United Way of Treasure Valley initiated the Born Learning Initiative in 2007 to help parents and caregivers prepare their children for school success. This summer, 105 Treasure Valley preschool children attended a four-week Kindergarten Readiness Camp to help prepare them for the upcoming school year. United Way partnered with the YMCA Child Development Program to administer the camps. The camps were held in Boise, Nampa and Caldwell and targeted children from identified low-income neighborhoods who will attend Title I schools where there is a high correlation of poverty and low pre-literacy rates.

At camp, the children’s skills improved dramatically. They learned to write their name, identify shapes, letters and sounds, and count, just to name a few of their new skills. Each child was given an assessment before the program started and was tested again at the end of the program, to evaluate their progress. This year’s tests results are not yet available, but if last year’s are any indication, the boot camps are working! Last year, 56% of the children who participated in the program scored at or above grade level when they started Kindergarten, compared to 17% of children who did not participate in the pilot program.