Osceola County Focuses on Reading Readiness for All

Thirteen percent. It's not a very big number. Only thirteen percent of Osceola County students entering kindergarten in the fall of 2015 were prepared on their first day of school. Not prepared as in arrived with a backpack full of school supplies. We mean prepared with basic readiness skills like how to hold a pencil, the correct way to turn pages of a book, and recognizing their own name. Many people chock this percentage up to the fact that our standards have changed, stating we expect too much from our youngest learners. However, as we progress to higher grades, we run across more troubling statistics. In Osceola County's third grade classrooms, fifty-three percent of students are reading on grade level. Only fifty-eight percent of middle school students are reading on grade level.

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What do these numbers mean for Osceola County? We are not the only county with troubling statistics like these. However, Osceola County is not willing to accept these numbers as our reality. As a community, we need to join together to bridge this gap between home and school. Teachers work diligently in the classroom for the 6 hours they have with their students each day, differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all their students. However, they are presented with an extreme challenge when they are catching children up from day one, and as we can see, they never all truly catch up.So, where do we go from here? Learning needs to start from birth. Engaging your child in daily learning activities doesn't have to be challenging. Back-and-forth conversations about the day's events, reading, game playing, and outdoor and indoor imaginative play are all ways to help your child's brain development to be prepared for the future ahead. We've all heard the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child". This statement couldn't be any more true, and this is why in addition to the many resources currently offered to families in Osceola County, the School District and the Education Foundation of Osceola County, the cities of Kissimmee and St. Cloud, and the Osceola County Board of County Commissioners have joined together to bring the mobile reading app Footsteps2Brilliance to all Osceola County children absolutely free. The goal of the countywide literacy initiative, Osceola Reads, is to reach our youngest learners to prepare them for school success and create lifelong learners. Help our families bridge the gap between home and school and increase our school readiness rate here in Osceola County.