Success by 6™

At United Way we are committed to helping our children succeed in life through early learning initiatives. Below is information on the United Way Preschool Scholarship Program, Preschool Transportation Program, known as The Rainbow Route, Read To Me and Early Childhood Initiative. Take a few minutes to see what is happening in Mower County to make all our children have Success by 6.

Preschool Scholarship and Rainbow Route Transportation Forms

United Way, in partnership with AMCAT and through a grant from The Hormel Foundation, is able to provide transportation to and from preschool for any child attending Austin Area Preschools, not just scholarship recipients. Deadline for submitting transportation forms is July 1, 2011. Transportation eligibility is based on a first come, first serve basis.

Click here for an application for the Rainbow Route.
Click here for the Rainbow Route form in Spanish

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions about Rainbow Route

Click here for information on eligibility based on 2011 Federal Poverty Levels

The United Way Preschool Scholarship Program provides scholarships to 4 year olds attending preschool in Austin. Scholarships are also available in Lyle, Adams, LeRoy and Grand Meadow for children in Kindergarten Prep programs. Scholarship forms are due by May 1, 2011.

Click here for more information on the Preschool Scholarship program in Austin and how to apply.
Click here for the information on Preschool Scholarships in Austin in Spanish.

For preschool scholarship information in Adams contact Nancy Dvergsten at (507) 582-3405
For preschool scholarship information in Lyle contact Julie Ruis at (507) 325-2201
For preschool scholarship information in Leroy contact Deb Reburn at (507) 324-5786 x 223
For preschool scholarship information in Grand Meadow contact Brittney Hendrickson at (507) 754-5318

If you would like to donate to the Success by 6 scholarship fund and help our community youth succeed, contact our office at 437-2313 or email at unitedml@smig.net

READ TO ME

United Way, in partnership with ECI, has been working to engage the community around the importance of reading. There are overwhelming statistics that prove reading to your child has many benefits, one of which is preparing them for their future education.

Read To Me is a literacy campaign focused on encouraging and informing the public on the importance of reading. Reading to your child 30 minutes a day from birth to 5 provides them with 500 hours of brain food. Events have been scheduled each month for parents and children to partake in centered around reading. Become active in the lives of children around you. Promote a love for reading. Open a book and begin today. Below are numerous links on reading and early learning resources.

http://www.bornlearning.org  United Way tips and resources for parents

http://www.childrenslearninginstitute.org/our-programs/program-overview/CIRCLE/pdfs/dollar-store-literacy.pdf  Center for Improving the Readiness of Children for Learning and Education provides a list of literacy activities for parents and their children using a variety of everyday materials. 

http://www.nifl.gov/publications/pdf/ShiningStarsPreschool.pdf  How Parents Can Help Their Preschoolers Get Ready to Read

http://www.nifl.gov/publications/pdf/PRFbrochure.pdf  Put Reading First, Helping Your Child Learn to Read, A Parent Guide, Preschool through Grade Three.

http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/familylit/guides/default.html  Web Guides to help parents enhance their child’s literacy and learning.

http://journal.naeyc.org/btj/200705/pdf/IdeasforFamilies-Duke.pdf  Ideas for Families, Materials for Reading, A-Z

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/ecrr/resourcesab/handoutsab/06bestbks4-5.pdf  A brochure from San Diego County Library.  Best Books for Fours and Fives, Books and Ideas to help children get ready to read.

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/_files/pdf/TL_ReadingCard.pdf  Developing Active Reading with Effective Questions, Questions to ask before, during, and after reading to help your child develop comprehension.

http://www.picturebookart.org/downloads/ECM_SharingBooks.pdf  Suggestions for Sharing Picture Books with Young Children.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/82  103 Things to Do Before/During/After Reading. This article offers a collection of interactive activities that help kids become more involved in the stories that they read.

http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=61  A list of 100 picture books everyone should know

http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_key_language_bookselection&AddInterest=1145  Tips on choosing books for babies and toddlers

http://www.pbs.org/parents/lions/families/    Here you'll find activities and games for kids ages 4 to 7 and activity booklets for families with children ages 3 to 5. You'll also find great read-aloud books and books about teaching reading. And be sure to check out our literacy tips and Leading the Way to Literacy videos for ideas on how to encourage your budding reader.

Early Childhood Initiative

The Early Childhood Initiative is a group of pre-schools, child serving organizations, local businesses and school districts that are concerned with early learning and the birth to five population in Mower County.  The group is housed under United Way of Mower County.

United Way in partnership with the Austin Early Childhood Initiative started a pre-school scholarship program in the spring of 2006. Nineteen four year olds living in at-risk environments, who would not have been financially able to attend pre-school, were awarded a scholarship for the 2007-2008 year. Thanks to a generous grant from The Hormel Foundation, United Way has been able to continue to school readiness programs to children in our community. The United Way sent 52 children to preschool in 2010-2011 and will be able to send a minimum of 60 children to preschool in 2011-2012 through the Success by 6 Scholarship Program.

Each student's progress was tracked and evaluated. Students were evaluated in five different categories: Academic Development, Physical Development, Social Development, Language Development, and Work Habits. To view the evaluation and results click here.

United Way and its partners work with AMCAT to provide transportation not only for scholarship recipients but any 3 or 4 year old attending preschool in Austin for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years.