Cape’s KinderSpark summer program preps early learners

Throughout the summer, the Cape Henlopen School District has continued to foster early learning through its KinderSpark program, which utilizes the Cape Bookmobile as a mobile classroom to provide outdoor learning experiences for students ages 3 to 5.

The program, which started July 9 and continues through Wednesday, Aug. 6, is run by Audrey Dempsey, the district’s supervisor of elementary education and early learning, and elementary educators Jodie Daminger and Kacie Goins. It’s the second year of the program.

“We’re working on foundational skills and giving them some exposure to early learning before they make it into our schools,” said Daminger, who teaches first grade at Lewes Elementary.

“We try to make sure they’re registered for kindergarten, see if they’ve been to pre-school, see what they already know and then give them resources so that hopefully they continue to want to play school and are eager to come to school when it starts,” added Goins, who teaches third and fourth grades at Milton Elementary.

Every Monday and Wednesday, she and Daminger take the district’s Bookmobile, a colorfully painted van with creative illustrations and the words “Let your imagination soar!” and make their rounds to six different communities for their lessons.

On Mondays, they go to the Burton Village Community Center from 9 to 10 a.m, Love Creek Mobile Park from 10:30 to 11 and Jefferson Apartments from noon to 1 p.m.

On Wednesdays, they do two stops at Cedar Village (formerly Crosswinds) from 9 to 10, before heading to Whispering Pines from 10:30 to 11:30 and Donovan Smith Mobile Home Community from noon to 1 p.m.

When they arrive at each location, they lay a blanket down and press the Cape Bookmobile’s horn, which plays music, so the kids know to come out.

“We are thankful we have an already well-established presence in the communities with the bookmobile, [so] that when students hear the music from the horn, they come for a lesson,” Dempsey said.

Each week, they pick a book that matches a certain core skill or topic – like colors, letters, numbers and shapes – and then they do activities centered around that topic. For example, one day, the kids were instructed to cut out different shapes and match them with different items, fostering their knowledge of shapes while also helping them to develop other skills, like cutting, gluing and tracing.

The kids are also given resources like flashcards and worksheets so they can continue to work on their skills at home.

While the program mainly targets 3- to 5-year-olds, some older kids participate too.  

“A lot of times the big kids, their siblings, come, which is great,” Goins said. “They see what we’re doing, and we say, ‘Go home and play school, keep it going,’ so that hopefully they go back home and jump right back into it.”

Parents do not need to register for their kids to participate, so those who are interested can just show up.

Flyers with locations and times are posted through Peachjar, social media, on the Bookmobile and in the locations they’re visiting.