IBM, United Way Celebrate Five Years of Young Explorer's Partnership

It's been five years since IBM and the Greater Twin Cities United Way teamed up to work on the issues of literacy and school preparedness for preschool-aged children. In that time, the IBM and United Way "Young Explorer's" partnership has brought nearly 100 computers to 40 preschools, enabled dozens of teachers to receive free computer training and helped more than 1,000 children learn what they needed to know to enter kindergarten.

Georgia Boehlke, family service worker at Families Together Preschool in St. Paul, said the two donated computers it received from IBM have made a real difference in her classroom. "It's amazing that preschoolers can learn to maneuver their way around a computer," she said. "But it's an integral part of their learning these days. It prepares them for what they will need to know in school and later in the workplace."

Through the "Young Explorer's" partnership, IBM donates the computers, training, programs and tech support. The United Way identifies the preschools that would benefit most from the gift.

"A lot of kids at these preschools don't have computers at home," said Kathy Lentz, community building strategies manager at United Way. "When they go off to kindergarten they will be working on computers and this allows them to come in on equal footing with the other children. They won't be starting behind."

The IBM KidSmart programs that come with the donated computers teach the basic skills kids need to enter school. The programs includes instruction on ABCs, simple counting, colors, shapes and basic science. KidSmart offers the program in eight languages including Spanish, French, German, English, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese and Italian.

For Families Together, the computers are used for downtime as much as for learning. "Our kids are all coming into our program with several risk factors," said Boelke. "They come from poverty. Some have been abused, some are homeless, some have been neglected and many have had prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol. Structured learning doesn't always work. This is a way for the kids to detach and to go at their own pace."

KidSmart programs can also be used by parents on home computers. To learn more, parents can go to www.kidsmartearlylearning.org.

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