DENVER -- Early education nonprofit Waterford.org is helping prepare Colorado 4 year olds for kindergarten.
In response to pandemic learning loss, for the second year in a row, the nonprofit is offering the Waterford Upstart Summer Learning Path, a free online program designed to prepare the state's youngest students for school.
“We have come up with the summer learning path to make sure we can get some of the youngest children prepared so they don’t walk into kindergarten behind,” said Waterford.org national spokesperson Kim Fischer.
The program is 13 weeks long and Fischer told Denver7 that during that time frame, parents will receive weekly calls from a learning coach and personalized online curriculum for 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
“That’s well under the American Academy of Pediatrics standards of an hour a day,” said Fischer.
Fischer told Denver7 the nonprofit's goal is to make sure all students have access to the same learning opportunities.
“When we came up with the Waterford Upstart Program, our focus was underserved students. Students who didn’t have another option, students who couldn’t reach a Pre-k center. Anything that’s keeping that child from getting the learning they need before kindergarten, those are the students we are targeting,” said Fischer.
For parents who may be interested but don't have a computer or internet access, Waterford will provide those items free of charge.