Mid-Del program to help prepare kids for school
Education: Early Birds offers free books, toys to parents of preschoolers

BY CHRIS SCHUTZ Comments 0
Published: November 4, 2009

MIDWEST CITY — Parents in the Midwest City-Del City School District may join a pilot program this week aimed at helping prepare children age 4 and younger for school.

More Info

For more information

To find out more about Early Birds at Mid-Del, call Heather Johnson at 737-4461, ext. 357, or e-mail hjohnson@mid-del.net.

The first sessions of Early Birds, a free program designed by Smart Start Central Oklahoma, will be at 6 p.m. Thursday or 10 a.m. Saturday at West Side Alternative Academy, 306 Brett. Registration is at the door.

At the 90-minute sessions, parents will be divided into groups according to the ages of their children, said Heather Johnson, parent education facilitator for the Mid-Del district.

Educators at the sessions will discuss emotional, physical and intellectual milestones to expect at different age levels and give tips for working with children at home.

Plans are to have three 90-minute sessions a year, Johnson said.

The other sessions are to be in January and April, although dates have not yet been set, she said.

At the sessions, parents will be given educational books and toys to recreate lesson plans at home, Johnson said.

Topics of this week’s sessions are the same, so parents need not attend both, Johnson said.

An advantage of having the group meetings is that "it gives parents some contacts of other parents in the area that they can rely on,” Johnson said.

Smart Start is a school readiness program funded by private donations from Inasmuch Foundation of Oklahoma City and other donors, Smart Start Director Stacy Dykstra said.