Early Learning

Parents creating teaching aids within programs to teach their children.

Our Early Learning Programs engage Spanish-speaking Latino/a/x parents as the first teachers of their children. Parent-led pre-school helps parents prepare their children for kindergarten. Parent-led reading intervention helps parents build their children’s literacy skills in vocabulary, reading and writing. Parenting programs help parents examine their own family history and culture, understand early childhood development, and establish healthy boundaries with new skills and parenting techniques.

Parenting is a huge undertaking. Parenting while facing the obstacles of being a hardworking Spanish-speaking immigrant in the United States is even more challenging. Besides providing for basic needs, parenting is teaching, guiding, mentoring and coaching in a structured safe environment. SKCE believes this is the number one way to ensure the educational success of our children.

Two cousins work on Kindergarten Readiness at home via computer during COVID.

SKCE believes the key to kindergarten readiness is the interaction between parents and children from birth to 5 years.

We provide two parent-led kindergarten readiness programs within a 22-week session.

• Aprendiendo Avanzamos (Learning Together We Advance), parent-led preschool, was developed by SKCE for ages 3-5, and teaches parents how to be their child’s first teacher. Parents learn about early childhood development, and math and literacy development through modeling and hands on practice with their children. We incorporate a program developed by The Children’s Reading Foundation.
• ¡LISTO! para kindergarten (READY! For Kindergarten) includes a lot of age appropriate take home materials, toys, activities and books.

Father teaches son.

Research shows that learning in your primary language greatly increases success in your secondary language.

Leyendo Avanzamos (Reading Together We Advance) is our own culturally specific parent-led Spanish reading intervention program. It teaches Spanish-speaking parents how to teach reading to their K – 2nd grade children enrolled in bilingual or dual elementary school programs. They learn how to help children build skills in phonics, reading, writing, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. SKCE values language as culture and strives to help families keep their first language at home with their children. That’s why we believe Bilingual or Dual Language Education Programs are the most effective ways of assuring the overall success of our Latino/a/x children with Spanish-speaking households. Parents receive all the materials they need to teach phonics, reading, writing, vocabulary and comprehension at home in 10 weekly classes with their children.

We have found that the most successful parent training is done by highly-trained staff who are also parents from the immigrant community with the same culture and lived experiences. Our programs and methods are culturally specific and responsive, using Popular Education as a framework for everyone learning together and empowering themselves.

Parent participants are overwhelming grateful for peers that truly understand their issues and needs. The results of peer facilitators, culturally-specific training and support, and generous funders are life-changing opportunities to build the knowledge, tools and skills to become more effective parents who can help to ensure the success of their children.

We are certified to provide a number of well-known research-based parenting programs:

• Haga de la Paternidad un Placer (Make Parenting a Pleasure)
• Abriendo Puertas (Opening Doors)
• Soluciones Positivas (Positive Solutions)
• Crianza con Cariño (Nurturing Parenting)
• Los años increíbles (The Incredible Years)
• Fortaleciendo Familias (Strengthening Families)