While training early childhood educators and care providers in the value and use of activities developing school readiness skills, more value in the training would be possible if this training could contribute in some way to the credentialing of early childhood educators or childcare providers.

Every Child Ready promotes a set of eight skills, identified by local early childhood education and care providers, that includes key indicators of likely school success. (Early Beginnings: Early Literacy Knowledge and Instruction by the National Institute for Literacy, 2009; Set for Success; From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development; A Good Beginning: Sending America’s Children to School with the Social and Emotional Competence They Need to Succeed). These skills are:

• Ability to name printed letters
• Knowledge of the sounds associated with printed letters
• Ability to manipulate the sounds of spoken language
• Ability to write one's own name or isolated letters
• Ability to remember spoken language for a short time
• Cooperation with peers and adults
• Control of one's behavior
• Demonstration of curiosity and persistence

Children who have these skills when beginning school generally have other skills needed for school success. This is likely because the experiences these children have had in their lives up to this point that supported their learning in these eight skill areas also helped them learn other skills needed for success in school and later life. There is no exhaustive list of all the specific skills a child must have to succeed in kindergarten. But, nurturing these eight skills with a child will likely help them succeed in a way less possible without these skills.

To see a MICA family development specialist introducing tip cards that help build these eight skills, click here. You can find links to tip cards for activities that build these skills at the top of this section.

15 community early childhood service providers will be trained in the coordinated use of tip cards (you can find links to the tip cards at the top of this section) to help their program and parents build the eight skills that foster school success. 500 children ages birth to five will be engaged by parents or early childhood professionals in activities contained on the tip cards.

• Establish the new coalition of providers of the skill-building tools
• Conduct planning sessions to harvest experience thus far and create community plan
• Conduct training for providers on the plan and tools.
• Providers begin enhanced use of tip cards and activities with children and with parents.