What is OberlinKids?
OberlinKids is a kindergarten readiness collaborative powered by the United Way of Greater Lorain County.
But what does that really mean?
In the city of Oberlin, community and educational organizations came together in order to develop solutions to ensure that our children are entering kindergarten healthy and ready to learn. From this collaboration came OberlinKids, designed to impact children ages birth to age 5 in this critical time of development. The collaborative looks to identify each child’s and family’s needs and put them on a track to be prepared for kindergarten.
This is a collaboration of many organizations and community members that work together to break down barriers, create systems change, and provide resources to our families.
What does that mean for a parent or caregiver?
We support the parents/caregivers and families of children ages 0-5 and give them the resources necessary to support their child’s development. The goal is to give each child aging from birth to kindergarten who lives in Oberlin the opportunity to be successful in school and in life, to support our children and families, and make our community stronger.
We offer many programs and offer direction to even more resources to ALL families in Oberlin regardless of income – we do not base our programming on income requirements. Each family will have a different OberlinKids experience based on their needs. To know what a child or family may need we ask each family to sign up for On Track for Kindergarten – this free annual questionnaire is the starting point of breaking down what your child may need to be successful in reaching their developmental milestones creating the strongest foundation for their future. Even if you feel your child is On Track we recommend joining our On Track program. Through this, you have the opportunity to engage in the following opportunities…
- Monthly e-newsletter
- Direct access to Lorain County Imagination Library
- Expert advice on parenting and child development
- Access to free playgroups
- Free themed playtime kits
- Preschool program scholarships
- Connection to community services and programs
- Developmental screening services
- Parent education and support groups
You may have seen our slogan: Nurturing Children. Supporting Parents. Connecting Communities.
The latter part of this slogan is very important to the first two parts.
A lot of our work is done behind the scenes bringing organizations together to meet the needs of our families – we are truly connecting communities – the helpers, as the old saying goes – “it takes a village to raise a child”.
We also work under the idea of – you don’t know what you don’t know – sounds silly, right, but we see that oftentimes parents/caregivers don’t know where to begin when an issue occurs. We say start with Jenn, our director, our master of resources. She can talk through some of the simplest issues and some you may feel are too hard to even begin to tackle and walk you through to a solution with the backup of our communities of resources. We make it our priority to know what is out there to help you, we know that it can be overwhelming just trying to find a place to start.
So, really the question “What is OberlinKids?” is a bit complicated to answer, as we may be just a newsletter connection or taking part in a free program we offer to some families and wrap-around services to others. OberlinKids is what you need it to be.
Note to self: Parents are their child’s first & most important teachers. | On Track for Kindergarten is an easy way to be sure milestones are met. | OberlinKids is here to help with one-on-one support & resources.
Oberlin residents can sign up for OberlinKids right now for free. OberlinKids is open to residents of Oberlin, those families that reside in Oberlin School District, who plan to open enroll or attend a partner early childhood center/preschool.
Contact Director, Jenn Keathley with questions or needs at jkeathley@oberlinkids.org or Call/Text 440-371-0113
