Summer means a break from homework, a chance to make memories.

Time for kids to just be kids.

But for many Lehigh Valley families, summer comes with difficult questions.

Who will watch my child while I'm at work?

Can I afford summer camp?

Will my child fall behind academically?

And if my son or daughter is starting kindergarten this fall, how do I know they're ready?

Tonight we're bringing together educators, childcare experts, and family advocates to tackle the challenges facing families this summer and to explore practical solutions that can help every child succeed on this community conversation.

Child care costs and summer success.

Here's your host, Megan Frank.

Good evening and welcome to this community conversation, child care costs and summer success brought to you by Lehigh Valley Public Media.

Thank you all for joining us.

For some families, the cost of care can rival a monthly mortgage payment.

For educators, summer learning loss can mean students return to school.

Summer learning loss can mean.

Excuse me.

Summer learning loss can mean students return to school weeks or even months behind where they left off.

And for parents of young children, the transition into school can feel exciting, overwhelming and uncertain all at once.

Tonight, we're asking a simple question with profound implications for families across our region.

How do we make summer work for children and for the adults raising them?

We ask parents in Bethlehem what their plans for childcare are this summer.

Here's what they had to say.

I'm lucky I have both sets of parents on my husband's side and my side.

They're both retired, so they look after the kids while we're at work.

We homeschool, so we just do, you know, we work at home with them, with books and curriculum and stuff like that.

Well, right now I can't really afford a child care, so my mom watches them when she can.

And then, you know, I do a lot of DoorDash right now and said I could find a job because it's really hard to get a job, especially when you have kids.

We have a nice yard.

You know, we go outside.

So other than like bike riding jock playing some sports in the backyard and going to the pool, that's basically our main summer.

We got some different parks, like all over the Lehigh Valley between Allentown, Bethlehem.

Sometimes we go to Mars.

Just try to keep busy so they don't get bored.

Also, the library has a bunch of free activities that we're doing, and we're doing some like like a, like a book club kind of reading club with them and stuff.

Schooling is so much more flexible than people think it is.

So we, you know, the kids are learning on the go.

So like for us, we camp a lot.

So we take the kids camping and we learn about places where we go and, and stuff like that.

And it's just very organic learning.

It's more of just how to keep it stress free without like the academic stress and just like, keeping it fun.

All right.

And we do apologize for that earlier mishap.

We did have a malfunction with our prompter, as we just heard, when the school year ends, many working parents suddenly face a new challenge finding safe, reliable, and affordable care for their children.

Joining us now to discuss options around the region are the senior director of child development at River crossing YMCA, Tammy Unger, and Alan Town's deputy director of Parks and recreation.

Lucinda, right.

Thank you for joining us.

Thank you.

So, Tammy, I want to start with you by asking, what does summer look like today for working families seeking childcare?

And how has demand changed in recent years?

Sure.

Thank you.

As we heard from the parents that just spoke, childcare during the summer can be one of the single most expensive times of year for the families looking for a place to have their children.

Not only do they want a place for the child to go to be engaged, but they're looking for something that offers structure, Stem learning.

They're looking for childcare, they're looking for swimming.

They're looking for experiences where the children are continuing to learn.

So an example at the why where we are, we work one on one with the families for flexible scheduling.

So we're offering that piece.

And so they have a place they know they can go and their child will be safe.

The community overall has really come together trying to offer more opportunities for families such as City Valentines Parks and Rec program.

We partner very closely with the City of Allentown to provide multiple experiences together so children do have a place to go, but the demand is increasing.

Parents are looking for their child to go somewhere where they can feel safe.

Yeah.

Lucinda.

When private camps or specialized programs are financially out of reach, cities rely heavily on public parks and programs like yours at Allentown Parks and Rec.

Can you talk about some of the summer offerings?

That helps to maybe ease the financial burden for families?

Sure.

And as Tammy mentioned, the demand is definitely something that has been noted.

Our summer playground program is going into the 112th year.

The program runs from June through August and serves youth age seven through 15.

The program is completely free with a very simple registration on site.

It's a drop in program, so very little commitment needed, and we serve approximately 300 to 350 youth per summer.

We are excited to bring the programs directly into communities in our local parks, where families can access the program by walking to the park, or very easily on public transportation routes.

I love that and that walkability is so important.

I grew up outside of the Lehigh Valley and Philly, and those programs at the Y and at Philly Parks and Rec were like how my sister and I were able to really have a summer that felt fulfilling and enriching.

So it's such important work that you both doing.

Tammy, tell us how YMCA Summer programing intentionally bakes in active learning and social development, so we try to naturally integrate it into the lesson plans and what we're doing every day.

So the children don't realize they're learning, but they're learning through play, which is really important, especially during the summertime.

We want to ensure that when they go back to school, they're still ready and they're accessible to learn and to absorb that material.

But at our camps throughout Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, all the way up in Nazareth, we provide a variety of experiences, including field trips.

So we try to have the children have access to experiences that they may not normally have access to, where we will take them out of the area to possibly a camp, a Boy Scout camp, or we will go to the Wildlands Conservancy.

So we try to offer experiences that they might not normally have access to during the school year, but make the summer fun.

But they're still learning during that time.

I love that.

So, Lucinda, you guys don't just only provide enrichment program and you also provide things like summer meals.

That's correct.

So over the last 17 years, we partnered with the Allentown School District, and last year alone, we served over 8500 meals to youth in our parks and summer playground program.

