LCFS Launches Countdown to Kindergarten Fundraising Drive

The first day of kindergarten is one of the biggest moments in the life of a young child. For many it is their first experience in “big school” - a strange, new environment with unfamiliar adults and children and a new set of expectations.

There is a new program in South Carolina designed to help at-risk children prepare to make this big leap called Countdown to Kindergarten. Lexington County First Steps is working to offer this wonderful opportunity in every school district in Lexington County.

Countdown to Kindergarten gives participating families two home visits each week during the month of July from a fully certified kindergarten teacher. Often, it is the same teacher the child will have when school starts in August.

Last year, state funding allowed Lexington County First Steps to sponsor Countdown to Kindergarten at a single school, Batesburg-Leesville Primary. The early results show that Countdown to Kindergarten makes a difference.

Our goal this summer is to hire at least two teachers in each of Lexington County’s five school districts. The cost for each group of 10 children is $3,100. That includes intensive training for the teachers, eight home visits per students, and a “Transition Toolkit” that contains materials the child will use in kindergarten.

State funds will again pay for one class of 10. For us to form at least nine additional classes across the county, we need your financial support. It takes just $310 to ensure that an at-risk child from our community will step into a kindergarten classroom this fall happy, confident, and ready to embark upon a lifetime of learning.

Contributions received before April 14, 2005, will have double the impact. Every $3,100 raised by that date will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the state Office of First Steps. Rarely is there such an opportunity to make a powerful, direct impact on young lives. Please consider contributing to Countdown to Kindergarten today. Contributions of any amount are fully tax deductible and can be sent to the address listed on this website.

Third Annual Early Care & Education Conference April 16

Lexington & Saluda County First Steps will host the third annual Early Care & Education Conference Saturday April 16 at Batesburg-Leesville High School. This very popular day-long training session will feature more than 40 workshops covering the gamut of early childhood education and allows instructors to earn continuing education credits.

The opening and closing sessions will feature Amy and Claire, singers and storytellers from Winston-Salem. The duo play the Wonderful Halloween Witches at Tanglewood Park. They have recorded a two CDs that have won Parent's Choixe Recommended Awards. In real life, Amy and Claire are preschool music teachers.

Other workshops will include:

• sessions on technology for early education classrooms.
• using play therapy for disruptive children.
• creating a great classroom on a tight budget.
• injury prevention.
• spurring parental involvement.
• encouraging fathers to be involved in their child's education.
• identifying developmental delays.

The cost to attend is just $35 and includes contiental breafast and a buffet lunch from Shealy's Bar-B-Q. Registration is due by April 1. For forms or more information, call Julie Starr Horne, Lexington County First Steps Program Coordinator at (803) 532-6861.

In-home visits from trained parent educators are a key component of the Lexington County First Steps initiative. 

Who We Are

First Steps is a statewide initiative that brings public and private support together to help prepare young children to start school ready to learn. Signed into law in June 1999, First Steps works through county volunteer boards representing all facets of the community. This process ensures that decisions are made locally in response to specific community conditions.

The goal is Lexington County First Steps is to ensure that every family in Lexington County has access to the culturally appropriate, coordinated and comprehensive parenting and family services that are necessary to assure child readiness to learn by first grade.