March 2014
150 educators attend March 4 symposium
Preparing a child for school takes teamwork. That was the theme of the Mid-Hudson Valley Transition Forum, a daylong conference on early childhood education issues hosted by Astor Services for Children & Families on March 4.
About 150 teachers, child-care professionals and other educators attended the event at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel.
"This event will enable school districts, medical professionals and others in the early childhood education community to explore ways to help children get ready for Kindergarten," said Mary Sontheimer, Assistant Executive Director, Astor's Early Childhood Programs. "It's important to develop an effective collaboration among everyone involved with these kids, to ensure a smooth transition so everyone knows how children are being prepared for this step."
For over 30 years, Astor has administered the federally-funded Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Dutchess County. These programs are for low-income families.
Educators from Dutchess, Ulster, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties attended the event, which was co-sponsored by the Child Care Council of Dutchess and Putnam, Inc.
Participants included school district administrators and teachers, Head Start and Early Head Start representatives and others involved in pre-Kindergarten education as well as specialists in dual-language learning and those who help young children with disabilities. Representatives of the state Department of Education also attended.
Topics covered at the conference included questions most often posed by children, such as "Will I have friends?" and "Will I be able to follow all the rules?" Strategies for convincing parents to become involved in their children's education from the outset were also discussed.
Attendees can review the documents and presentations given at the forum here:
- Transition to Kindergarten: Building Connections for Success (9,000 KB, 52 pg.)
- Prekindergarten to Kindergarten Transitions (700 Kb, 13 pg.)
- NYS Tool to Assess the Effectiveness of Transitions from Prekindergarten to Kindergarten (200 Kb, 12 pg.)