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Welcome to Parent Academy!

Parent Academy was developed by the Barksdale Reading Institute as a free opportunity for parents, grandparents, caregivers and for anyone who may influence a young 4-year-old on their journey preparing for kindergarten. The course has been transferred to the Center for Excellence in Literacy Instruction (CELI) at the University of Mississippi in fall 2023 upon the closing of Barksdale Reading Institute on June 30, 2023. We have also collaborated with Vroom, a platform that provides families with science-backed early learning for children from birth to age five, to provide Vroom tips for each module. We are grateful to all our partners who have made Parent Academy possible!

About Parent Academy

Course Goals

The goal of Parent Academyis to ensure parents and caregivers understand what kindergarten readiness is, why it matters, what it looks like, and how to tell when their child is ready. Parent Academy will equip parents and caregivers with tools to help their children build these essential readiness skills.

Target Audience

Our audience is any stakeholder in a 4-year-old’s educational journey. These stakeholders can be parents, grandparents, guardians, as well as individuals from organizations that may influence this journey (such as Head Start, Home-Visiting Programs, public and private Pre-K programs, Social Workers, Librarians). Note that Parent Academy can also be used for stakeholders who interact with children younger than 4-years-old.

PARENT ACADEMY WEBSITE ORGANIZATION

The website contains an introduction and eight modules. The modules cover the same skills and content you learned about in your in-person sessions. The website is designed to be a resource for you to continue to learn about kindergarten readiness and access the materials that were shared. Below are the modules:
Course Introduction Module 1: Physical Development (Gross and Fine Motor Skills) Module 2: Personal Life Skills Module 3: Social and Emotional Skills Module 4: Oral Language Module 5: Letters and Sounds Module 6: Written Communication Module 7: Reading Module 8: Math

Resources and Handouts

Parent Academy Organization and Design

  • Illustrated Family Characters Throughout - Several families are illustrated and are seen throughout various activities and handouts to help explain concepts.
  • Important Parenting Reminders -Keep an eye out for special reminders that reoccur throughout the resources to emphasize important concepts. For example:
    • Sticky notes with push pins throughout the course reiterate important phrases we hope you'll remember. Some examples are: Practice! Practice! Practice! and Remember: Take Time. Be Intentional.
    • Repeated important phrases, such as “All children develop at different paces.”
  • Browser types - For the best experience, we recommend using a web browser on a computer. It can be viewed on a phone or a tablet, however the handouts will not be viewable since most phones and tablets do not support viewing a PDF file.
  • PDF Viewer and Handouts - The handouts on the website are the same handouts you received in your in-person sessions. Many of the handouts are presented as PDFs, making it easier for you to download.