It's a Tammy's point.

Something new this year that we're launching is a partnership with the YMCA River crossing, and it is a safety around water curriculum, which will allow every playground site to visit MCC pool five times in partnership with Tammy's team.

And we will teach safety around water to all of the youth participating in the program.

That is brilliant.

I don't even think that was available when I was a kid.

That is so smart, I love that.

Tammy, if you could change one policy or invest in one particular solution to improve child care access, what would it be?

It would definitely be funding.

Looking at making more sustained funding impact into early childhood education programing as well as the workforce.

It's truly needed not just in Pennsylvania but across the United States.

We definitely see a shortage of workforce not only during early childhood education, but also for summer care.

So definitely looking for funding, advocacy, talking to your legislators and ensuring we have that funding coming through.

We're fortunate that we are able to have this partnership with Lucinda and the City of Allentown with Safety Around Water, which is funded grant funds that we receive, that we can offer this.

There's drownings out there every single day.

And in Easton and Allentown, we're providing this all to the kids.

Yeah.

Lucinda Summer can introduce a lot of idle time.

Of course, all parents are concerned about.

Is it too much screen time?

How to manage that?

How do your program strike a balance between letting kids just be kids, but also keeping them?

I guess in like a routine that's more structured, that can be helpful for their learning.

Sure.

So at our 16 location, the program offers three playground staff at each location, and eight supervisors and a program director that are either current or former educators.

So the mentorship and the curriculum, as well as the supervision and a little bit of fun is mixed into all of our park locations.

Nice, nice.

Tammy, how do quality early childhood experiences contribute to long term success?

In addition to that, push through birth through five and providing a strong start, we also look at the summer camp programs that we offer at our camp locations across the Lehigh Valley.

We're teaching social emotional skills to the children, and that really is the strongest foundation.

Feeling a trusted relationship with their summer camp counselor, knowing they have a safe place to go, and those foundational social emotional skills really are the stepping stones for their future development in life to build strong relationships.

Absolutely.

Lucinda.

How can local businesses, school districts, and community members better partner with Parks and Rec to expand these kinds of vital safety nets in the summer?

Sure, as Tammy mentioned, funding is always a key to programing and success, and so community partnerships are essential.

We thank the partnership for the funding to help us launch the Safety Around Water curriculum, but we also invite other businesses, organizations and even residents to join us in these efforts.

They partnership does work with us closely on how we're funding programs or projects.

So we would ask that people stay tuned to what they offer and how they support, as well as any opportunities for other businesses to join us.

Nice.

Tammy.

What else should families know about your current summer programs?

Any available scholarships?

And could you also talk about fee structures?

Sure.

Our seven locations in the valley, we never want to turn anybody away for the lack of ability to pay for services.

So we do have a robust scholarship program.

We also accept LRC funding at all of our locations as well.

We have offer a flexible fee structure, so we have half day and full day programs as well as three and five day programs.

So there's a whole range that are accessible to the children.

And then as Lucinda spoke about earlier, our free safety round water program.

So on our website, YMCA, River crossing, people can go there and look for our safety around Water Link, because they can call us and they can sign up for the program.

Again, we have it in Easton and we have it in Allentown, which is completely free.

We want kids to be safe.

We want them to have a great time, and we want it to be accessible for all families.

And it sounds like you guys serve so many children and families.

I mean, the numbers that you were saying earlier, Lucinda, I mean, that's amazing.

Do you feel that enough people know that these resources are available?

Is there enough marketing around what you guys are doing?

Do you think so?

We're always exploring new options on how we spread the word.

Our team will go boots on the ground, even into community and canvas.

We spent a lot of the time in the parks, and as I mentioned, the registration is even drop in.

So if a family is interested or they're passing a location and interested in having their child join, we have staff on site ready to support.

But we're always looking for new marketing opportunities and hope that folks stay connected with us on our site.

Allentown, pa.com.

If we could also briefly just talk about some of the curriculums in some of these summer programs.

Tammy, I don't know if you'd want to share.

Sure.

Like I said before, there's a lot of social emotional learning baked into that, as well as safety around water.

Those are two biggest pieces as the why that we look for.

We also have a lot of gross motor and fine motor activities.

So some children love art, some children love sports.

So we try to bring in a variety of experiences for the children and expose them to activities that they might not normally have access to.

Every day is a new day.

Every day is a different day.

We have themes that we work on throughout the summer, so they'll know what to expect the next day at camp.

But if kids have a great idea.

We'll run with it.

We like to meet them where they are and listen to any program curriculums you'd want to share.

Sure.

So outside of the safety around water, we have the Allentown Fire, EMS and Sustainability teams join us at the parks.

We have the Allentown Public Library, Saint Luke's University Health Network, Community Services for children, Wildlands as well, and the Lehigh Gap Nature Center that come out and expose our youth to both science, health, environmental stewardship, public safety, and other educational opportunities.

Nice.

And I know it's a lot to have a bunch of kids in one space, because we often have children's programing here at Lehigh Valley Public Media, and at times it can feel chaotic.

But it's also just amazing to see the energy that they bring into a room, and they really remind you to be young again and have fun.

And I'm sure there's a fun part to some of what you you guys do too, especially when you see their faces smiling.

That's wonderful.

Well, Tammy and Lucinda, thank you so much for being here and sharing what your programing is, is offering right now for our community.

Great.

Thank you.

All right.

