Jumpstart has future kindergartners ready for academia

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- It was a groundbreaking program that is now found in

nearly every elementary school in the district.

Eight years ago, Kaiser Primary School teacher Kathy Fellows began the

Jumpstart program to help children and their parents prepare for the many

years of school ahead.

Now, Jumpstart is the model for all other pre- and post-kindergarten

programs at Newport-Mesa Unified School District campuses.

Jumpstart helps kindergarten students who were a little behind their

class developmentally to prepare for first grade. Parents are brought in

for a few classes of their own.

“Results show that adults who attend will start being more active now

in site council and the classrooms,” Fellows said. “It’s an interlocking

program -- the only one of its kind until two years ago -- that brings

families in and involves families.”

While children socialize and learn to read, parents hear from nurses,

child psychologists and educators.

The four-week program operates out of three classrooms at Kaiser

Primary. Parents gather in one room and another has a classroom setting

for students who needed help in kindergarten. A third room holds a prep

course for preschoolers.

“Children need to learn to play together to get acclimated to the

school setting,” said Rebecca Olsen, the kindergarten teacher who works

with the prekindergarten students. “We get them comfortable with

rudimentary things -- colors, writing their names, lining up and how not

to fight but to share.”

The program is especially useful to English-language learners and

children with disorders such as separation anxiety, Fellows said.

The postkindergarten students brush up on their reading and math

skills to avoid becoming “at risk” for problems farther down the line.

“I learn math and I do a lot of paper sheets and I like to listen to

stories on the carpet,” said 6-year-old Kelsey Wilder.

Students said they have an easier time learning in a low-pressure

situation, surrounded by other children who learn at a similar pace.

“It’s easier because most of the kids don’t write so fast,” said

6-year-old Milan Gray.

The program, which is mostly funded through anonymous private

donations, costs $10,000 to run each summer, Fellows said.