OHSU Kinder Coaching Program ensures young patients enter school prepared to learn
Beginning kindergarten is an exciting milestone, representing the official start of a child’s learning journey in school. It also can come with anxieties and challenges for children and families — creating a new routine, adjusting to the physical demands of being in a classroom, and increased academic and social-emotional pressures.
A seamless transition into kindergarten makes a significant difference for a child's long-term success in school, says Jaime Peterson, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of pediatrics in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine and director of the Kinder Coaching Program at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
But too often the preparation for kindergarten only begins in the weeks or months leading up to the start of school; many families don’t know that preparation should begin long before entering the classroom. OHSU’s Kinder Coaching Program aims to close that gap: It is the first early learning program to embed a full spectrum of services within pediatric primary care and to have those services covered by Medicaid.
“The concept of school readiness is a set of developmental skills we’d like most kids to start kindergarten with,” Peterson said. “Most parents don’t really know all the things their kids are expected to do in kindergarten. This knowledge gap can be even more significant for families with fewer resources, those born in a country outside the U.S. or those for whom English is a second language.
“We want to ensure all families, regardless of background, are ready and prepared for this important transition.”
Access to early learning
School readiness includes five major skillsets: social-emotional, self-help, gross and fine motor, cognition and communication. These skillsets are vast, with tasks ranging from holding a pencil to sharing toys, understanding basic numbers and shapes, and being able to clean up a workspace. An important place kids begin to develop these skills is in preschool, but a child’s access to preschool in Oregon and across the country is highly dependent on income and geography.
However, most kids have access to a primary care practitioner or pediatrician; they visit them about 15 times in their first three years of life. Peterson identified this as a crucial access point for increasing awareness and knowledge about school readiness.
“We know that many kids who start behind simply can’t catch up,” Peterson said. Those kids have poorer academic performance and lower graduation rates, and, ultimately, that results in adults who aren’t as healthy, happy and productive as they could be.
“Setting kids up for a successful academic trajectory is crucial. It can be just as important as physical health checkups for managing their asthma or diabetes.”
OHSU’s Kinder Coaching Program
The Kinder Coaching Program serves all OHSU patients aged 3 to 5 who may benefit from services. To learn more about kinder coaching and your child’s eligibility, connect with your child’s primary care provider.
Pediatricians at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital regularly assess how children are developing and whether families feel ready for kindergarten. While pediatricians provide general guidance and encourage reading and preschool enrollment for all families, individualized support is limited.
There are many national and local efforts to help families connect to early learning services in the community, but OHSU’s Kinder Coaching Program is unique: It is embedded within pediatric primary care, where families already have regularly scheduled visits, and the services are covered by Medicaid.
In a child’s initial 60- to 90-minute session, a “Kinder Coach” talks with the family about their child’s development, identifies areas for support and shares ideas for learning at home. Subsequent hour-long visits include skills assessments and continued one-on-one coaching to meet a family’s specific goals.
The Kinder Coaching team includes three coaches, all certified community health workers — Isha Sylla, B.S., Miriam Escobar, M.A., and Sandra Silva — as well as a research project manager, Maya Postigo, B.A., who focuses on bilingual, culturally relevant research programs that support advancements in early learning.
“If a family has the right tools and support from the very start, the child will be more successful throughout their whole school journey and parents can gain the confidence and skills to be able to advocate for their child,” Sylla said. “I tell families that they are their child’s first teacher, and kids can learn a lot from them even doing everyday tasks, like counting steps when you’re walking up the stairs or pointing out colors and shapes on a walk.”
The visits with coaches not only help children build the skills they’ll need in kindergarten, but also connect families to other resources to support their child’s health and wellness, like preschool enrollment, library programs and food assistance.
Additionally, the clinic’s integration within OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital allows coaches to identify potential health barriers and seamlessly refer patients to other specialities, such as speech or occupational therapy.
Support kinder readiness through the OHSU Foundation: Under “Select Gift Designation,” select “Other Area” and specify “Kinder Coaching Program.”
Already, the clinic has made a significant impact on kids and families: 100% of the 60 participants surveyed last year felt coaching was helpful and would recommend coaching to other families.
“As a mom it opened my eyes to what I needed to work on,” one parent said in the survey. “[That I need] to dedicate more time, be calmer and teach him differently.”
This work has been supported in part by the OHSU IDS, Anonymous Fund #5 of Oregon Community Foundation, Health Share of Oregon, and Early Learning Washington County. You can support this work by making a donation to the OHSU Foundation, specifying “Kinder Coaching Program” in the “Other Area” field under “Select Gift Designation.”