El Dorado County Office of Education and First 5 El Dorado Children and Families Commission have developed a great resource for parents and families of children ages birth through five. This program is beneficial to parents and early childhood programs to help track a child's development and assist parents in deciding if their child is ready for kindergarten. It can also provide them with resources for school readiness, activities for parents to do with their child and support for the parent child and family. The goal of this program is to provide early intervention services for children and to empower parents to be active participants in their child's development.

With the assistance of early childhood specialists, this program provides a parent driven screening tool through "Ages and Stages" and a simple health survey. These tools are short and easy to use screenings that take only a few minutes (10-15) to complete. The parent or guardian takes the screening tools home with them and conducts the screening on their child in the privacy of their own home, thus allowing the parent to determine if their child needs assistance in any area of development. The parent then returns to the early childhood specialist with the completed screenings for scoring. The parents keep these tools at home and can use them for future comparisons.

After the screenings have been scored, the parent and specilist can decide if further action is needed to assist with the child's development, and further screenings will be scheduled according to the child's next stage in devleopment. If it appears, through the screening process, that a child is not meeting their milestones an early childhood team will be formed consisting of the parent, child and specialists in the specific area of need to create a plan of action for that child. If it becomes apparent that the child will require further assistance then the family will be referred to the proper agency for assessment.

Please feel free to contact an early childhood specialist from your area listed on this page if you have any questions.