Parent Checklist
To-Do:
- Help your child develop an interest in reading by reading aloud to them every day. Great Start Collaborative's inspiREading program offers free videos, strategy cards, and printable resources to help guide you and your child through their reading journey.
- Keep track of your child's learning process. Check in often with the Great Start Collaborative, and once in school, check your child's homework and follow their progress by looking at report cards and attending teacher conferences.
- Start saving for your child's college education. Use the Plan Ahead to Save resource to learn more.
Before Kindergarten
Exploration
West Shore ESD Early Childhood Services: West Shore ESD offers fantastic programming and resources for early childhood education. Explore the following websites to learn more:
- Great Start Collaborative: The Mason-Lake-Oceana Great Start Collaborative is a partnership of parents, child care providers, service providers, businesses, and other community leaders who are committed to giving every child in our three-county region a great start in life. Access videos, activities, and more to support your young learner. GSC has a calendar filled with free events for parents and children of all ages.
- Early On: If you have a concern about a baby's health or development, Early On serves infants and toddlers from birth to 36 months with developmental delay or conditions that could lead to such delay. It has been well established that early intervention is an effective way to prevent or reduce problems for children at a later age.
- Great Start Readiness Program: GSRP is Michigan's state-funded PreK program for four-year-old children with factors that may place them at risk of educational failure. The program is administered by the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP).
- Early Childhood Special Education: Young children ages three through five who have a disability as defined by one of the categories listed are eligible for preschool services provided through the local school system. In Michigan, the categories of disability include: Speech/Language Impairment, Specific Learning Disability, Cognitive Impairment, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Emotional Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Visual Impairment, Physical Impairment, Early Childhood Developmental Delay, Severe Multiple Impairment, Other Health Impairment
- Michigan Educational Savings Plan: Saving early for College is a reliable way to help build a college-going identity among youth. MESP has resources to help families establish early savings account--Any amount saved correlates with higher likelihood to go to college, according to UofM research from Dr. William Elliot III.