As a mom of three young children, I struggled to find resources to help me effectively and creatively engage the rapidly developing minds of my kids.If a college-educated, former school teacher who spent years in the field of educational publishing finds herself at a loss for meaningful tools to get her kids ready for that first day of school, what does that mean for everyone else?
Public awareness of the importance of early childhood education is growing – we now know that graduation rates and long-term academic success can be traced back to the amount of words in the mind of a three year old. So how can we reach and equip parents, the first and best teachers of our nation’s youngest citizens? And how can we effectively equip them regardless of their educational or financial status, whether or not they had a positive educational upbringing, or irrespective of their ability to speak the English language?
As a former school teacher, I was convinced that every kid, regardless of their background, had an enormous amount of untapped potential. As a mom, I knew that every parent ultimately wanted what was best for their children. So I gathered an amazing team of early childhood and content experts, and we set out to create a resource that unlocked the potential in kids by unlocking the potential of their parents. ReadyRosie was born.
ReadyRosie works with school districts, cities, and other community entities to put high quality preK directly into the hands of every parent, every day. We have hundreds of 1-2 minute videos modeling everyday activities parents and caregivers can do with their kids in everyday situations: at the breakfast table, in the laundromat, at the grocery store, or in the car or bus. Each activity is modeled in English and Spanish.
Leveraging the power of mobile technology and the fact that over 85% (and growing) of all parents of preK kids, across all social, ethnic, and economic demographics, access the internet at least once a day, we deliver this to the families once a day through a simple email. Utilizing such technology also allows schools to analyze the usage rates and effectiveness of this effort, something that is lacking in almost every parent engagement tool to date.
We believe that ReadyRosie can serve as either a bridge or supplement to a community’s efforts in universal preK. And we haven’t given up on the parents as the most important resource to invest in if we are serious about early childhood development. As one parent from Richardson, TX told us in broken English after using ReadyRosie for a while, “I always knew my child was a genius, I just didn’t know, until now, how to bring it out of him.”