School Readiness
LOU Reads aims to maximize a child's development from birth and ultimately to ensure that every child in our community arrives at kindergarten prepared to be successful in school and in life. Specifically, we seek to increase the percentage of entering kindergarten students who have achieved proficiency with the literacy components of the Mississippi Early Learning Standards for Classrooms Serving Four-Year-Old Children, as measured by STAR Early Literacy Assessment.
Our strategy for reaching this goal is to build community awareness of the importance of the first five years of life; support parents and families in developing nurturing relationships with their children and promoting healthy development; improve the quality of early care and education available to families in L.O.U.; and, in the long-term, increase access to public pre-k.
Current projects include: a series of free, professionally-led Parent Academy sessions for parents held at Bramlett Elementary School and Lafayette Lower Elementary; and many projects, including but not limited to an annual conference for early care and education providers, positive parenting workshops facilitated by experts in the field to share developmentally appropriate learning activities throughout the community.
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Parent Academy
The Barksdale Reading Institute (BRI) is proud to partner with Oxford Early Childhood Center and Lafayette Lower Elementary School to offer Parent Academy to parents of three, four, and five-year-olds in our community. Parent Academy is a free program designed to help parents prepare their three, four, and five-year-old children for a successful start in school. Any parents with three, four, and five-year-olds in the LOU Community may participate.
The program covers a series of kindergarten-readiness topics such as oral language, early reading, math, general development, etc. over the course of the school year, referred to as “modules.” The modules are conducted monthly. Parents will receive hands-on instruction and be given free materials and activities to take home and use with their children to support their learning and development. View our events page to see when we meet next.