you could share the Let's Learn Kentucky bookmark or flyer, but it also has your contact information so that families can, in turn, get back with you and register for your program or ask how they can, you know, what other things they can do to help prepare and transition their child to kindergarten.

We've also, under the Getting Started section here, provided an outreach toolkit.

And this is just a huge list broken down in different ways that community partners and stakeholders can really, you know, use the tools that we've provided, use the Let's Learn Kentucky website to reach families and make a difference in those children and families' lives as they prepare for kindergarten.

So in our outreach tool kit, like I said, there are the printable PDFs.

There are bookmark designs, printable sticker designs, social media posts, and then that promotional video that we talked about.

This is just a look at what's in there.

The resource here on the left side of my screen is the bookmark.

You can see that co-brandable space down here for different agencies and organizations, partners to put their logo to point families back.

It's a front and back.

So just again, really empowering families that they are their child's first and most important teacher.

And then, you know, those simple, just hopefully quick, you know, click for families to read together, talk together, count together.

We also, like I said, have flyers.

This is, can be made.

We've made these into magnets.

They could be stickers.

And then, again, that QR code that takes families directly to Let's Learn Kentucky.

So we launched Let's Learn Kentucky in November of 2021.

It is, like I said, been a partnership across our state.

It continues to grow.

Recently, some of the things that we've done are, to provide Let's Learn Kentucky PD sessions.

More than 230 certificates were granted in FY 23, sharing the word about Let's Learn Kentucky to educators across our state.

We were able to provide credit to those educators for their ongoing required annual training.

Because we made them very hands-on, we brainstormed and thought about how they could use Let's Learn Kentucky in their classrooms, in their communities with grownups and caregivers across their organization.

Let's Learn Kentucky was also highlighted at the NETA Conference this past year, at KET, was able to present a session with three other PBS stations talking about how, very much similar to this presentation, how we created Let's Learn Kentucky with community partners to fill a need in our state.

We also highlighted Let's Learn Kentucky, our 2023 Be My Neighbor Day event.

We incorporated some kindergarten readiness activities that families could participate in, along with some of the give back components that are featured at our Be My Neighbor Day event.

KET also hosts annual Super Saturday event, and again, we highlighted Let's Learn Kentucky and introduced some activities for families that were joining us for that event.

We've incorporated Let's Learn Kentucky into activities on our monthly KET parenting newsletters, our early childhood e-newsletters that goes out to educators across our state.

So again, filling a need and spreading the word across our state, working with community partners has been so very important to getting the word out about Let's Learn Kentucky, and filling that need in our state for kind of a central location for kindergarten readiness and transition information.

We've also hosted Let's Learn Kentucky booths and presentations at conferences across our state.

We've worked with the Kentucky Family Resource and Youth Service Centers at their conference.

Again, our family resource centers here in our state, one of their, their primary job is to remove barriers to successful education.

And so helping families understand kindergarten readiness and make that transition to kindergarten is so important.

And so we know that they are a great contact with families and are always looking for resources to help families.

We've been to the local Book Festival, back-to-school events.

Also, a really unique partnership that we have here in our state is grandparents raising grandchildren.

And so we have a conference every year where we share resources with grandparents, along with other stakeholders across our state, as they are filling the role as parents to their grandchildren.

So this was a great spot for us to share Let's Learn Kentucky in the resources that it provides them to help prepare to transition their grandchildren to kindergarten.

We also shared Let's Learn Kentucky at the Kentucky Association for Early Childhood Education Conference.

And then you can see a picture here.

This is Read Ready Covington's Fall Festival.

This was a really exciting event because not only, well, this was a really exciting event because each of the stations at Read Ready Covington's Fall Festival was focused on one of the Let's Learn Kentucky tenants.

So one booth was a read together booth.

One booth was a move together booth.

So each station had one of those themes and activities associated with that theme.

So that was a great way for families to see how it kind of all could work together.

So we're really excited about that event.

So we've heard from folks across the state how it's working for them.

Again, we mentioned the FRYSC's Conference, the Family Resource and Youth Service Centers, FRYSCs, in November, that they could see how this will work in their community.

Brandy McCubbin is from the Green River Regional Collaborative, and she said that they are hosting monthly family engagement events around the Let's Learn Kentucky tenants.

So back in the fall, we know that they hosted a move together night at a bouncy house place.

She said that it was one of their most attended events ever.

And so I'm really just thinking about where families are, what they like to be doing, and how we can put that educational spin on it to help them as they work with their children to transition to kindergarten.

Kaitlynne Bolinger is the school readiness coordinator for Christian County, and she has been using Let's Learn Kentucky in all of their family communications.

So their e-newsletters, you know, they have a section talking about talk together and ideas, conversation starters and different ways, you're narrating your route to the grocery store.

We're passing the library, we're gonna turn left.

So just ideas to encourage families to talk together and do different Let's Learn Kentucky activities in daily, everyday life.

All right, so one of the things that we are gonna ask our in-person participants to do, and you're more than welcome to go ahead and do this too.

We're not gonna take time out to stop and do this, but we really want you to think about your current family outreach tools and to identify gaps in available resources and brainstorm ways to incorporate the lessons learned from Let's Learn Kentucky in your community to raise awareness about what it means to be ready for kindergarten, to leverage key partnerships and to support families learning at home.

Again, just take a few minutes as you are sitting here in this session and think about how you could take the lessons learned from Let's Learn Kentucky and incorporate them into your own community or across your state.

All right, so thank you for joining us today.

I really appreciate the time that you've spent with us.

We love talking about Let's Learn Kentucky.

We love sharing about how the partnership worked, brainstorming with you about what key stakeholders you might reach out to, maybe who we found helpful that we can help you identify as a counterpart in your state.

So please reach out to us.

We'd love to talk with you more about it and provide any support that we can to you using Let's Learn Kentucky in your state or how you could create a similar resource in your state or your community.

Again, my name is Amanda Wright.

My coworker Holly Ackerman will be joining us in North Carolina, and she's also presenting another session.

You can contact us at earlychildhood@ket.org.

We'd love to hear from you.

Thank you again for your time today, and I hope you have a good afternoon.