Fewer kindergarteners ready to learn, more fourth graders proficient at reading
We must work to enhance the lives of our children. It is essential that we stop exploiting them for political purposes and instead prioritize their overall well-being.
Fewer Kentucky kindergarteners were ready to learn in the 2022-2023 school year than in 2018, according to a new report that measures child welfare.
This insight comes from the Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book, released by Kentucky Youth Advocates Wednesday. Kids Count is part of a national initiative from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) compiled the state’s report with data from the Administrative Office of the Courts, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Medicaid Services, Kentucky Center for Statistics and others.
Fewer kindergarteners being ready to learn is a symptom of COVID-19, early childhood expert Sarah Taylor Vanover with KYA told the Lantern. For the past three years many children missed out on pivotal socialization. That means they’re coming into school without the skills to self-regulate and work with others, Vanover explained.
“Three and four -year-olds…might have been having Zoom story times during the pandemic, but they weren’t getting to learn to play together,” she said. These early years, Vanover said, are when children learn to use their words to express emotion. But a lot of kids now, she said, “missed a lot of those things.”
