Kindergarten Countdown Camp Goes Online

In 2019, United Way’s pilot Kindergarten Countdown Camp helped nearly 20 young children with little or no preschool experience start kindergarten confident and ready to learn. This year, we plan to build on our success in 2019 while making sure students and families can stay healthy. That’s why we’re hosting virtual Kindergarten Countdown Camp.

Our virtual Kindergarten Countdown Camp will run from July 6-30 and will include the same elements that made last year’s camp so successful. From weekly workshops with parents to new books and supplies for students, this program will help more young children prepare for the school year ahead — something that is particularly important during this period of uncertainty.

Who can participate?

Our virtual Kindergarten Countdown Camp is designed for students and families in Dinwiddie County. Certain hands-on aspects of the program, such as virtual office hours with teachers and school supplies, are only available for families in Dinwiddie who registered prior to July 1.

However, most of our virtual Kindergarten Countdown Camp resources are available and free for anyone to use. We encourage families across our service area to take advantage of these tools to help your young child prepare for kindergarten.

What’s next?

After our successful 2019 pilot, we planned to expand Kindergarten Countdown Camp to five camps in three locations this summer (read the original announcement here). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we shifted to virtual camps in 2020 to keep students, families and staff safe and healthy. We know that online learning can not fully replace the social and emotional skills young children gain in a classroom setting, which is why we plan to resume in-person Kindergarten Countdown Camps in 2021.

Want to help?

Donate to your local United Way and help us continue offering programs that help young children prepare for kindergarten. Just visit our donation page and select “Kindergarten Readiness” in response to the question, “Do you want to support an individual component of our work?”