WaKIDS is a process that helps to ensure a successful start in school.
Program Details
What is WaKIDS?
WaKIDS is a process that helps to ensure children entering Kindergarten have a successful start to the K-12 experience. WaKIDS provides a statewide view where children are in development as they enter Kindergarten. This information will help shape education policy and investments.
WaKIDS has three components:
- Family Connection welcomes families into the Washington K-12 system as partners in their child’s education.
- “Whole-Child” Assessment gives kindergarten teachers information about the social and emotional, physical, cognitive and linguistic development of the children in their classrooms, so they may tailor their instruction to the individual needs of each child.
- Early Learning Collaboration aligns practices of early learning professionals and kindergarten teachers to support smooth transitions for children.
Support
What role does Early Care & Education provide?
Early Care & Education provides professional development, technical assistance and support, including training in the use of the Teaching Strategies GOLD assessment process, to kindergarten teachers who are implementing WaKIDS (Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills) – our state’s model designed to strengthen the kindergarten transition process.
Helpful Links
WaKIDS is a partnership paid for with state, federal and private funding. It is mandated for state-funded full-day kindergarten programs by ESHB 2586 The Department of Early Learning (DEL) and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) work together to oversee WaKIDS. Private partners include Thrive Washington and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Program Contacts
Who to Contact
ECE State Resources
Early Care and Education in the News
Why do parents spend so much on child care, yet childhood educators earn so little?
(Child Care Aware of America, July 11, 2018)
Building a solid foundation
(Camas-Washougal Post-Record, April 11, 2019)
Get Social with Us
Early Care and Education -Southwest Washington Childcare Consortium
Early Care & Education News
1-2-3 Grow and Learn Program Featured in Camas Washougal Post Record
Reed Ebeling (left), Erin Ebeling and Susan Bennett of General Federation of Women's Clubs Camas-Washougal during a recent 1,2,3 Grow and Learn session at Hathaway Elementary School. (Photo submitted by Rene Carroll and photographed [...]
Preschoolers at Burton Early Learning Center Have Fun with Hygiene
Last week we had a guest volunteer come visit one of our preschool classrooms at Burton Early Learning Center. She is a local RN who came to lead an activity on hand washing and hygiene. [...]
Hathaway ECEAP Center Celebrates Dr. Seuss’s Birthday
Last week we celebrated Dr. Seuss’s 115th Birthday! Our Hathaway ECEAP center welcomed their new classroom volunteer to come play and read some of his favorite Dr. Seuss stories. He even dressed up for the [...]
Senator Patty Murray introduces bill to address child care crisis
Finding high-quality, affordable child care & early learning is becoming increasingly difficult for millions of working families across the country. The cost of child care has increased by 25 percent in the past decade, forcing many parents [...]