Some of the summer programs around the region offer scholarships or in some cases, free programs, although they may not cover the entire summer break.

We found one camp that is tuition free, that offers students a glimpse into what their future career could be.

The summer I'm doing 21st century, the camp.

I'm doing it because I really enjoy it, and I've enjoyed it like the past few years I've been doing it.

It's completely free for our northeast Liberty and Freedom students.

It gives us an idea of what we want to do in college, and it also like educates us about all the different types of like science.

We offer a few different programs.

We offer full steam ahead, which is a science, technology, engineering and math program.

We're trying to get kids to go out and explore college and careers.

We offer a video production program next week.

We start a community service program.

We offer a traditional program.

I really enjoyed the Steam program because they take us to different colleges like those colleges like interest me in the future.

It helps me keep a routine with things because at least for me, I'm I like it's better for me to stick with the routine because it helps me like stay like focused and stuff.

So like if I don't have a routine, my day will be like all scrambled and it's just easier if I have something to look forward to.

It's a way for them to beat the summer slump.

It's a way for them to be with their friends in a fun, positive way.

It's also a way for them to explore different colleges and careers.

The more I learned, the more like I understand stuff and like like I want to experience new things.

Like every day.

And that program is always looking for more kids to fill the spots for free.

It's a great way to keep kids engaged educationally.

All right.

I want to get to our second panel.

When families do find summer programs, another question emerges.

How do we make sure children continue learning while school is out?

Research shows that students can lose academic ground during the summer months, particularly in reading and math.

Here now to discuss stopping the summer slide.

Our Eastern Area School District Superintendent, Tracy Piazza, and the Director of Family Connection of Easton, Kayla Vincent.

Thank you both for joining us.

Thank you for having us.

All right, so let's get into some of these questions I have for you ladies.

Kayla, for families with limited resources, what are some free or low cost educational opportunities that are available in our community so that we can keep these young minds active?

There are actually a lot of really good options for parents and families that are free or low cost.

Things that come to mind are Easton Public Library are public libraries across the Lehigh Valley.

A lot of them have summer reading programs that are really engaging and fun for students.

Also, there's just always a lot of good stuff happening at the library, so I try to encourage families to get there as much as possible.

Other things in Easton specifically are summer sizzle through project of Easton.

I would check with your local schools to see if they're running any programing.

Also, there are several programs that are happening down at School museum that are specific to reading and basically preventing the summer slide in general.

I appreciate you sharing that about the library, Kayla, because I know for me, as a kid, like going to the library was my hub.

That was where I was reading fliers about events, getting books.

And isn't it funny that in the digital age, like the library is still such an important community space?

Really?

I mean, a lot of things happen at the library that I didn't even really know about.

Like, you can check out games, you can check out memberships to different museums.

So there's a lot of other opportunities that are not just books for families and students.

Absolutely.

Tracey, what exactly is the summer slide and who tends to be hit hardest by this summer learning loss?

Yeah, summer slide is it's really defined as students losing some of the knowledge that they have gained through the course of a school year.

And that can be either the production understanding how to connect the learning to something or actually learning the mechanics of it, remembering the mechanics of it.

We often talk mostly about reading the summer slide and reading, and that is real for sure.

Mathematics is actually a little bit more intense and a little bit more prevalent than reading the rate of mathematics.

Summer slide is greater than that of reading, but reading is very real.

And so you often hear strategies around reading and not as much around math.

I think it is important to talk about both for our students who lose some of their knowledge that they gain throughout the course of the year in mathematics.

It's important for them over the summer to find fun ways to embed mathematics into their life, practical ways when they go to the store.

Look at the price of something.

Look at the money in their pocket.

Do they know how to pay for that candy bar that they want to purchase?

Maybe take a look at the toys that they have in their house and play a store with that.

So engaging in number sense around practical solutions that are fun, not worksheets that require you to do all the mathematical problem solving in particular steps is a nice way to preserve some of that math knowledge.

And for reading, it really is about spending a little bit of time with books, whether it be listening to somebody read aloud to you or reading yourself, there is no magic on what book it has to be.

It can be any genre.

It could be a certainly can be a comic book.

It could be a novel.

It can be some silly story that you read a thousand times, but you're still looking at the print and making sense of it, or hearing print and making sense of it.

There really is no substitution, you know, to hearing and looking at print.

That is the biggest gap closer, if you will, and the clientele that is most affected by summer slide is probably what you would expect in a somewhat stereotypical it is our students from low income families generally because they have lack of access to perhaps books in their home or programs within the community, and often that is because of funding and because they have families who are working and just don't have the opportunity to take their children to these various programs.

Our students who have learning differences, they often struggle with that summer slide.

And depending on what that learning difference excuse me, is and how significant we as a school district and our IU programs offer some summer programing for free to those students.

But for those who don't meet that threshold, then again, it's a reality of making sure there are some opportunities within the home and the community to engage with literature, engage with numbers.

And it does not have to be very system systematic and drill base.

It can be just kind of natural, organic grown experiences.

The third group are our multilingual students, students who don't have English as their native language.

Oftentimes the summer slide is a challenge because they are processing much of what they know in their native language and have to do double the work, you know, to to translate that into English as they're starting to learn a new language, you know, for those students, you certainly shouldn't look at that as a deficit.

It is truly a blessing to have multiple languages, but it is not easy to learn a second or third language.

And we see our kids struggle around that aspect, even though they are super proficient in their native language.

