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Description
Charleston County School District (CCSD) held an Early Learning Kindergarten Readiness Symposium on November 30, 2022. Local childcare providers and municipal partners joined Kim Foxworth, the district’s Executive Director of Early Learning Readiness Programs, and her team to engage and collaborate on the important topic of early learning and kindergarten readiness. The focus was to collectively identify and define the academic and social-emotional skills of a Kindergarten-ready child.
A
So
this
woman
here
she
knew
then
that
addressing
the
needs
some
young
children
before
they
got
to
school,
wasn't
important.
So
this
is
a
class
of
kindergartens
I'm
trying
to
create
a
Kindergarten
class.
The
these
are
neighborhood
kids,
the
neighborhood,
where
I
grew
up
the
two
boys
up
front.
One
is
my
twin
brother
Ronald,
and
the
other
one,
of
course
is
is
Donald.
B
Well,
we're
really
excited
to
bring
the
community
together
around
early
childhood
and
kindergarten
Readiness,
so
CCSD
is
hosting
its
first
Early
Childhood
kindergarten,
Readiness
Symposium,
the
first
five
years
of
life,
the
child's
90
of
the
child's
brain
is
developed,
and
so
so
much
input
and
experiences
shape
how
the
child
is
going
to
be
the
rest
of
their
life,
and
so
the
that
is
an
optimal
time
and
so
coming
together
with
our
community
stakeholders
to
make
sure
we're
providing
those
educational
experiences.
So
they're
ready
for
kindergarten
is
vital
when.
A
I
talked
with
principals
elementary
school
principals,
they
tell
me
say:
Don,
we
have
so
many
or
too
many
of
our
kindergarten.
Children
coming
into
kindergarten,
not
ready
to
learn
how
to
read,
not
read
and
learn
how
to
do
math,
and
we
need
to
address
that
early
in
their
lives,
and
so
this
is
very
important
because
It
prepares
our
young
children
for
be
ready
when
they
get
into
kindergarten
ready
to
learn.
Dr.
B
Dent
is
the
state
director
of
Early
Childhood
for
the
state
of
Mississippi.
Mississippi
has
significant
gains
over
the
last
four
years
in
fourth
grade
reading.
They
have
shown
us
how
to
close
the
gap
and
early
childhood
has
been
one
of
their
pivotal
strategies.
So
we
want
to
learn
from
them
about
how
they
have
used
Early
Childhood
to
close
the
gap
later
on,
and
they
one
of
the
things
I
know
that
they
do.
Is
they
involve
a
lot
of
stakeholders?
It's
not
just
the
school
system.
It's
not
just
providers.
B
C
Children
do
exist
before
they
turn
five
I'm
here
to
talk
about
the
Mississippi
Pre-K
Story,
how
we
started
a
few
years
ago,
almost
10
years
ago,
and
to
talk
about
some
of
the
successes
that
we've
had
and
how
we
got
to
where
we
are
today
and
where
we
have
to
go
forward
really
exciting
that
you
get
to
talk
to
people
that
are
interested
in
the
same
topic,
you're
interested
in
and
excited
about
the
same
topic,
and
so
I'm
really
glad
to
share
our
message
about
Mississippi.
Not
a
lot
of
people.
D
So
today
we
brought
the
Beaufort
County
School
District
traveling,
preschool
bus
up
to
the
Early
Childhood
Symposium,
to
help
others
understand
the
importance
of
early
childhood
education.
The
bus
goes
out
into
the
communities,
it
goes
to
Neighborhood
churches,
grocery
store
parking
lots
and
it
allows
for
parents
and
children
to
come
on
the
bus
receive
a
preschool
classroom
experience
all
while
we're
also
educating
their
parents
on
the
importance
of
early
childhood.
B
Education
Charleston
County
understands
that
we
are
not
the
Sole
Provider
of
Early
Childhood
Services
and
that
we
want
to
have
a
longer
arm
in
the
community
and
really
partner
with
our
our
providers.
They
may
come
from
us
in
the
public
preschool,
but
they
may
be
in
home
with
their
parents
or
they
may
be
at
a
private
provider
But.
Ultimately,
they
end
up
in
for
the
majority
of
children
that
end
up
in
our
school
systems,
and
we
want
to
make
sure
no
matter
where
they
come
from
they're
ready.
So.