Early childhood development called investment in Oklahoma's future

Those are just a few of the things the 5-year-old has blurted out when her mom, Shea Hoskinson, has arrived to pick her up from the Oklahoma City Educare's pre-K program.

“Let me give you a little bit of background,” Shea Hoskinson said when asked what Educare means to her daughter, who is in the pre-K program.

Shea and husband Chris Hoskinson's 2-year-old son, Ayden, has a rare chromosome disorder that already has led to seven surgeries.

Not only is it tough on the child and the parents, but also his sister.

Kaelin was around doctors and hospitals so much she began repeating medical terms.

Shea knew she needed to provide Kaelin an opportunity to be Kaelin, but the family was struggling financially, so paying for a private educational program wasn't possible.

The Hoskinsons came in contact with Sunbeam Family Services through a home-based program and were told that Educare would be opening soon.

“The first thing I thought when I brought her here was a sense of ‘This is my school, this is just for me, this isn't for my brother, this is my place,'” Shea said. “They gave Kaelin her own individuality.

“Within the first three months she was coming home and singing songs about colors and talking about recycling. She was picking things up so fast that we were just shocked at how quickly she got it.”

She was excited about the cowboy chili for lunch, helping paint a castle and learning that leaves take on different colors in the fall.

“For her to see early on that education matters is an essential part of what's to come later,” Shea said. “That building block of education is important and it lets her say, ‘I will succeed.'”