Who Needs CfKI Scholarships? A young child’s best hope for success is their parents, but when working parents earn low wages, they can’t afford quality child care to help their children learn and thrive.  In a survey of low-income families in the west metro communities served by Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners, 95% of families with preschool children indicated cost of care as the most significant barrier to accepting or keeping a job. 39% of families surveyed reported that when choosing child care they had to take whatever they could get. Scholarships = Success CfKI is one of four pilot programs around the state to develop early childhood scholarship programs to boost school readiness with support from the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF), an innovative business-government effort. Quality Programs Matter CfKI will identify quality, learning based child care or preschool programs to participate. Families will choose the quality program that fits their family’s needs and share the costs with CfKI. CfKI community partners will provide parenting support and help parents connect with community resources for family stability. CfKI will work with MELF to develop appropriate ways to measure preschoolers’ progress towards kindergarten readiness.

A recent national survey of kindergarten teachers found that school readiness has less to do with mastering the ABCs and counting to 20, and much more to do with being emotionally and socially ready to learn academic material. Kindergarten teachers want five- and six year-olds who enter school to be able to: Follow directions; Pay attention; and Get along well with others Quality early care and education settings reinforce families’ efforts to teach young children these skills.           Children's Defense Fund - Missed Opportunities Produce Costly Incomes - 2005