Classroom Readiness: Discover Ally’s program to prepare children for the next step

Starting kindergarten is an exciting milestone for children and families. It is also a major transition that brings new routines, expectations, social experiences, and learning opportunities.

Ally Academy is a kindergarten readiness program developed based on principles and technologies developed in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. Kindergarten readiness refers to the collection of skills that can help a child participate successfully in a classroom environment. These skills include; following directions, communication, participating in group activities, taking turns, sharing materials, peer interactions, and following classroom routines.

Effective communication is an important part of the kindergarten experience. Children may need to request items, answer questions, express preferences, communicate discomfort, or ask for assistance.

Ally Academy incorporates individualized communication goals, which may involve spoken language, gestures, visual supports, or an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system when appropriate.

A kindergarten classroom involves many instructions throughout the day, from putting materials away to lining up or moving to another activity.

Ally Academy provides opportunities for children to practice responding to developmentally appropriate directions in different settings and with different people. The goal is to help skills become functional and transferable rather than limited to a therapy environment.

Moving from one activity to another can be challenging for some children. Kindergarten may require frequent transitions—for example, moving from circle time to centers, from the classroom to lunch, or from recess back inside.

Ally Academy helps children practice predictable transition routines and develop strategies for handling changes. Visual schedules, transition warnings, reinforcement, and other individualized supports are incorporated when appropriate.

School is a highly social environment. Children are expected to interact with teachers and classmates, participate in group activities, take turns, and navigate shared spaces.

Ally Academy provides opportunities to practice skills such as initiating interactions, responding to peers, waiting, sharing, and participating in cooperative activities. These skills should be taught in natural, meaningful situations whenever possible.

Ally Academy is tailored for children of different ages and developmental levels so that procedures most relevant for an individual are implemented. Instructors apply techniques from the ABA research literature to help shape new behavior, strengthen maintenance of mastered responses, promote generalization of skills to other settings, and further improve a child’s ability to continue learning.

Early intervention entails a focus on training basic adaptive and academic skills; likewise, Ally Academy provides children an environment to practice these skills in a setting similar to a typical kindergarten classroom. Children have multiple opportunities to learn from different trained instructors on a day to day basis and as they progress through the program.

The ultimate goal is not simply to prepare a child to enter a classroom. It is to help the child have the communication, independence, social participation, and learning skills needed to engage meaningfully in the school environment.