Well, Tracy, you just gave some really great actionable tips that parents could take to try to tackle this, even in small ways.

Like taking them to the store and saying, you know, how much do you do you think you're going to spend?

And what does that look like when you go to pay at the cash register?

Like that is so simple, but it's like that little micro thing that could help carry the kid along throughout the summer.

Sure, there are a lot of, you know, a lot of little tips that we don't think of that are just everyday practical things.

If you have a student who is likes to sit in front of the TV or play video games, you know, put on the closed caption, maybe turn the volume down, let them see the words that are going by or the volume on low so they see the words and hear, hear the story going.

That is a simple, probably not a preferable for students who like to just be engaged in taking it in and not having to process all the work that goes behind it.

But it is another way.

Just attract print, going across, going across the screen, you know, certainly engaging whenever you can in activities with another youngster.

That socialization piece is critical and sometimes more critical than the academics depending on what age you are.

And so I think that's really important as well.

If you can't do anything else, you know, engage in a conversation with a like a like aged peer, some of that peer mentorship, even adult mentorship, just listening to a story, listening to the radio, all those things build capacity for learning for students.

Yeah.

You know, it is fun in America to have our summer breaks, but there are some obvious drawbacks to to that time away from school.

So, Kayla, for families who did not send their child to preschool, potentially because maybe they didn't have access or financial means, what support systems are available to help them essentially catch up with their child before day one of kindergarten?

There's a lot of different programs that are in place first and foremost, a lot of them free of charge.

So I don't want to want to take away the stigma of people not having access or not being able to afford childcare, but there are programs and systems in place.

Pre-K counts.

There's a Family Connections runs a program called a Parent Child Plus that's also a kindergarten in readiness program.

But I also want parents to feel empowered to be able to educate their kids as well.

So some of the tools that Tracy referenced, I used to push my kids to the to the grocery store and say, let's find all the things that are green.

And we'd point out the colors.

So there are a lot of different ways that we can take time out of what was a normal day to get our kids ready and prepared.

I think a lot of things we can do, as well as taking a short 15 minute increments of time and really kind of encouraging kids to be able to transition from one activity to another.

It's one of the things that we know and kindergarten as well, that kids kind of have a challenge from transitioning from the tablet over to going out to the park, or the tablet to go to, to get dressed for bed.

So encouraging those things and practicing them early really helps our kids get ready for that next transition into being in a school environment where you have to transition from one activity to another.

Could you also speak a little bit to Kayla?

The importance of pre-K, it is very important, especially at Tracy had mentioned, about socialization.

I think it is a huge factor when we see kids come in for school and they haven't really been around a lot of other kids.

A lot of times it's a challenge.

They're used to kind of being able to pick up and say, well, I'm hungry right now, so I'm going to go and get a snack and there's a schedule for that when we get to kindergarten.

So that pre-K activity and really kind of getting kids engaged and ready to learn, I think a lot of parents, especially if you're not used to being around kids, are not aware of what kindergarten is.

We do have some expectations around what kids should know when they come into kindergarten, and what they should be able to do.

So like being able to dress yourself and undress yourself, to go to the bathroom, being able to, you know, zip your coat and get yourself ready to go out the door.

We have a lot of teachers who have, you know, larger class sizes, so they're not going to be able to tie each person's pair of shoes.

So having your kid be ready for that, or sending them to school with tools to be able to function without being able to do that.

So my son wasn't so great at tying his shoes, so he had Velcro until he could be good at tying his shoes.

So to kind of make it easier for him and easier for the teacher to work with him.

Yeah, I appreciate that.

Thanks for that answer, Tracy.

What does a realistic and effective summer reading routine look like for a busy family?

Yeah.

Again, you need to keep in mind the routines and schedules of families because they vary from household to household, you know, depending on person's work schedule and everything that goes into that summer activities and summer camps and so on and so forth.

But I do think it is realistic to spend 15 minutes a day, you know, if that is again, watching TV with a closed caption, if it's a child listening to a book on on tape, which is not necessarily in vogue anymore, but the audiobooks, if it is reading a book to your to your child or having them read to you, which may even be just making up their own stories as looking at the pictures, it may not be actual word to word reference, but getting in the routine of looking at print, being able to imagine what a story might sound like and look like in your brain as you're looking at pictures.

All those are important pre reading skills, and if a family can carve out ten 15 minutes a day, that is a beautiful thing.

If they can carve out more a little bit in the morning, maybe right at bedtime again, I think the more that you do, the better off you are.

But for those really busy families, that time is of the essence.

10 to 15 minutes of concentrated time.

No technology, no just, you know, one on one conversation, hopefully around a book and either being read to or partner reading out your child, read a little bit and then you read a little bit are all very productive pieces for a busy family.

Do you think that reading in the summer is the best defense against summer?

Slide?

I think it is one of the best defenses.

I do think it is very important for children and adults alike to spend a little bit of time around language and reading.

I will also say for families that don't have books in the home, you know, conversation is probably second to reading.

If not first.

Having a true conversation with a child builds their vocabulary, which in turn then builds their reading comprehension and oral comprehension.

A lot of times it is a one sided monologue.

I guess you would say, where the adult is talking to the child, whether that be a direction and order or just a statement.

And there are often are times when the child doesn't have the opportunity to respond back.

And that also causes a deficit because they're not using their language.

So if you don't have books in the home, you know, that's not preferable.

