Give Your Kids a Hand! Studies Show KinderCare Kids Are Better Prepared for School

At some point in your child’s journey from tiny baby to big-kid school, you’ll likely wonder if your child is developing on track.

Of course you want to know!

After all, understanding where your child is helps you to be a better parent. Should you be concerned if your one-year-old isn’t beginning to crawl yet? Or if your toddler is already reciting the ABCs—while other tots their age are just starting to talk? What if your five-year-old doesn’t seem to have friends?

We get it. 

As educators who have been at it for nearly 50 years, KinderCare wants you to have the information you need so parents and teachers can come together to help your child reach their full potential. And that’s why our teachers use Brigance® developmental screenings to make sure KinderCare kids ages zero to six are where they need to be—or find out if they need a little extra support in some areas. Children in our private kindergarten classes also participate in the TerraNova assessment, which gauges their progress in developing reading and math skills. 

The results of both studies came out in July, and (if you’ll permit us a small brag), they contain some great news for KinderCare families. Brigance showed that KinderCare kids, on average, are more developmentally advanced than expected for their age, and TerraNova showed our kindergartners, on average, perform at first-grade levels.

In other words, KinderCare’s approach to early childhood education is doing good things for children. Even better? The studies also give teachers a chance to have meaningful conversations with you—and we like talking about your kids as much as you do!

So that we can provide the very best for our kids and families, KinderCare is committed to using these tools every year. Here’s what we learned from this year’s results:

KinderCare Kindergartners Are Performing at First-Grade Levels

Kids get a huge leg-up on learning, which they carry with them when they leave our doors: For the seventh year in a row, TerraNova results show KinderCare kids are more prepared than their peers for grade school, outperforming other kids in key areas like math and literacy. And we couldn’t be prouder!

Kids Who Stay with KinderCare Longer Are Better Prepared

The results show that the longer kids stay enrolled with us, the better prepared they are. That means that a child who is with KinderCare for a year or more will usually see big improvements in their development compared to what's expected. Even just a few months with KinderCare makes a difference.

Communication at Preschool Is Key

Even though you can’t be there during the day, our goal is to keep you in the loop—every step of the way!

With the helpful information from Brigance, teachers can work with families on the things that matter most, whether that means helping a child make a new friend, become more independent, or reaching a specific developmental milestone.

Children who take the Brigance assessment each year do so right around the time we hold parent-teacher conferences. It’s a great opportunity to talk with your child’s teacher about all of those oh-so-important developmental milestones (and gush about how cute they are)!

Our Kids Are Ready Academically

Being ready for kindergarten is about social and emotional skills just as much as academics. At KinderCare, that means sharing a special toy with a friend, collaborating on a finger-painting project, and understanding the importance of kindness.

It means being ready for what comes next.