kindergarten readiness – Kansas Children's Discovery Center

In the News: Discovery Center Invites New Kindergarten Students to Play, Learn at Community-Wide Fair

The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center hosted our fourth annual free Discovery Kindergarten Fair for incoming kindergarten students and their families from 4-6 p.m. Monday, July 25. The Discovery Kindergarten Fair brought 83 excited attendees and 16 community partners together for activities, learning resources, health screenings and more. A real school bus let children practice riding, and the full museum was open for play. The fair was the cumulative event of the Discovery Kindergarten program, which included four camps for incoming kindergarten students and online resources.

Community resource providers included:

Boy Scouts of America
Capper Foundation
Child Care Aware of Eastern Kansas
Family Service & Guidance Center
GraceMed
Kansas Ballet Company
Parents as Teachers (Topeka Public Schools)
Sunflower Lions Club
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library
Topeka Lutheran School
Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center
USD 345 Seaman Schools
USD 437 Auburn Washburn
USD 450 Shawnee Heights
USD 501 Topeka Public Schools
Vaughn Pediatric Dentistry

This program is a part of the Discovery Center’s work to ensure access to educational play experiences for all children. More than one in ten Discovery Center admissions are free or donor subsidized. These admissions included over 1,000 Museums for All visitors from families receiving TANF or WIC, and over 5,000 field trip visitors from schools with a high percentage of children receiving free or reduced cost lunches. Discovery Kindergarten is funded by the Greater Topeka Partnership.

The Discovery Center is a hands-on children’s museum with a mission to enhance the lives of children and enrich the communities it serves. Since opening in 2011 in Topeka, Kansas, the Discovery Center has become a special place where children can explore, create, discover and learn through play. The museum features over 15,000 square feet of indoor exhibits and a 4.5 acre certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom. Outreach programs bring quality, hands-on experiences into our community to inspire a lifelong love of learning for every child.

Thank you to Discovery Kindergarten supporters, volunteers and attendees for helping make this event a success!

Check out 50+ free ways to entertain your kids in Topeka this summer!

Finding family fun this summer in Topeka doesn’t have to be expensive! Topeka has a bevy of free activities that it offers during the summer to keep your kids active, learning and even eating nutritional meals. In this blog, you’ll find a wide assortment of different no-cost activities.

Starting kindergarten? Discovery Center to help kids prepare for school through camps, fair

Is your child starting kindergarten this fall? Then the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center has a perfect resource for you!

The museum’s Discovery Kindergarten program helps children prepare for starting kindergarten through several single-day camps and a fair throughout June and July that help improve school readiness. The programs are free, fun resources for all incoming kindergarten students, regardless of school. Registration is done online for each of the camps and the fair.

How can I get my preschooler ready to learn? Ask an Educator: Veronica Byrd, Parents as Teachers

How can I get my preschooler ready to learn? Chat with Veronica Byrd, Site Coordinator for The Pine Ridge Partnership, Parents as Teachers on Wednesday, February 17, at 8 p.m. on Facebook Live. Hear what other parents are wondering and ask your questions live!

Veronica Byrd is a native of Topeka, Kansas. Working with others and actively participating in programs and community functions began at a very early age. She is a mother, grandmother, sister and friend. Veronica earned a BS in Mass Media from Washburn University and is a Certified Black Belt Speaker (BBS). She is a Certified Parent Educator and currently serves as the Site Coordinator for The Pine Ridge Partnership Parents as Teachers program in Topeka, Kansas. Veronica is the Youth & Family Coordinator for Topeka Housing Authority’s after school and summer program. Veronica has an MBA (Mop and Bucket Attitude). This allows her to fulfil one of her greatest satisfactions of helping others realize how valuable they are. She works daily with at-risk families helping them set and meet goals while promoting family-driven solutions.

Veronica Byrd joins us for the third in our Building Readers series of Ask the Educator segments.

How can I get my preschooler excited about reading? Ask an Educator: Josie Dease, Seaman Public Schools

How can I get my preschooler excited about reading? Chat with Josie Dease, early childhood special education teacher for Seaman USD 345 on Tuesday, February 9, at 8 pm on Facebook Live. Hear what other parents are wondering and ask your questions live!

Josie Dease is an early childhood special education teacher for Seaman USD 345. She has been in education for 5 years. She holds a BS in Vocal Music and a BS in Elementary Education from Washburn University and an MS in Early Childhood Education from Emporia State University. Josie’s current role as Transition Teacher at Mathes Early Learning Center focuses on managing transitions from home-based infant toddler services to center-based preschool services. She loves her current role because it blends all of her favorite aspects of education; family and community partnerships, meaningful student relationships and developmentally appropriate, individualized education.

Josie Dease joins us for the second in our Building Readers series of Ask the Educator segments. Tune in again on Wednesday, February 17 at 8 p.m. for Veronica Byrd of Parents as Teachers.

