I

t’s a harsh reality that the first few years of being a parent, when you’re operating on little sleep and learning a completely new set of skills, are some of the most important years in a child’s brain development.

America’s child care shortage makes the first few years even trickier for parents to navigate. Seventy-four percent of parents who responded to a nationwide survey in 2022 (PDF) reported that child care was difficult to access. In 2018, The Center for American Progress found that about 51% of Americans and 60% of Californians lived in a “child care desert,” where the supply of licensed child care is not enough to meet the demand.

Finding child care could get even harder when stabilization funding from the federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) ends Sept. 30. One estimate found that funding loss could cause more than 13,000 child care programs in California to close and more than 84,000 kids to lose child care.

That loss in care will likely affect elementary classrooms down the line because child care programs, including preschool, play a huge role in preparing children for kindergarten, and influence kids’ academic performance throughout elementary school.

Many parents want to place their kids in child care, but don’t qualify for state-subsidized care and can’t afford private care. Others either don’t have care close by or the available care doesn’t match up with their work schedules.

So how can parents be sure that their children are growing and learning at a healthy pace without the help of early childhood educators?

No matter the situation, there are still lots of things California parents can do to prepare their children for kindergarten, even if child care and preschool are not viable options. We created this guide with those parents in mind, to help connect them to resources so that they don’t have to face the school readiness challenge alone.

Keep reading to learn why preparing a child for kindergarten is so important, and about the tools available to help California families. Or jump straight to:

• What are my child’s developmental milestones to know?
• How can I improve my kid’s “kindergarten readiness”?
• What early learning and development resources does the state offer?
• What early learning and development resources does my Bay Area county offer?

Preparing for kindergarten without child care

California is in the process of expanding transitional kindergarten to include all 4-year-olds, which will help close the school readiness gap for children who don’t have access to private preschool. There are state and federal no-cost or subsidized child care programs for families that receive CalWORKS benefits, for children experiencing homelessness and abuse, some foster children, and for families who meet low-income requirements.

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But for the many Californians who don’t qualify for public programs and who cannot find or afford early childhood care on their own, there are some parenting resources and support systems in place.

Statewide initiatives like Early Start and First 5 California offer developmental assessments and tools to help build early literacy and numeracy skills at home. And state programs often contract with local nonprofit organizations to provide culturally-relevant programming. These resources can help parents navigate the first few years when child care is hardest to find and when kids’ neural networks are developing at a rapid rate.

One example of a culturally-relevant resource is the Pasitos program, started by Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County in 2006 to help boost school readiness for the county’s Latinx communities. Resources like Pasitos are especially crucial in Sonoma County, where the supply of licensed care has been decimated by repeated natural disasters — the devastating Tubbs Fire in 2017 resulted in the loss of 15 programs, displacing 444 children practically overnight.

At Pasitos, parents and their kids attend weekly classes, taught in Spanish, at numerous sites throughout the county.

“We are celebrating the ending of the first school year for these children,” said Ingrid Arceo as she looked around at the toddlers swarming the play structure at a neighborhood park in Santa Rosa. “They are in our Primero Pasitos, that’s when they’re 16 months to two years. For some of them, this is their very first time they’re attending a playgroup for any social setting.”

One way that Pasitos prepares students for school is by getting them familiar with routine and structure.

“They have free play at the beginning of their class and then they gather for a circle with the teacher where they sing and read books,” said Arceo. “They talk about different themes every week, like weather, or animals. And then they have an activity that the teacher plans.”

Kids also get a chance to play and work through conflict with other children. That’s especially important because social and emotional regulation is a large component of kindergarten readiness.

A link to early intervention

When Samantha Carranza and her husband calculated what child care would cost, they decided it made more sense for Samantha to stay at home full-time rather than return to work. Carranza and her husband are now celebrating their daughter’s graduation from Primero Pasitos, something they wish they knew about when they were first-time parents.

“My daughter has the advantage of coming to this program and it’s night and day,” said Carranza. “Even a small program like this, when we come for a few hours a week, it’s made a huge difference in my children.”

Carranza’s son has a speech delay. She said if she had enrolled in Pasitos when he was younger, she would have sought help for his delay earlier because the program taught her about developmental timelines.

“I knew that it wasn’t normal for a 2-year-old to have no words,” said Carranza. “When I brought it up to his pediatrician, she said, ‘Well, it’s the middle of the pandemic and he’s a boy. Boys talk a lot later.’ In a way, dismissing me. But at the time it was kind of what I wanted to hear.”

After learning about speech therapy from another parent, Carranza connected with the North Bay Regional Center, part of California’s Early Start Program that offers evaluations and services to kids under the age of 3 who are at risk of having developmental or intellectual disabilities.

