A free Utah program helps preschoolers learn to read through fun games.

Utah

A state-funded program in Utah, Upstart, is providing free online reading resources for preschoolers. The program uses interactive games and activities, featuring cartoon characters, to help children develop early literacy skills in a fun and engaging way. Upstart is available to all four-year-olds in Utah and is supported by the governor's office, aiming to give children a strong start before entering school.

The initiative is part of broader efforts to improve reading proficiency among young students, with specific goals to raise the percentage of third graders reading at grade level. School districts, such as Ogden, have increased outreach to encourage participation, particularly among families where English is not the primary language. Data indicates that students who use Upstart show improved readiness for kindergarten compared to those who do not.

Free program helps Utah preschoolers learn to read through fun games

This scene is not an uncommon one these days, kids sitting in front of screens navigating the world wide web with the ease of someone more than quadruple their age. But they're not just playing any game or tick talking. They're learning to read. It feels like a game, so it feels like they're playing. Um and yeah, it is, it's engaging the it's you know, easy for them to use. Um and it's it's just it's fun. Rosie and rusty raccoon are the stars and teachers of upstart, a cute cartoon for pre kindergartners wanting to get a handle on reading skills outside of the classroom. It's for them. It's used for any four year old is funded by the governor's office of economic opportunity. So it's free for any family who wants to give their future student a leg up or a healthy head start like brook hussey, whose four year old daughter Indy is just getting familiar with upstart. But brook's oldest daughter, you can say has graduated from the program with her. I we really had to work on reading. She is reading now and she's thriving in school. But um we really had to put in a lot of extra work at home and I was so grateful that I had upstart for her because it's hard as a parent to teach your kid to read. And that's what the folks at Taylorsville nonprofit Waterford understand. Waterford is where upstart began in Utah decades ago. And it's fun to watch parents teach their Children in that initial setup. We also have coaches that can support parents and we have a lot of resources that parents can print from our online resources. So it's not just on the screen, you, you print things, you color, you read together, you take it outside. You know, we want this to be an immersive experience in 2023. Only 48% of Utah third graders were reading at grade level. 2022 legislative session produced Senate Bill 1 27 which aims to have 70% of third graders reading at grade level by 2027. That's in just two years. The goal is that Ogden will no longer have the lowest incoming kindergarten readiness data. That's been a long time goal for us to increase that readiness and not be in the bottom five of kindergarten readiness. Sarah reader who works as elementary supervisor for the Ogden School District says the last two years the district has done concerted outreach to raise awareness about the free program. The district's makeup is a majority minority students. More than 30% of its peoples come from homes where english is not the primary language and our schools that use ups or have families who use upstart the most definitely do show data that is distinct from those that do not. Last year was a big year for us though and we had almost 190 students that we helped sign up for upstart from the Ogden School District area. Pick it from brook and Indy. It's as easy as logging your child in and leaving them to learn at their own pace while having some fun half of it. If they're struggling, they don't have that confidence then it's going to be harder for them to continue to thrive and learn in school. And you know, I want my girls to love reading and I want them to feel confident in it.

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