Is My Child Ready for Preschool? Ask an Educator with LaManda Broyles, Principal, Shaner Early Learning Academy

Is my child ready for preschool? What can I do to get them excited for learning? Chat with LaManda Broyles, Principal, Shaner Early Learning Academy on Wednesday, February 3, at 8 pm on Facebook Live. Hear what other parents are wondering and ask your questions live!

About LaManda Broyles: Mrs. Broyles believes strongly in the power of early childhood education and is blessed to be the principal at Shaner Early Learning Academy with Topeka Public Schools. Shaner is an all day preschool that utilizes accelerated curriculum and play to provide students with an excellent foundation both academically and social emotionally. Mrs. La Manda Broyles graduated from The University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, receiving her Bachelors of Science in Early Childhood & Elementary Education birth to 4th grade in December of 2008. She then went on to complete her Masters of Science in Special Education with an emphasis in Instructional Speciality from Arkansas Tech University in 2011. Mrs. Broyles also received a Masters of Science degree in Educational Leadership from Baker University in 2017. Her passion is to love, learn from, and lead others both professionally and personally and knows that achievement and growth is the outcome of solid trust-worthy relationships.

Mrs. Broyles joins us for the first in our Building Readers series of Ask the Educator segments. Tune in again on Tuesday, February 9 at 8 p.m. for Josie Dease from Seaman Schools and Wednesday, February 17 at 8 p.m. for Veronica Byrd of Parents as Teachers.

Pool Noodle Balancing Act: Discovery at Home

Ways to Expand the Activity:

Add a time constraint. Is it more difficult when you have a constraint to deal with?
Try holding the stick in your mouth instead of your hand. Is it easier or harder to see and build when it is closer to your eyes? Is it more or less stable when you hold it with your mouth?

What Kids Learn:

Basic engineering skills. Engineers solve problems with constraints. They learn to solve problems by using the engineering design process: asking questions, coming up with solutions, building, testing and improving.
Spatial or visual thinking. Being able to imagine the positions of objects and how they interact is an important skill for learning math.
Experimentation! When kids experiment, they're learning how to learn. Failure is an important part of experimenting, so let kids try things that won’t work. It’s how they figure things out!
Hand eye coordination. Young children can use activities like this to help improve communication between their minds and bodies.

Playdough Monsters: Discovery at Home

Ways to Expand the Activity:

Create a story using multiple playdough monsters.
Instead of monsters, you could create models of your relatives and show a playdough family portrait.
You could also combine this activity with stop motion animation to create your own movie!

What Kids Learn:

Children gain social and emotional skills through dramatic play. When they pretend, they are experimenting in social roles, practicing language, and solving problems.
Spatial or visual thinking. Being able to imagine the positions of objects and how they interact is an important skill for learning math.
Fine motor skills. Kids practice using the small muscles in their hands later used for writing.
Sensory play! Sensory play that lets children touch, squeeze, smell and feel helps build connections in the brain.
Creativity! There are so many ways to create using playdough. Creating something using their imagination enhances those creativity abilities.
Calming effect. When you sit down to squish and mold playdough, there is a moment of calm where you can express your feelings through the way you interact with the playdough.

Ask an Educator with Dr. Pilar Mejía, Principal at Scott Dual Language Magnet Elementary

Join us on Thursday, June 25 at 8 p.m. for Ask an Educator LIVE with Dr. Pilar Mejía, Principal at Scott Dual Language Magnet Elementary. The session is hosted by the Kansas Children's Discovery Center on Facebook. Dr. Pilar will discuss setting up for success at home, including safety, schedules, expectations, how to support children at home and emotional well-being. She will take your questions live!

Dr. Mejía has been with Topeka Public Schools since 2004, where she has served as an instructional coach for teachers of English Learners, the dual language coordinator and assistant principal at Scott Dual Language Magnet, principal at Highland Park Central Elementary, and currently principal at Scott Dual Language Magnet. Dr. Mejía earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education from Washburn University, her masters degree in education from the University of Kansas, and her doctorate of educational leadership from Kansas State University. She was named one of Topeka's top 20 Under 40 in 2011, Elementary School Principal of the Year in 2019 and in 2020. Dr. Mejía is a published author in the article category, and was instrumental in helping lead Scott Dual Language Elementary as it became the first bilingual magnet school in Topeka, as well as the only school in Kansas that has won the School of the Year Excellence in Education Award granted by the Embassy of Spain in 2015, an award given to schools in the United States that show excellence in content and language integrated learning programs in English and Spanish.

In the News: Discovery Center Invites New Kindergarten Students to Play, Learn at Community-Wide Fair

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How can I get my preschooler ready to learn? Ask an Educator: Veronica Byrd, Parents as Teachers

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How can I get my preschooler excited about reading? Ask an Educator: Josie Dease, Seaman Public Schools

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Is My Child Ready for Preschool? Ask an Educator with LaManda Broyles, Principal, Shaner Early Learning Academy

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