“I didn’t really know how serious it is to really make sure that your children are hitting certain milestones,” said Carranza. “And I think a lot of us, we don’t know.”

The advantage of a peer group

Amy Westling, executive director of the Association of Regional Center Agencies, said parents with kids in child care or preschool have an advantage when it comes to identifying developmental differences in their kids.

“When you see children who are about the same age as your child, doing things that your child hasn’t done, it sometimes triggers families to think through perhaps there could be a challenge that their child needs some additional support with,” said Westling.

Similarly, a preschool teacher or caregiver can offer a second opinion when a doctor raises or dismisses concerns.

When doctor visits fall short

The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children have preventative check-ins, often called “well visits,” at 12 different times between birth and 3 years of age. These visits should continue once a year after a child turns 3.

AAP recommends that kids receive developmental and behavioral screenings during the 9-, 18- and 30-month well visits, and that kids be screened for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at their 18- and 24-month visits.

But studies indicate that many kids are not being assessed and that developmental delays are being missed. Research shows that white children and children of wealthier and more educated parents are more likely to be screened (PDF).

Westling says that pediatricians and other healthcare providers often don’t have enough time with patients to complete an adequate assessment.

“They often see them for 10 or 15 minutes every three months or so,” said Westling. “They may rely upon families’ identification of concerns to really trigger a more in-depth exploration. But their families don’t have the awareness that the child may be falling behind same-age peers. They may not flag that.”

Families on Medi-Cal should be especially concerned about short visits, says Westling.

“Pediatricians who accept various types of insurance, particularly Medi-Cal, have to make their practices financially viable, oftentimes through high volume.” said Westling. “So it may be that children who have Medi-Cal as their primary insurance may find that their appointment times are shorter than children who have private commercial insurance.”

Sometimes even if a pediatrician takes the time to conduct an assessment, a child may behave differently in a clinical setting, making it harder to discern between a developmental delay and a scared child acting timid.

Resources to learn about developmental milestones

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a developmental milestone as something that 75% or more children can do by a certain age.

The milestones help parents and doctors track children’s growth across physical, cognitive, language and social-emotional areas. Examples of milestones include a child’s ability to hold their head up, to point or to string a certain number of words together in a sentence. If a child misses a milestone it could be an indication that they need extra help to fully develop in one area or that they face a more serious disability or health problem.

Milestones are important to track because the earlier a child receives help, the more likely they are to overcome a delay or challenge.

“The most important thing for people to realize is that children can make incredible progress,” said Westling. “And they make the best progress the earlier we can intervene in their lives and in their development. Their little minds are like sponges.”

• The CDC has lots of great information on developmental milestones, including videos of milestones in action as well as a milestone-tracking app, available in English and Spanish, to help you keep track of your child’s development.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics’ website organizes milestones and skills by age, making it fairly easy to find information quickly.
• The Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) is a common screening tool. Read answers to commonly-asked questions about this questionnaire.
• California’s Early Start operates a toll-free “babyline” at 800–515–BABY (800–515–2229). You can also email earlystart@dds.ca.gov.

Resources to learn about kindergarten readiness

There’s no single, standardized checklist for kindergarten readiness skills, largely because there is no state or federal requirement for schools to assess them.

Among the school districts that do track kindergarten readiness, several different assessment tools are used. Sarah Crow, managing director of the First 5 Center for Children’s Policy, says 35 states are in the process of implementing assessments and that 25 counties in California currently track kindergarten readiness.

Most experts agree that kids entering kindergarten should have some exposure to language and reading, numbers and counting, logic and sorting, and some practice regulating emotions and playing with other children their age.

“Readiness, as it’s sort of been defined and studied, is about literacy and numeracy knowledge,” said Crow. “But it also refers to things like the ability to listen and ask questions, express your thoughts and communicate and demonstrate some self regulation, like sit on a rug in a kindergarten classroom.”

Child care providers trained in early childhood development incorporate these skills into daily activities. Similarly, parents may already be teaching these skills without even realizing it — every interaction has potential to be educational for babies and infants (PDF). Still, intention goes a long way and experts have tips for how to incorporate numeracy and literacy into your day-to-day.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a good overview of kindergarten readiness, including addressing misconceptions about “redshirting,” the parental practice of starting kids in kindergarten late in an attempt to give them a better chance at success.
• Explore an exhaustive list of actions kindergartners may be expected to have the ability to do via CocoKids, a nonprofit that champions quality child care and early education in Contra Costa County.
• The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offers lots of resources to help you incorporate math concepts at home.
• First 5’s parenting site features a list of ways to encourage language skills in your child.
• The Talking Is Teaching public awareness campaign has great advice for how to have verbal interactions with someone who can’t talk back to you yet — their videos about developing social-emotional skills are helpful too.
• Here’s a helpful quick-reference PDF from Contra Costa County Library (PDF) with guidance on how to have everyday educational interactions with your child, from talking to reading and playing. (You may want to paste this one to the fridge.)

