Creative Discovery Museum launches program to help prepare children for kindergarten

A recent study by Chattanooga 2.0 indicates that only 40 percent of Hamilton County kindergartners arrive on the first day of school prepared with the skills needed to succeed.

To help boost those numbers, Creative Discovery Museum is presenting Countdown to Kindergarten, a free program to give rising kindergartners and their caregivers access to resources and activities to help prepare children for the first year of "big school."

The museum's goal is to enroll more than 2,000 children as part of a broader communitywide effort to improve school readiness throughout the region.

Beginning kindergarten is a monumental transition for both children and parents, organizers say, and there are many factors that contribute to readiness outside of a child's ability to say the ABCs and count. Those factors can affect a child's performance long after that introductory year.

"Children who enter kindergarten with the emotional, social, physical and intellectual skills needed to be ready for school are more likely to be successful during all of their school years," explains Jayne Griffin, the museum's director of education.

All children enrolling in an area kindergarten this fall are eligible to join Countdown to Kindergarten. Funding for the program was made possible through support from United Way of Greater Chattanooga and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

Rising kindergartners can register at Creative Discovery Museum from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. any day of the week. Registration also will take place at Chattanooga Head Start and Hamilton County Pre-K for preschoolers enrolled in those programs. Children not previously enrolled in the club can sign up for free at the Countdown to Kindergarten kickoff celebration Saturday afternoon at the museum.

All Countdown Kids will receive a book full of tips to help prepare them and their parents for kindergarten. Children registered for the club will also receive a Countdown Kids T-shirt and one free visit to the museum anytime with one adult.

Children enrolled in the club should wear their T-shirt to receive free admission to the kickoff. This fun-filled event will give children a variety of hands-on activities to help them develop skills needed to start school.

Activities, scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., include simulated school experiences, readiness activities and Kids on the Block puppet shows. At 2 p.m. there will be a blast-off countdown party complete with balloons, cake and ice cream.

"Kindergarten officially marks the beginning of a child's formal education, and we want all children to be ready to learn and succeed in school," says Erin Townley, early childhood manager at the museum. "This event will be the official kickoff celebration to create momentum for school readiness throughout the spring and summer, including Discovery Mobile days at the Southside Library."

Children wearing their Countdown to Kindergarten T-shirt also receive free admission to the Chattanooga Zoo from June 1 to Aug. 1 and free admission to the Lookouts Countdown to Kindergarten Day home game on May 7. Enrollment also will be available before the game for free admission.

Creative Discovery Museum is leading this effort in collaboration with several partners in the Chattanooga area including Hamilton County Department of Education, Chattanooga Public Library, United Way's Project Ready for School, First Things First, Chattanooga Child Care Resource and Referral, Chattanooga Head Start, Siskin Children's Institute, Read 20, Youth and Family Development, Chattanooga Area Association for the Education of Young Children, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chambliss Center, Chattanooga State Community College, Chattanooga Zoo and Chattanooga Lookouts.