But communication is the key.

Hearing language and returning it reciprocally.

So you have the knowledge of a give and take and response and answer type dialog within your brain.

Another resource I just want to call out is if you don't have books at home, there are a lot of resources available outside of our libraries.

Cops and kids is a good resource to be able to access books that they give away for free, so you can build your library, if you will, from that space as well.

So I think it's another good resource to kind of put out to the community.

Yeah.

I was going to ask you two, are you a proponent of summer reading as well?

I am, I know both of our community schools in East and are doing some book check ins for students.

So we're going to our students and opportunity to say, hey, what are you reading?

Let us know.

That's happening at both of our community schools.

But I do think reading in general, I, I, like you, was a library geek and wanted to be in the library all the time.

So I think that that is a way to help.

You were mentioning math, Tracy, and I know we just did a Crazy Eights camp for our kids to kind of stay engaged with math, and our kids are super excited.

It's fun to watch them actually enjoy it and not feel like, oh, it's just I got to do these addition tables and it's on a sheet.

So if we can come up with ways to make it fun and make it relevant to what they're trying to do, we were talking about pennies today and how pennies are kind of going away, but it's still important to be able to count those ones and twos.

So they have an understanding of what those things are and how this math lesson is relative to what I'm doing every day.

Yeah, absolutely.

So, Kaela, the transition to a formal school schedule can be really overwhelming for a kid and the whole family unit.

What are some ways that parents can build up their own confidence and reduce back to school anxiety as the summer kind of goes on and then comes to a close, I think it's really important for parents to take advantage of registration supports.

So kindergarten registration early I think is very important in that it's like your forced opportunity to get an idea of what's going to happen at school, who your child's going to be with, what school is going to be like, get a tour of the building, try to meet that your teachers and try to meet with administrative staff if at all possible.

Number one, but what we have here at Easton School District is that we also have a kindergarten camp.

So if your kid's not registered, then they're missing out on kindergarten camp.

So the sooner we get into the registration process, the sooner we can, as parents raise concerns and also start preparing our child for school, you get some understanding about what's required or what things are needed, or what things your child might be deficient at, and then you have that summertime to really get them prepared for what's going to be happening in the fall.

Yeah, preparation seems like it would put a family unit at ease.

It should.

Yeah.

For sure.

Yeah.

So, Tracy, kindergarten has changed a lot since today's parents went to school.

What are the biggest misconceptions that parents have about what kindergarten actually looks like today?

Sure.

It certainly has changed.

It used to be half day and part of that was snack and nap time and playtime.

That was the biggest aspect of kindergarten, with a little bit of academic mixed in there.

Kindergarten is very rigorous.

Kindergarten is now what first grade used to be.

It is a full.

It is a full schedule, a reading, math, science, social studies.

And so I think some of those misconceptions are around that.

What can we expect our children to do?

Will they get a nap time?

Will they have playtime?

What does that look like?

But I will also say there are some misconceptions around what do they need to start kindergarten.

And really what they need to start kindergarten is to be five by the given date.

For Easton, it's September 1st.

If you're five by September 1st, regardless of your skills, you are welcome to come to school.

Kindergarten is not managed by the state, so you can still skip kindergarten.

So that's one.

What do you have to have?

Some parents think they have to be reading a book before they come?

That's a beautiful thing and it certainly helps them flourish.

But that is not a requirement for public schools.

Other misconceptions are, you know, around the schedule of the day that if they don't know something coming in that they're going to be far behind their peers.

And while there are some truth to that, in terms of what kids come to school with, they come with a variety of of knowledge from very little at all, you know, to being able to read or having a great sense of numbers.

But all that is expected, and that's the teacher's job, to bring kids up to a baseline of what you expect in kindergarten.

I think the other piece, maybe that is a misconception, is that you can choose to just not come, you know, kindergartens, a little bit of a free time, and it's a year that's a little bit more flexible.

And that also is not true.

It's not true for students learning, but it's also not true by the law.

Once you register and start kindergarten, you are obligated to remain in school unless are special circumstances that you work with the school on.

So it is important that parents know the obligation that they're entering into as they enter into kindergarten or first grade.

If you chose to skip kindergarten, once you're there, there are strict requirements on attendance, and that is for the betterment of students, so that they do take on the knowledge that will help them succeed as they move through their academic career, but certainly into life.

And I think other misperceptions are just around, I guess, what the day might look like, you know, there is typically not nap time, there is playtime, but it is pretty rigorous.

And with all of that, the most important thing is that socialization piece, you know, understanding routines, understanding transition transitions that Kaela talked about.

And that also might be a misperception for some parents that it doesn't matter what my students behavior is, they'll just go and they'll meld right into the community.

That is a challenge for kindergartners.

Understanding routines, sharing friendships that you know when you're in with 25 kids, 20 kids, that's a hard piece to understand.

And sometimes parents don't.

They underestimate the need for socialization prior to kindergarten.

Kayla, do you want to add anything to that?

No, I agree that I think that those are some of the misconceptions that parents have.

I think that some of that socialization that doesn't necessarily happen if you're not in a child care setting.

There are other ways to access and get that.

So some of the things we talked about, like the library play dates and when your schools ask or call out for playdates, that's an opportunity for your student to get to know other students.

And you can see as a parent how they socialize with other students as well.

