Plans are underway now for this year’s KinderCamp™ in northern Arizona, which will give preschoolers the foundational, social and academic skills needed to successfully transition into kindergarten.
However, as you’ll learn below from KinderCamp Coordinator Sara Owen, this effort to Step Up for Our Youth is as much for the parents and families as it is for the kids who will attend this summer.
KinderCamp has been close to my heart since it began in 2005, and I am proud of being one of its earliest supporters. Many thanks to our partners who are making this year’s program possible.
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From the desk of:
Liz Archuleta
President & CEO
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KinderCamp™ Helping Preschoolers (and Parents) with Transition to Kindergarten
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On June 6, four- and five-year-olds in Flagstaff, Williams, and Pinetop-Lakeside will walk into classrooms – most for the very first time – and participate in a month-long program to prepare them emotionally, socially and academically for the first day of kindergarten.
KinderCamp, one of United Way of Northern Arizona’s signature initiatives to Step Up for Our Youth, began in 2005 after a survey identified early childhood learning as a major concern in the region.
But in the post-pandemic era, when many parents needed to stay home with their children because of a lack of childcare, the experience is almost as much for them as it is for the children, said KinderCamp Coordinator Sara Owen.
“We’re helping parents prepare and get ready to let go a little bit,” said Owen, who has been with the program for the past eight years. “They need to get used to the transition too, particularly after the past few years when families were together a lot more because of COVID.”
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About 160 students will participate in the program, which is free to families. Over the course of four weeks, the children will learn letters and sounds, numbers and some science and technology while getting used to being part of a classroom community.
Some schools will organize their classes around a theme. For example, Thomas Elementary School in Flagstaff will have an ocean theme for this year’s KinderCamp, while Kinsey Elementary School is basing their classes on classic children books like The Hungry Caterpillar and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
Throughout the day, teachers stress “independence skills,” where students are responsible for taking off and putting on their own jackets or putting items away in their backpack or cubbyholes.
“What’s wonderful is the confidence they show after a while,” said Owen. “A lot of times you’ll see KinderCamp students in kindergarten and they are helping other kids because they already know the ropes. That’s something that’s priceless.”
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As in previous years, KinderCamp will host guests over the month, such as firefighters, pediatricians, and the tooth fairy, who will talk with the kids about good oral health. They’ll conclude their classes with a “bridging over” ceremony, where they cross a tiny bridge to symbolize that they are ready for kindergarten.
All parents will have a meeting during KinderCamp with their child’s teacher and receive a literacy kit filled with books, low- or no-cost activities, sidewalk chalk and more, so they can continue to learn throughout the summer.
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The program has been made possible by the generous support of many collaborating partners including: APS, Coconino County, the Geile Charitable Foundation, the Molly and Joseph Herman Foundation, the Phoenix Suns Foundation, the Phillip K. Lyons Foundation, Supervisor Matt Ryan, Salt River Project, Wells Fargo and Williams Rotary.
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Please consider donating to the United Way of Northern Arizona today and help fund agency partner programs through Community Investment Fund grants and initiatives like KinderCamp. Without your support, programs like KinderCamp would not be possible.
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UNITED WAY OF NORTHERN ARIZONA
1515 E. Cedar Ave. Suite D-1 Flagstaff, AZ 86004
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