Little Learners/Pequeños Aprendices
Marin County Free Library
Innovation Synopsis
During the COVID-19 pandemic, MCFL’s mobile preschool team developed Little Learners Kits/ Pequeños Aprendices, which are bilingual materials and play-based learning activities for children 0–5 years old. Kits are designed to nourish children’s learning and contain all the necessary materials and tools for the learning activities.
Challenge/Opportunity
The Little Learners Kit project was designed to support early childhood education for young children in West Marin, especially low-income families, and children of color, by expanding library services to provide more early childhood education opportunities. In Marin, nearly 7,000 children face significant barriers from early childhood to high school graduation. In West Marin, only 33% of students of color received a “Ready to Go” score as measured by the Kindergarten Student Entrance Profile.
Key Elements of Innovation
We know that children who attend high-quality early education programs gain knowledge, social and emotional growth, and the necessary skills for school success. By providing high-quality, equitable services we hope to help narrow the school readiness gap in Marin County. When pre-schools and daycare centers closed in response to COVID-19, MCFL continued to innovate and bring early learning to 99 children living in the most remote areas of the West Marin, including agriculture and dairy ranches.
Achieved Outcomes
The key outcomes we hoped to achieve included increasing parental understanding and engagement with kindergarten readiness skills, increased access to pre-kindergarten educational tools and activities, and improved childhood skills for school readiness.
635 klts were distributed between June 2020-February 2021, with 153 of those distributed to children living in remote rural West Marin. 850 books were also distributed to these communities. We achieved our goal of support for this future success indicator.
