Porter County School Readiness Program

Thank you for your interest in the Porter County School Readiness Program.

Thanks to funding by ArcelorMittal, below is the complete program manual and its various parts that are available to you free of charge. The manual covers the development of universal K-readiness assessment program and the detailed implementation of our Kinder Camp program. 

We are working to implement the assessment program across all facets of Porter County kindergarten readiness programs to measure the impact of the current learning landscape and help our residents to have a successful kindergarten experience and learning career.

If you plan to utilize a portion of this program, and as it is supported by ArcelorMittal and developed by United Way of Porter County, we insist that you recognize the support and keep our branding intact. Our logos are here - ArcelorMittal and United Way of Porter County.

The manual is copyrighted and we have sought permission from outside providers to print these materials. Please let us know if you are printing in bulk because of intellectual property permissions received.

Also, in order to implement portions of this program, there will be supplement material costs. These are noted below.

If you have questions or more information is needed, please contact Anicia Kosky.

Porter County School Readiness Manual (complete guide)

Below are specific sections with additional guideance related to certain sections of the manual.

PROGRAM ASSESSMENTS
There are three assessments, each with its own protocol. They are pre- and post- assessment processes. Be sure to read everything prior to implementation. A few notations have been made below concerning each assessment. Assessment training is available. Contact Anicia Kosky for more information.

• Get Ready to Read Assessment
  • Can be performed by a volunteer or someone other than the teacher.
  • Must follow all directions when implementing assessment in order to insure accuracy and no bias. Stick to script.
  • Purchase of the assessment books and score sheets from Pearson is required to implement this piece of the program.
• Head Toes Knees Shoulders Assessment
  • Can be performed by a volunteer or someone other than the teacher.
  • Must follow all directions when implementing assessment in order to insure accuracy and no bias. Stick to script.
• Behavioral Observation Checklist Assessment
  • Must be performed by the teacher.

We are working with Purdue University Northwest to evaluate the program. For more information, please contact Anicia Kosky.

Additional Resources

• Assessment Training Video
• Get Ready to Read: Skill Building Activities
• Head Toes Knees Shoulders: Training Video

NOTE: Data collection is only for program evaluation and assessment. If assessment data were to be part of an official research study by a local university, an IRB release must be signed by the cargiver of each student involved. Need to take great care when conducting research studies on children.

UNITED WAY OF PORTER COUNTY KINDER CAMP MATERIALS 
The curriculum is a standardized framework to give structure and elimiate variables across classrooms for the purpose of assessment. The framework still gives teachers the flexiblity needed to adjust the program as needed or desired for the sake of their students. If you are interested in implementing some or all of the Kinder Camp curriculum below are a few things to note. Please contact Anicia Kosky for more information.

• Manual Camp Curriculum, Adaptations & Standards Section
  • Regina Davis activity plans are licensed by Regina Davis via teacherspayteachers.com.
    • You will need to purchase this curriculum in order to implement this portion of the program. A license must be purchased per classroom.
    • Each activity plan is complete with directions, activities sheets and more. Activities sheets are in color and black and white versions. This curriclulm is built for Pre-K to 1 grade.
    • Teachers will need to adapt the work to meet the learning level of their students.
    • NOTE: Our teachers found many of the activities to be too hard for Pre-K students. Curriculum adaptations have been included in the manual.
  • Indiana Department of Education Early Learning Foundations Matrix (Standards)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Dr. Jean, Early Childhood Educator - lots of early childhood program ideas to keep your kids learning on the go.
• STEM Starts Early, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center