Earlier this month, about 70,000 children in our state started kindergarten, and they're all different in what they know and can do. 

A new program being developed in our state aims to help kindergarten teachers get the best, earliest and most complete look at the children coming into their classroom, so that they give each child the support needed to be successful in school. 

Being tested this school year with 3,000 children in 120 kindergarten classrooms around the state, the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) creates an opportunity for families, teachers and early learning professionals to talk about an individual child's strengths and needs before school starts. That conversation is then coupled with a more formal assessment of each child's social, emotional, physical and academic skills once school starts. The process is about making sure kids get a great start in school.  

The WaKIDS pilot was designed in partnership with elementary teachers and principals, special education specialists, early care and education providers, parents and representatives from Washington Tribal communities.

Watch this Learning for Life as we talk with a Loyal Heights Elementary kindergarten teacher, whose classroom is participating in the WaKIDS pilot, and state officials to learn more about WaKIDS and why we need such a process in our schools. 

Note: This is the last Learning for Lifesegment. For the past year and a half, Thrive by Five Washington and KING 5 TV have worked in partnership to help raise public awareness about the importance of early learning. This has included weekly news stories, Evening Magazine segments, public service announcement and three primetime specials. We greatly appreciate KING 5's commitment to early learning and look forward to future partnerships with them.

Learn more and watch past Learning for Lifeseries and specials here.