WHAT IS SUCCESS BY 6?
Success By 6 is an in-house, educational initiative of the United Way of Southwest Oklahoma serving children from birth through six years old that focuses on school readiness through literacy. It is a coalition of public agencies, private enterprise, early childhood educators, health care providers, law enforcement, and individual volunteers all coming together under a common vision: to ensure that every child is primed for lifelong success by the time they enter kindergarten. The Success By Six program is an international movement found in hundreds of cities, counties and states/provinces within the United States and Canada.
The goals of the Success By 6 program are threefold:
- Empower parents to be the best parents/caregivers they can be by providing information, programs and resources to help their children succeed in school.
- Mobilize the community through providing the resources that create public awareness and motivates people to act.
- Provide children with a greater variety of reading material in the home that is creative, imaginative, and inspires a lifelong love of literature.
MISSION - "All Oklahoma children will enter school healthy and ready to succeed in school and in life."
PROGRAMS
Success By 6 serves children birth through 6 years of old in order to ensure that all kids are ready and able to learn by the time they enter school. We realize that all children face barriers to succeeding in the classroom. Our outreach programming is designed to help young children and their families break down and overcome those barriers.
Prescription for Reading
Provides a book for children who go to a well-child visit at 4 local doctors' offices. During the visit, the child gets a book which they can use to build a home library.
Books and Badges
A partnership with the Lawton Police Department's Community Oriented Policing Unit where officers are given books to pass out in low income and crime-ridden neighborhoods. Officers often stop and distribute books at apartment complexes or anyplace children are gathered. Officers make the extra effort to schedule reading times at select apartment complexes in low-income neighborhoods.
Raising a Reader
A partnership with several local school districts and a Head Start program to provide books for all children enrolled in Pre-K. Students are provided with books, on a rotating basis, to take home, ensuring that they have exposure to over 100 books to read with their families.
Books and Bibs
A partnership with Southwestern Medical Center and Comanche County Memorial Hospital. New parents receive a bag with a baby book, bib, and educational literature with information about how to care for and start their child on the right track to succeed in school.
Parent Workshops
Provide parents of young children education on a variety of topics. The topics are decided based on survey responses from parents of young children in our area.
Book Swaps
Provide children and their families a way to update their home libraries. Several times a year, at various locations, children are encouraged to bring the books they have outgrown and swap them for new books. During the summertime, temporary book swap sites are set up at summer meal sites. The Comanche County Health Department's WIC office, our Little Free Library (located outside of the United Way of Southwest Oklahoma office at 1116 SW A Avenue), and Nick's Nook (Located at the Lawton Food Bank) serve as permanent book swap sites. Children are encouraged to take a book even if they do not have a book to swap.
Community Events
We partner with several local organizations to educate the public on what Success By 6 does and how to get involved in one of our programs.
SCHOOL READINESS CALENDAR
Every year, an early childhood education specialist compiles and creates a Kindergarten School Readiness Calendar for those families who have children entering Kindergarten during the next school year. This calendar is designed to help families and their children learn those skills necessary for success in Kindergarten during the summer months. Download a copy of the Kindergarten School Readiness Calendar HERE. If you have comments or questions about the calendar please contact Alex Minter at alex.minter@uwswok.org
