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School Readiness Express is an Activity Book designed by Kids Incorporated, based on children’s literature and separated into four “seasons” – Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Each season contains 12 weeks of activities based on individual children’s books. The activities have been designed to meet the Florida School Readiness Performance Standards and are coded to show the relative Performance Standard each activity addresses. When teachers use School Readiness Express, they ensure their lesson plans are comprehensive, developmentally appropriate and meet the Florida School Readiness Performance Standards. Programs using School Readiness Express find it to be a beneficial resource for teachers while children enjoy the interesting and fun learning activities.

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School Readiness Express is an Activity Book designed to enhance preschool programs and help prepare children for school. School Readiness Express is based on children’s literature and the development of language and pre-reading skills.

The teachers plan a daily schedule and learning activities with four things in mind:

• Developmental stages, need and abilities of all young children
• Needs of the age group they serve and their abilities
• Needs of the specific, individual children in their care, and
• The personal experiences and history each individual child brings to the classroom learning experience

The Activity Book is based on research which indicates the level of success a child attains in school and later in life is equivalent to the level at which the child progresses in reading and writing. The quality and frequency of the experiences children are exposed to greatly increase the understanding and skills necessary for reading success. The goal is to expose children to diverse experiences regarding concepts in pre-reading skills, language and literature. The activities are intended to promote beginning reading skills, along with other areas as identified in the School Readiness Performance Standards.

Activities promote:

• Physical health
• Approaches to learning
• Social and emotional development
• Language and literacy
• Cognitive development
• Motor development

School Readiness Express contains information and tips for enhancing the early education and care environment. Each section includes a cross-reference to the Florida School Readiness Performance Standard connections.

The following components are included:

• Quality environmental indicators
• Outdoor play
• Science and discovery
• Music
• Dramatic play
• Art and creativity
• Math and manipulatives
• Daily routines
• Block play
• Language

The activity book contains additional resources regarding lesson planning, circle time, transitions, etc.

Additional resources include:

• Identifying body parts
• Color recognition
• Counting activities
• Gross motor skills
• Personal information
• Identifying common objects
• Speech and language
• Story telling
• Science and environment

You do not need to use the specific books referenced in School Readiness Express. Many preschool programs have some of these titles; others may not. For example, if your program doesn’t have Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming, another book about farm animals may be used in its place. The book is a starting off point; the activities encompass the theme associated with each book.

The contents of School Readiness Express include:

Spring Itinerary:

1. Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming
2. Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
3. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, John Archambault, & Lois Ehlert
4. Daisy and the Egg by Jane Simmons
5. Jump, Frog, Jump by Robert Kalan
6. A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats
7. Park Bench by Fumika Takeshita & Mamoru Suzuki
8. Lunch by Denise Fleming
9. Is Your Mama a Llama by Deborah Guarino & Steven Kellogg
10. The Napping House by Audrey & Don Wood
11. Spider on the Floor by Raffi
12. The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Audrey & Don Wood

Summer Itinerary:

1. The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
2. The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
3. Do You Want To Be My Friend? by Eric Carle
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
5. Today is Monday by Eric Carle
6. Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle
7. Little Cloud by Eric Carle
8. The Mixed-up Chameleon by Eric Carle
9. From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
10. In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming
11. In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming
12. Count by Denise Fleming

Fall Itinerary:

1. My Five Senses by Aliki
2. On Mother’s Lap by Ann Herbert Scott
3. Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats
4. The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
5. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
6. Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
7. Owly by Mike Thaler
8. Nuts to You by Lois Ehlert
9. Fall is not Easy by Marty Kelley
10. A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown
11. Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
12. 1,2,3 Thanksgiving by W. Nikola-Lisa

Winter Itinerary:

1. Corduroy by Don Freeman
2. Time To Sleep by Denise Fleming
3. The Mitten by Jan Brett
4. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
5. The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone
6. Hanukkah by Roni Schotter
7. Santa’s Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki
8. My First Kwanzaa Book by Deborah Newton Chocolate
9. My Dream of Marten Luther King by Faith Ringgold
10. Dr. DeSoto by Paul & Henrietta Strickland
11. Dinosaur Roar by William Steig
12. How Do I Love You by P.K. Hallinan

With a literacy based curriculum, children:

• Develop a sense of phonics through rhythm and rhyme
• Learn that stories have a structure: a beginning, middle and an end, and that some stories have a pattern
• Find their vocabulary grows as they hear and discuss stories
• Learn to make predictions
• Get to experience different cultures and experiences that they would never experience first hand
• Begin to understand concepts such as time, place and size
• Find ways to bring humor into their lives
• Are assisted in dealing with their emotions: worries, fears, problems or concerns
• Are encouraged to use their imagination

Comprehensive Program:

School Readiness Express may be augmented in many ways, including:

• In-service teacher trainings (sharing ideas to expand those included in SRE)
• Producing a “Riding the Rails” School Readiness Express newsletter for parents incorporating activities
• Community volunteers
• Reading to children weekly in programs they have “adopted”
• Stickers for children
• Teacher incentives
• School Readiness Express classroom of the month

So Many Activities, Too Little Time!

A teacher could choose one School Readiness Express activity per day during the school year and not repeat an activity for three years! That’s how extensive this Activity Book is! Each of the 48 books contain a minimum of 15 activities (some include many more!) as well as recipes, songs and fingerplays.

As one Center Director noted, “my more experienced teachers can use this as a starting point and let their expertise & creativity expand the ideas; while our less experienced teachers can follow it just as it is and still have great lesson plans”.

School Readiness Express is $200 per copy plus shipping.  (Discounts are available for quantities of ten and more per order; inquire at info@kidsincorporated.org).

Click to download the Time To Sleep activity to see what a real lesson plan looks like!

Time To Sleep