Statewide resources for early learning and development

When it comes to finding resources related to child care and child development, three California programs will be key: the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, First 5 California and Early Start.

California Child Care Resource and Referral Network

Each county in California has at least one agency that’s part of the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network. These offices focus on helping parents find child care and recruiting and training more family child care providers: people who care for small groups of kids in their homes. Even if you’re not looking for child care specifically, these agencies can be a good place to contact.

Sometimes the organizations that have resource and referral (R&R) contracts provide other services as well — think play groups, parenting classes and financial assistance. Each agency varies, but chances are the people working at your local R&R center know about many of the resources in your community.

Look up your local resource and referral agency within the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network.

First 5 California

First 5 California is a statewide organization with a presence in each county. First 5 was established in 1998 when voters approved Proposition 10, which imposed a tax on tobacco products. The collected funds are divided between First 5 at the state level and a First 5 commission in each county. At a statewide level, First 5 advocates for policies that support children up to 5 years of age and their families. First 5 operates a resource website for parents that’s worth checking out.

Like R&R agencies, each First 5 county commission varies in focus, depending on what challenges families in the region face. Local efforts range from parenting groups to child development classes to tracking kindergarten readiness. Again, if your local First 5 office doesn’t offer a service directly, the people working there likely know who does.

Find your local First 5 office.

Early Start

Early Start is California’s early intervention program for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or those at risk for having a developmental disability. Most people interact with Early Start through one of 21 regional centers throughout the state. Regional centers are agencies contracted by the state to manage services for families with children under 3 years old who have or are at risk of having a developmental disability or delay. Some families are referred to regional centers immediately after birth by a neonatal intensive care unit. Other families may be referred later on by a pediatrician, and still other parents call on their own.

There is no cost for an evaluation, and one is supposed to be conducted within 45 days of when a parent first contacts the center. This FAQ by the California Dept. of Developmental Services is straightforward and may answer many of the questions you have about calling a center (PDF).

Look up an Early Start regional center near you.

Bay Area resources by county for early learning and development

Scroll down to find your Bay Area county below. This guide focuses on programs that can help parents without access to child care make sure their young children are kindergarten-ready. The classes and playgroups here do not require the time or financial commitment of more traditional child care or preschool.

In addition to the local outposts of the larger statewide organizations mentioned above, parents looking to bolster their kids’ school readiness should check out their local libraries and recreation departments.

Bay Area libraries offer much more than traditional storytimes. Kids can dial a number and have a story read to them in English or Spanish — another library has worked to place books in barbershops — and several libraries have project kits that kids can check out.

Most recreation departments offer some kind of financial assistance for classes, but that information is often not easy to find. If cost is preventing you from registering for a class, call your county’s recreation and parks department and ask about scholarships.

Alameda County

• Explore First 5 Alameda County’s parenting resources.
• Alameda County 4Cs offers a play group for children ages 3-5. Find more information on their events calendar.
• Find free playgroups offered by Oakland Parks and Recreation.
• Kids attending kindergarten the next year can enroll in a free 5–6 week crash course called Summer Pre-Kindergarten.
• Bananas Bunch in Oakland offers workshops for parents and caregivers at multiple locations, including one in East Oakland.
• 510 Families features a helpful listing of free storytimes in the East Bay.
• Berkeley’s Parks and Rec Dept. offers Together Wee Play, a drop-in playgroup for parents and their kids. Staff offer ideas for play and skill building. Some scholarships available. There’s much more in their fall and winter activity guide (PDF).
• Explore the Alameda County Library’s Event Calendar here, including make and play labs, storytimes and more.
• Find storytimes at the city of Alameda’s Free Library.
• Hively operates five family resource centers throughout the county and offers child care resource and referral services.

Contra Costa County

• First 5 Contra Costa operates five centers throughout the county, each with a downloadable event calendar available in English and Spanish.
• Coco Kids offers child care resource and referral services and other family supportive services.
• Richmond’s recreation department offers a drop-in play group at two locations. Cost is $5. Find more information on page 6 of the Fall Activity Guide (PDF).
• Pram (Parents, Resources and More) operates volunteer-led playgroups in and around Richmond.
• Contra Costa County libraries offer storytimes and story walks. They also offer Kindergarten Countdown activity kits, with some also available in Spanish.
• Antioch’s Recreation Department offers tumbling and dance classes, some on Saturdays, for young kids (PDF). Scholarships are available.
• Pittsburg’s recreation department offers a Mommy and Me Yoga class and more.