So to take advantage of the opportunity to get out to whatever parks and recreation may provide for students, when you see things that are happening within your school district, and I know sometimes that gets missed as far as communication, if you see something happening that maybe, hey, that's where my kids are going to go to school next year.

Maybe, you know, you plug into that and try to at least get some familiarity for a student and really see how they engage with other students, because you might, as a parent, recognize that there may be some deficiencies, and you can work through those before they get to school.

These were great tips.

And I know you know, I have a three year old, so I'm learning a lot from this conversation to and I really appreciate you both sharing your knowledge.

Thank you for having us.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Summer break can be a time to relax and scale back from the busy schedule of the school year, but it's important to create a common at home when our routines are interrupted.

Our Brittany Sweeney sat with an expert in mindful parenting, Kira Willey, to discuss ways to keep the calm all summer long.

Thanks so much, Megan.

Parents and kids can get stressed at home during the summer months.

Everybody's in the same space.

It can get really tough, but there are ways to create calm throughout the house.

We have Kira Willey here joining us with some tips on keeping parents and kids in a calm and cool relationship.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

It's wonderful to have you.

You recently released a new book called The Joyful Child, and we're going to talk about some of the ways that people can stay calm and cohesive in their households throughout the summer.

The Joyful Child doesn't just focus on the summer, but it focuses on just our relationships with our kids and vice versa throughout our lives.

And so, Kira, I want to start with that key word calm.

That's the key word here.

We all love that word.

Yes, we do, and we strive for it right for it.

And something that's so important to remember during the summer and any time is that our calm is contagious.

So our children's nervous systems are wired to mirror ours.

So the first thing to do when things are starting to go sideways is check in with yourself.

Because your state of mind, your emotional state, is so contagious, your calm is contagious, and your chaos is contagious as well.

That makes complete sense, because I know when everybody is getting kind of crazy in my household, it's like I tend to get sucked right in with it, because sometimes you have to take a step back and think, you know, calm, calm your bones.

And there's a word for that, right?

It's when their level of their voice goes up, yours goes up, and it just goes from there.

But we want the opposite.

We want correct.

Which is when we can manage our own state and we can calm ourselves.

Our children's nervous system naturally follow.

Wonderful.

So that that calm is key there.

And so, you know, we're all home.

We're either running to new camps, running to new childcare.

It's just a different rhythm, a different routine during the summer months.

And so I know one of your key takeaways from the book was have a simple routine.

What do you mean by that?

Yeah.

So the loss of the structure of the school day can be destabilizing for some children, right?

They're still used to getting up at the same time, going to school at the same time.

Lunch is at the same.

Everything's very structured.

And that predictability makes children feel really secure.

And so when we lose that in summer, either because we don't have anything really happening or because we have a lot of other stuff happening, it can really throw kids off kilter and lead to frustration and crankiness.

So keeping some kind of simple rhythms throughout the day that are consistent in your house can be really important.

Can you give us some examples of those so that can just look like a check in in the morning?

That's always the same.

Starting the day with a dance party before breakfast.

You know, a quiet time that we have after lunch, whether for older kids that's reading time or it's nap time or it's rest with a blanket, the same kind of bedtime routine at a consistent time.

These rituals are really feel very safe and comforting to children.

Sure.

And sometimes as a parent, I just think if I take a minute.

There are things that I. That I know I should be doing.

But if I take a minute and think about them, there's so much more.

There's so much easier to implement into my everyday life.

So I like that simple rhythm, simple rhythms.

Great.

And Kira, so you did mention a dance party, you know, and within these simple rhythms, you're saying it's okay to schedule some playtime.

It doesn't all have to be a rigid routine.

Exactly like I want to offset what I just said with making sure there are plenty of blocks for free play.

And free play means undirected by you, right?

So it's unstructured.

There's not a grown up or a coach telling you what to do, because those blocks of free play are where children develop skills that are so important for their development, how to how to problem solve, develop their preferences, what they like and what they don't like.

You know, it's it's so important for all those executive function skills we want children to have.

So finding blocks of free time bookended by your rituals or your traditions or those touchstones that you have throughout the day is really important for healthy development.

So it's okay for parents to have some downtime themselves while their kids.

And you're validating that point.

Yeah.

That's right, that's right.

And then the music and movement is such a big deal when it comes to children and incorporating that into their everyday lives movement.

I cannot say enough about how much children need to move.

We all need to move, and many of us don't move as much as we should.

But for children, their brains develop from the bottom up, so to speak.

They learn how to walk, how to balance, how to run before their brains learn how to sit still or pay attention or follow your directions.

Right.

So when we ask children to pay attention or do something that and they haven't had enough movement, all that's going on in their brains is don't wiggle, don't wiggle, don't wiggle, wiggle.

Not supposed to wiggle, wiggle instead of being able to focus on what you're saying.

So movement is critical.

They need just tons of it every day.

I love that.

And the book you were saying take some of that movement, take some of that direction that you're giving them and put it to a movement or put it to a song.

Yes.

This is such a funny thing to do.

And music is such an underutilized tool in parenting.

You don't have to be a musician.

You don't have to be a singer.

But if you make toothbrushes and getting jammies on into a fun song, it's so much more engaging.

You're so much more likely to get that cooperation that you want.

And children's brains process music differently than listening to you speak, right?

I don't know if you remember, like Charlie Brown's teacher, right?

It's just like grown up words go right over their head.

You put it to a song, all of a sudden it's a whole different thing.

It really lights up their brains listening to it, and it's more fun.

