Helping Charleston’s Youngest Learners Start Strong
How community collaboration is helping prepare Tallahatchie County’s youngest learners for kindergarten.
Who helps a child get ready for kindergarten?
Preparing children for school begins long before the first day of class. Every story shared, every conversation, every game, and every moment spent learning together helps children build the skills they need to succeed. It takes families, educators, caregivers, and community partners working together. That is exactly what Excel By 5 is all about.
Tallahatchie County is proud to be an Excel By 5 community, joining communities across Mississippi committed to helping children from birth to age five enter school healthy, confident, and ready to learn.
As Tallahatchie County’s Excel By 5 certification manager, I’ve had the opportunity to see how small, everyday actions by parents, educators, childcare providers, and community organizations can make a lasting difference in a child’s future.
One of the goals of the Charleston Thrives Education Working Group is to connect families with educational opportunities that help children succeed. Excel By 5 is one example of that work already happening in Tallahatchie County.
By sharing resources like the monthly Kindergarten Readiness Calendar, the Education Working Group is helping more families discover simple ways to support early learning at home.
One way families can get involved is through the monthly Kindergarten Readiness Calendar. It is filled with easy activities that encourage reading, talking, playing, and exploring together while reminding us that learning happens every day beyond the classroom.
Why does that matter?
Because a thriving community begins by investing in its youngest learners. When we help children start strong, we strengthen families, schools, and the future of Charleston.
That is why this is a Charleston Thrives progress story.
To learn more about Excel By 5 and download the monthly Kindergarten Readiness Calendar, visit www.excelby5.com. Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, caregiver, teacher, or neighbor, you can help a child start strong.
If you see progress happening across Charleston, we hope you will share it with me and with each other.
Email cheryl@sonedna.com.
Charleston Thrives is a community-led effort supported by SonEdna Foundation that brings people together to recognize progress already happening across Charleston and carry it forward together. Through shared experiences, conversations and participation, Charleston Thrives helps people see their place in the future of the community and how they can help shape it. Focus areas include Government & Civic Engagement, Education, Economic Opportunity, Health & Well-Being, and Culture & Arts. Follow how Charleston Thrives is Making Progress Together: Facebook.com/sonednafoundation | Instagram.com/sonednafoundation | and at Linkedin.com/company/sonedna-foundation.
