South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness and Save the Children -- an international non-profit working to improve the odds for children in poverty around the world -- have entered into a partnership to implement the nationally-acclaimed literacy program, Early Steps for School Success (ESSS). The program provides education and literacy services to families with children under 5 years old, including regular visits by literacy specialists to families at home -- instilling critical building blocks for reading in their young children. Recognizing the shared goal of promoting school readiness for children most at risk, South Carolina First Steps and Save the Children provided matching grant opportunities for First Steps County Partnerships and partner rural school districts.
Successful applicants include:
- Macedonia Elementary in Barnwell 19 School District and Barnwell County First Steps
- Andrews Elementary in Georgetown School District and Georgetown County First Steps
- West Lee Elementary in Lee School District and Lee County First Steps
- Monarch Elementary in Union School District and Union County First Steps
First Steps dollars leverage $1M in international funding for rural education in South Carolina.
Over the two-year project, First Steps' investment -- $120,000 in private contributions, $320,000 in local partnership funds, and in-kind leadership support -- will leverage Save the Children funding of approximately $1 million for South Carolina. These dollars will not only support Early Steps in the four rural sites, but also fund the partner Literacy and Nutrition/Physical Activity program for these communities, effectively serving children from birth to age 11.
The goals and activities of the Early Steps Program are:
Goal I: Children will enter school with the skills necessary for school success
Parents and children ages birth to three participate together in regularly scheduled bi-weekly home visits. The visits include developmental screenings, development of individual child goals, and ongoing early language and literacy developmentally appropriate activities. If screenings indicate a need, the Early Childhood Coordinator works with the family and community agencies to ensure appropriate referrals are made.
Home visit activities focus on the following areas young children need in order to be successful learners:
- Strong relationships with caring adults
- Exposure to language and print
- Rich conversation
- Linkages to home and culture
Child portfolios, developed with the family, record the child’s development and experiences over time.
Goal 2: Parents will have the skills and knowledge to support their children’s education.
Parents actively participate in the bi-weekly home visits and receive a variety of parent information resources through conversations during the home visits, hand-outs, and during the monthly parent/child groups. Parenting skills are modeled during the home visits. Through these activities and experiences parents learn how they can nurture their child’s early language and literacy development and practice doing so. Parents learn about social-emotional development, language development, and pre-literacy (concepts on language, text, books, and story).
Parents participate in pre- and post-interviews about their parenting knowledge and skills, and they develop and keep their child’s portfolio, which tells the birth story and ongoing development of their child. Parents are supported by the Early Childhood Coordinator in making referrals and getting the support their child needs.
Goal 3: Home-School connections will be strong: Parents will be familiar with their child’s school and school staff before the child enters school and will participate in school-based activities.
Early Steps supports regular communication with school personnel by holding activities in the school and helping the parents of very young children become acquainted with school personnel and become familiar with the school environment. This includes experiences such as a home visit by the kindergarten teacher and Early Childhood Coordinator together, a parent/teacher conference to share the child’s Early Steps portfolio, time in the classroom for the child and parent, and parent/teacher group meetings.
Goal 4: Early childhood knowledge and skills in the community will be increased.
The Early Steps Early Childhood Coordinators receive intensive, ongoing, quality training and technical assistance, with support by the national Zero to Three organization as well as Save the Children, totaling more than 100 hours of training per year.
The Coordinator serves as a liaison to the larger community, advocating the importance of early childhood services for very young children, fostering knowledge, and helping to build early childhood capacity for the long-term.