It's such a wonderful idea.

That's a way to get their attention and connect, which moves us to our next point.

Connect.

Then direct.

What do you mean by that?

This is a mantra I live by and it's so important.

So when we want cooperation from children, we use our grown up words and our explanations.

We've got to get in the car.

We've got to go to the store, we got to get there and it just right over their head.

They don't have your same agenda.

They live in a world of play and imagination and moving and wiggling and singing.

So when we connect with them in their world first, then we're so much likely more likely to get that cooperation.

So that can look like getting down on their level, asking, what are you building?

Or what are you drawing?

Or tell me about it, taking 60s to hear about it and then saying, I'd love to hear more about that.

When we get back from the store, I feel time to go to the store.

Yeah, I feel more calm just just listening to you talk about these tips.

So implementing them as well will make for a more calm and joyful house.

The Joyful Child is your new book, where can people Find it?

The Joyful Child book com or find me anywhere online at Kira.

Com.

Wonderful Kira Willey with some wonderful parenting tips.

May I call them hacks to survive the summer?

Absolutely.

Thank you so much, Kira.

Thanks for joining us.

Meg, back to you.

Thanks, Brittany.

I love those mindfulness tips that Kira just shared.

For some families, this summer is especially important because their child will soon begin school for the very first time.

Experts often describe the transition from preschool to kindergarten as one of the most important milestones in a child's educational journey.

Here now are the Vice president of Early Learning Resource Centers for Community Services for children, Pamela Cho, as well as center director for pre-K counts at Lehigh Valley Children's Center's Danielle O'Hara.

Ladies, thank you for being here.

Thank you.

All right.

So, Pam, I wanted to talk to you about just finding my questions here.

And you know what?

I'm so sorry.

I want to actually start with Danielle.

Danielle.

Parents often focus heavily on academics, like knowing ABCs or counting.

When thinking about kindergarten in your classroom, with the students you work with, what social and emotional skills matter just as much as the ABCs and the one, two, three, right?

So as ABCs and one, two, three are important.

The most important thing that they can have before they enter kindergarten is having that social and emotional development.

So that looks like being able to take turns, b being able to communicate their needs.

Being able to work cooperatively with a peer, whether that be another sibling or on those playdates, it's important that they are able to be problem solve, show persistence, be flexible.

And it's also important that they have independence.

So when they enter kindergarten there's one teacher with many students.

So it's important that they are taught to take off their jacket to be able to hang up their backpacks, to carry their own backpacks.

It's important that they are able to open up their own lunch items that they're able to use the bathroom independently.

That way, if they do have an accident at school, they're able to get dressed by themselves.

They're able to use the bathroom, wash their hands, the whole thing independently.

And that brings a lot of confidence with them.

And with confidence comes success.

So they'll be more successful at school if they feel confident in the way and the way that they are presenting themselves.

That is great advice for parents to try to start integrating that, that sense of independence as soon as they're they're able to do so with their child.

So, Pam, from your regional vantage point, what are the biggest childcare affordability and access challenges that families are facing across the Lehigh Valley right now?

Yeah.

So across the nation, actually, there is a child care staffing crisis, and it's been going on for several years now.

It certainly is happening here in Pennsylvania and in the Lehigh Valley.

So what happens is that child care providers are having difficulty recruiting and hiring staff for their programs for a number of reasons, the pay being one of them.

The way that childcare teachers are viewed in our society, different from public school teachers and somehow valued a little bit less, makes it difficult to fill those positions right when they can get a job in a warehouse making a lot more money.

It's hard, even for people who are passionate about early childhood education, to take those jobs.

And so what that translates into is open positions, closed classrooms, fewer childcare slots available for families.

So we see programs with waiting lists, families unable to locate the care that they need, and not really having a lot of choices as well in terms of what care they choose.

Wow.

That is that is incredibly sad to hear.

Pam, I really hope that changes.

So let's ask Danielle another question for you.

What are some of the most common signs you look for to truly know that a child is ready for for kindergarten?

So one of the most important signs that you can look for is that they are able to participate in a classroom independently or with support, and slowly becoming independent.

So that means that as soon as they get on that bus, or as soon as they're dropped off at school, Mommy and daddy are not there.

So it's important that they're able to separate from their caregiver that they're without much distress.

Yes, there are a lot of tears for kindergarten.

There's a lot of tears for pre-K at first drop off, but being able to set them up for leaving them with another caregiver for a little bit of a time, if they have never been without their their primary caregiver, practice slowly giving them, you know, a couple like even if it's ten minutes, leaving them with somebody and then slowly giving them some more practice with being able to leave their caregiver, being able to accept redirection, being able to be without a screen that's big, especially during meal time, because they're going to be in the cafeteria for about 30, 20 to 30 minutes with no screen.

And a lot of them don't know how to sit at a table in a group setting without a screen.

They don't know how to do the communication.

So it's important that you sit down as a family during meal times and being able to hold a conversation with your child other ways is that you're able to follow directions and taking turns.

So you can do that with playing games like Simon Says or Mother, may I, you know, like nothing or even just board games that helps you with your counting.

That helps them with recognition on dice, that helps them with being able to wait their turn.

And you can cook with your child.

That's another big way that you can build those bonding times that is not screen specific.

And again, showing some independence that they are able to pour liquid in.

They're moving their hands, not just their thumbs or swiping and just really allowing them to have some gross motor time.

