Video: Lee Co. Prepping Kids for K5

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By Allie Martin

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) — Lee County is making strides when it comes to preparing children for kindergarten.

In fact, the county is a certified, “Excel By 5” community. “Excel by 5” is a Mississippi based program which helps communities use their resources to better prepare children for kindergarten and beyond.

Several years ago, the process began to get the community certified according to “Excel by 5” standards.

Experts say it’s vital for kindergarten students to have basic skills when they start school.

“First of all, they need to know self help skills, they need to know how to put their jackets on, tie their shoes, use scissors, hold a pencil, if they don’t know this then it delays the whole class and also things like alphabet,color and number recognition, if they know the basic then they can start immediately when they get to kindergarten,” said Beverly Williams, Excel by 5 Coalition.

The celebration was held at NMMC’s Childcare Center.