How Florida VPK Prepares Your Child For Kindergarten Success

Is your child ready for kindergarten? Early learners go through a giant burst of development around the preschool and kindergarten years, with developments in physical, mental, and emotional capacity. As such, jumping from a preschool environment into a kindergarten one can be overwhelming for young children. Florida VPK bridges the gap between preschool and kindergarten, providing extra support to young learners in these critical years of development.

Let’s take a look at how the Florida VPK program is structured and the benefits that it offers your child in preparing for kindergarten and beyond.

What Does The Florida VPK Program Do?

The Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program, or VPK, is a bridging program offered free of charge all across Florida. It is offered as both a year-long course and as a summer course, accommodating children’s needs and schedules. It supports early childhood development in the transition to kindergarten, fostering physical and cognitive development as well as familiarizing children with classroom tasks. We’re here to break down how the VPK program is structured and the benefits it provides young learners.

• Who is eligible for the VPK program? All children age 4 on or before September 1st are eligible to take part in the VPK program. The program targets those leaving preschool, but who maybe aren’t quite ready for kindergarten yet. Additionally, the summer VPK program can replace daycare arrangements and offer a more structured, engaging, and educational summer break.
• How is VPK offered? Florida VPK is offered as a year-long course with 540 hours of instruction and a summer course with 300 hours of instruction. The course that is right for your child will depend on many factors, like your child’s current development stage and age. The purpose of the VPK program is to help your child adapt to the environmental and classroom changes that come into play in kindergarten. The year-long course gives your child extra time to adjust to new environments and improve their basic functional skills in early reading, writing, and mathematics.
• What is the learning focus? The VPK program focuses on reading, writing, mathematics, and social skills. All of these are essential in a classroom environment. However, the jump from preschool to kindergarten can be a large gap to bridge. This is where the VPK program comes in: reinforcing these early skills in a more structured classroom environment, while still engaging students by learning through play and fostering teamwork.
• What about physical development? Physical development for preschoolers is just as important as cognitive and social development. More importantly, 4-year-olds can’t sit quietly and learn at their desk all day. The VPK program encourages physical development with exercise, active games, and learning on their feet. Both fine and gross motor skills need to be developed at this age, and there’s no better way to do this than with physical activity and practice.

Five Benefits Of Preparing For Kindergarten

There are countless benefits of the Florida VPK program, but we’re going to focus on a few of the essentials that truly make VPK worth it for many children. You know your child best– so you’ll know whether this is something that they could benefit from or whether they’re happy to start kindergarten right out of preschool. Most importantly, every child is different. They may hit their milestones early or they may hit them late, and VPK is available to give your child the most comfortable transition into kindergarten.

1. Academic Development: Academic development is one of the key reasons that children enroll in the VPK program. This includes early literacy, mathematics, and problem-solving. These are skills that need to be fostered, and as a young preschooler, these skills can be overlooked in the wrong conditions. VPK classes are small, run by trained professionals, and ensure that your child gets personal attention in developing their academic skills.
2. Physical Development: Physical development covers everything from fine and gross motor skills to nutrition and overall health. The right VPK provider will incorporate sports and exercise into a child’s daily routine, with a structured healthy lunch plan and snack options. Fine motor skills are trained through early writing practice and activities like arts and crafts, boosting creativity and working muscles at the same time. Gross motor skills are developed through playground time, throwing and catching balls, and coordinated movements like stretches, touching toes, and general balance.
3. Personal Development: Four is an emotional age– and a jarring transition to the preschool environment can be overwhelming for one so young. Social development occurs from preschool and all the way past kindergarten, but these early years set the foundation for manners, social skills, and teamwork. In the Florida VPK program, students learn how to work together, be kind, and use language before fighting in problem solving. This extra time in a structured environment can help them prepare for the higher emotional demands of a kindergarten classroom.
4. Facing The Kindergarten Transition: The jump to kindergarten is more than just academics. Your child will be facing more structured lessons, more focused educational work, and higher expectations for desk manners and social interaction. VPK helps bridge the gap between preschool expectations and kindergarten expectations, reducing the feeling of overwhelm at the start of the school year.
5. Keeping Structure In Summer: A long summer break without structure can lead to chaos at the start of the fall semester– especially when starting a milestone like kindergarten. Summer VPK, like summer camps, keeps your child in the educational environment, creating a daily routine similar to what they’ll experience in September. By waking up every day, brushing their teeth, putting on clean clothes, and attending a preschool or VPK program, they’re instilling a morning routine that makes the transition to kindergarten so much easier and filled with fewer surprises.

Local Florida VPK At Parkland Children’s Academy

We run both year-round and summer VPK programs at Parkland Children’s Academy. Our staff are trained professionals in both education and safety, and our grounds offer an excellent environment for your child to explore, grow, and learn. We keep our class sizes down to offer more personalized attention, and we incorporate all elements of development and play into our curriculum. We have an outstanding lunch team that’s guided by expert nutritional advice, and we have fruit snack times twice a day in our VPK program.

Ready to enroll your future student? Contact us at 954-688-5877 to hear more about how the Florida VPK program can help your child transition to kindergarten.