So making sure that they're really moving that way, making sure that they're trying to skip that, they're trying to move in different ways that they don't normally get to do again, because you can see if there's a deficit in the way that your child is moving, then maybe you can say, oh, maybe we should work on this.

And that way you can try to maybe get into early intervention with different things to help your child.

You know, Danielle, I didn't realize how much of an impact the screens were having in kindergarten settings.

I mean, the way that you're describing it, it sounds almost like the kids are asking the teacher, can I have my tablet?

I mean, is that actually happening?

Yes.

My pre-K kids, they actually I have had parents ask me, can you put on something while they eat?

No.

And they won't eat unless there's a screen in front of them, or the parent feeds them while they're watching because they just are so engrossed in what they're doing on their screen.

Right?

And it's hard because these digital habits are kind of newer just in the last, you know, I don't know, 5 to 10 years, and you're seeing the kind of the outcome of it on the ground.

Wow.

That's really eye opening.

So, Pam, many families don't realize that there is financial assistance out there.

What major programs or resources exist through the Elk to help offset rising child care costs?

Yeah.

So the Elk administers the state's child care subsidy program, which is called Child Care Works.

And that program is for low income working families.

So there is an income eligibility piece.

And the parent or caregiver also has to be working at least 20 hours a week to be eligible for the program.

So the intent really is to support families to be able to work.

And that's why there's that work requirement to to the program.

And so families can come in and apply for the subsidy program.

We will process their application.

And then they choose a child care provider, and we will pay the child care provider for their child's care.

Typically, the parent pays a small co-pay based on their income.

So it's a sliding scale.

So they have some skin in the game so to say for for the payments.

But it really is to help them to be able to continue working and know that their child is in a safe and high quality program.

In addition to that, we work with all families with children on resource and referral.

So whether you're eligible for the Child Care Works program or not, families can contact us if they're looking for other resources.

Really anything housing, mental health, their own education.

And we'll try to help them connect to available services in the community.

Those are great things to know, Pam, because child care costs are so crazily high and it's unbearable for most families to handle it.

So thanks for sharing that.

So, Danielle, how can parents practically use the rest of the summer time to help their children practice some of those skills you were talking about, like social emotional skills, right?

So they buy as a teacher, a lot of my families will say, you know, it was great having you as their first teacher.

The parents are their child's first teacher, so model everything for them.

The way that you behave, the way that you are interacting in the world is what they're learning, even if you're not intentionally doing something.

But if they see you reading a book, they're going to want to read a book.

If they see you sitting down and doing an activity where you're, you know, being either working on your phone, motor skills, if you're doing any kind of like the gem painting thing is really popular right now, you know, something like that.

Oh, okay.

I want to go play with mom or I want to play with grandma.

I want to go play with somebody, being able to have a routine so that they know what to expect.

They thrive on predictability.

So that way they understand that, okay, this is what's next.

They can transition more smoothly and they are more apt to be able to transfer those skills into kindergarten.

Definitely reading to your child, taking them out into the world.

I know that drive up pickup is popular now for a lot of stores.

Take them into the store, let them have that oral language, that conversation going.

Just talk to your child a lot.

Being able to okay if model your emotions.

Okay, I'm feeling frustrated right now.

I'm going to walk away for a couple of minutes and then I'm going to come back.

That way they can see ways to handle their emotions that they're not having a 20 minute meltdown because somebody did something that they feel was wrong to them.

So that way they can start taking accountability for their own feelings, their own emotions, and also just have fun.

Have fun with your child.

At summertime, it's a great way to get outside and showing them that, just kind of giving them some experiences, even if it's going to the zoo, if it's going to parks, if it's going to, you know, different stores that they've never been to before.

Different types of stores, so that you can just build that vocabulary and oral language with them and give them that background knowledge of their environment.

Well, part of what you just said, Danielle, reminded me of what Keila said on our second panel.

She talked about how she used to take her kids to the grocery store and just say, find me the green, find anything green.

And that's kind of what you're saying about taking them into the store versus just getting a pickup bag.

Like, you can really try to use those moments as the classroom, like the world becomes the classroom, right?

Right.

Yeah.

And even to like in the car, being able to point out different things like talk about the environmental print that you see on a stop sign or on street signs, or they'll be able to they can't read the word McDonald's, but they're able to, you know, know that that is McDonald's.

So it's just all that is just really important for getting your kids exposed to the world around them.

Yeah.

So one more question for you, Pam.

Before we wrap up this panel, experts often describe the transition from preschool to kindergarten as one of the most significant milestones in a child's entire educational journey.

Why is this transition so critical?

So, you know, when you think about those little five year olds who are coming from either being cared for at home or potentially in a child care setting, or a preschool setting, which is generally smaller, and the focus there is really child development through play.

And then they're coming into the school setting right where we heard earlier.

The focus is really on academics, and that's a big change for children.

So some of the things that Danielle has been talking about in terms of the skills that children need to develop, right, those are the things that they can get from early childhood programs, but also from from their families, as also been mentioned.

And so sorry, pal, we're out of time.

So sorry.

Thank you for your responses, both of you.

This was great information.

All right.

So we've learned about some great resources, programs and community partners right here in the Lehigh Valley to help children learn, grow and succeed this summer.

Thank you to our guests for sharing their expertise.

And thanks for joining us for this community conversation from all of us here at Lehigh Valley Public Media.

I'm Megan Frank.

Good night.