A national TED grant will help 4-year-olds across Kansas prepare for school

At least 200 4-year-olds across Kansas are going to benefit from a grant through the philanthropic branch of the TED organization, which will allow Waterford.org to operate its Waterford Upstart program here.

“This is a free program across the state of Kansas,” said Stephanie Hartung, partnership manager.

The goal of the at-home pre-K program is to help the 2.2 million 4-year-olds across the country who don’t have adequate access to publicly funded early childhood education. The program currently is helping more than 300,000 children who may not otherwise have pre-K education because of cost, language barriers, transportation issues or their location in small, rural communities.

“That’s where Waterford is hoping to fill some of that gap,” Hartung said.

Any 4-year-old in the state of Kansas is eligible and can receive a laptop and mouse and, if needed, internet service. Families can keep the equipment for use in the program and after as well.

“Currently, we are funded for 200,” Hartung said. “We may be able to get more than that.”

The program is 15 minutes a day, five days a week from September through May.

Parents can choose “what fits with their schedule as long as it’s five days a week,” Hartung said.

It’s all about being repetitive, she said.

“That is all that we require them to do. They can certainly do more.”

The program is based in literacy, but it also has math and science components.

“They also receive support from a family coach,” Hartung said.

She said coaches can help children engage online and offline.

There are personalized tools to help with things such as letter recognition or letter sounds and the beginning basics of reading words and learning comprehension at an age-appropriate level.

Hartung said 92% of children who participate are then ready for kindergarten.

That compares to what she said is a 65% national average of 4-year-olds who are ready for kindergarten.

Enrollment is happening now at www.waterford.org/upstart. Hartung, who is based in Wichita, is trying to bring awareness to the program and help families register.

The Waterford Upstart program grew out of the Waterford School, a pre-K through 12th grade school that started in Utah in 1981.

The TED organization’s Audacious Project is making the program available in Kansas. According to the Audacious website, it is “a collaborative funding initiative catalyzing social impact on a grand scale.”

“It is not meant to replace any ongoing excellent early childhood education programs we currently have,” Hartung said. “It is just meant as an extra resource for those families.”

This story was originally published June 27, 2022 at 4:38 AM.