BRIGHT, Ind. — In the children’s section of the North Dearborn Branch library, Courtney Wheat isn’t just playing with her children. She’s laying the foundation for their future success.
Her sons Isaac, 3, and Will, almost 2, sit on the carpeted floor eyeing small toy dinosaurs. “Can you count them?” Courtney says.
“One . . . two . . .” Isaac says as Will watches, and then his mother helps them count to 10.
“What color is this guy?”
“Red,” Isaac says.
His mom asks if he can point to a dinosaur’s nose, mouth and eyes. “How many eyes?”
“Two,” Isaac answers.
When the boys enter the library’s kid-friendly rocket ship, their mom says: “Can you say 3, 2, 1, blastoff?”
These playful moments are part of a bigger effort, one the Wheat family has embraced through Ready Rosie, an early childhood program introduced to Southeast Indiana parents by United Way of Greater Cincinnati. The goal: empower parents to be their children’s first teacher.
The program dovetails with one of United Way’s key focus areas: educational success. Research shows that children who begin elementary school without basic readiness skills are unlikely to catch up to their peers, and their education suffers in the long term.
Courtney Wheat and her husband, Dave, understand the importance of early education. They sent the two oldest of their five children to preschool, “but that got to be expensive, the more (kids) that we had. We can’t really afford that,” she says. “I wanted them to have the same educational material at home.”
Indeed, many families in Dearborn County, where the Wheat family lives, lack access to high-quality preschool because of affordability or wait lists. This home-based program helps bridge that gap.
Courtney, a call center nurse who works from home, enrolled Isaac and Will in Ready Rosie in July 2024. “The appeal to me was learning through play,” she says. “You kind of sneak it in and they don’t really know that they’re actually learning. I like that.”
As a busy mom, she also likes the program’s flexibility. “The support and resources are available when I want them. Some weeks we don’t get to it, and other weeks we can do two or three activities.”
Through texts to her phone, she receives a weekly playlist of short videos with ideas for fun activities and games that support learning. The activities require no special materials and are meant to fit into everyday routines in or around the home.
Activities can be as simple as comparing different textures, weights and colors of paper. Or naming things on a magazine page and asking a child to point to them.
“Isaac loves to crack eggs,” Courtney says. “He really enjoys stepping up to the counter and helping with cooking.” That opens up learning opportunities such as counting, measuring, stirring and so on.
Courtney also participates in virtual sessions led by United Way’s Success By 6® program manager, Jennifer Meininger, who might elaborate on a Ready Rosie video or discuss topics such as limiting screen time, social-emotional learning and the like.
“We have used feedback and lessons learned from this pilot program to expand access to Ready Rosie throughout Ohio and Kentucky,” Meininger says. “Empowering caregivers to identify moments of learning in daily life increases the likelihood that a child will be ready for kindergarten and brings the family together around educational concepts like literacy and math.”
Since starting the program, Courtney says she’s seen her boys’ listening skills improve. Their love for books has grown. They’re better able to follow directions.
“As a mom, just being able to see the progression is amazing.”