Marin County

• Explore First 5 Marin’s parenting resources.
• Marin Child Care Council offers child care referrals and training for parents and providers. They also run Kaleidoscope Play and Learn, a playgroup for children ages 0–5.
• Help Me Grow Marin helps parents find developmental and behavioral screenings.
• The Parent Services Project offers a Raising a Reader program where participants access a rotating selection of books. They also offer playgroups in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood and in Point Reyes.
• North Marin Community Services operates out of Novato and offers lots of services including a developmental playgroup for ages 2–5. They also offer individual peer emotional support for Spanish speakers.
• The Marin County Free Library offers multiple story times throughout the week and also has online story playlists. There’s also a learning bus that brings free, bilingual activities to locations throughout the county. In West Marin, they offer a yearly Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) program and a summertime Reading on the Ranches program.

Napa County

• Explore First 5 Napa’s parenting resources.
• Community Resources for Children offers bilingual resources with a focus on informal caregivers like family, friends, and neighbors. They also offer Active Minds, a six-week program for parents and their children designed to promote school readiness skills through play. Space is limited.
• The Napa County Library offers storytimes at four locations. The Napa branch offers a Spanish-language storytime. That branch also hosts Triple P positive parenting classes, which provide parenting information and support.
• Cope Family Center offers Triple P positive parenting classes for parents of kids 2 years and older. The classes are free and most are offered in Spanish and English.
• UpValley Family Resource Center offers playgroups in St. Helena and Calistoga. It also offers books through the Raising a Reader program and a summer bridge program for incoming kindergartners.

San Mateo County

• Explore First 5 San Mateo’s parenting resources.
• San Mateo 4Cs offers child care referrals and training and support for providers.
• Help Me Grow connects parents, caregivers and providers with information and resources about early childhood development.
• The city of San Mateo Parks and Recreation Department offers several child care programs and a variety of Adult and Child classes. Kids can participate in some activities like ballet and soccer by themselves starting at age 4. There are class fees but the city activity guide says that financial assistance may be available if requested at least 10 business days before a class starts.
• Burlingame City Library hosts four different storytimes throughout the week.
• Center for Children and Youth, part of Jewish Family and Children’s Services, puts on playgroups throughout the Bay Area. The most regular offerings appear to be on the Peninsula. Playgroups cost $10 each.
• Daly City’s recreation department hosts a Tiny Tot Playtime. Cost is $5 for residents, $6.50 for nonresidents. The department does have some scholarships available (PDF).
• Daly City Library offers numerous storytimes at its branches, including two that start at 6 p.m.
• The San Mateo County Library hosts a weekly bilingual story time at the East Palo Alto branch.
• Redwood City Public Library’s offerings include evening “pajama” storytimes in Spanish and English.
• Redwood City Parks and Recreation offers several different preschool options including Spanish and Persian immersion programs. Various Adult and Child classes are offered.
• South San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department offers some preschool programming and classes (PDF), including a PE-style class called “Gym Daddy.” Scholarships are available for city residents.
• The South San Francisco Public Library offers storytimes in Cantonese and Tagalog, as well as a storytime that takes place outside.

San Francisco

• San Francisco’s Department of Early Childhood operates 26 family resource centers throughout the city. Offerings at each vary, but span from playgroups to Triple P positive parenting classes. Explore the department’s family event calendar.
• San Francisco’s Department of Recreation and Parks offers free, drop-in “kinder gyms” for kids 4 years and younger and their caregivers at various sites throughout the city. Some classes are also geared for kids ages 3–5.
• San Francisco Public Library offers storytimes for different age groups in multiple languages at branches across the city.
• The YMCA of San Francisco operates a handful of family resource centers across the city.

Santa Clara County

• First 5 Santa Clara operates 20 Family Resource Centers throughout the county that offer parenting classes and a wide range of resources, including bridge libraries with books available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and other languages.
• Santa Clara County Childcare Resource and Referral agencies help families locate child care, offer training for child care providers and help with locating developmental screenings.
• Inclusion Support WarmLine offers support for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities and other challenges. They can also be reached at (408) 453-6651 or by email at inclusionwarmline@sccoe.org.
• The Santa Clara County Library District offers storytimes for different age groups at multiple branches including bilingual options and one geared toward kids with special needs. There’s also a “Play and Learn” offering that incorporates 30 minutes of free play for kids 1–5 years old.
• The district also offers members free access to Ready Rosie, an online subscription tool that provides videos and tips for early literacy. Ready Rosie is available in English and Spanish. The district’s website also includes a page dedicated to kindergarten readiness, which includes resources for developing literacy and information on registering for kindergarten.
• Cupertino Parks and Recreation offers dance, sport and music classes starting as young as 2 years old, but most start at age 4. There are class fees but limited scholarships are available. Search by activities here.
• Gilroy Recreation’s classes for kids include dance, soccer and science classes. Some of Gilroy Recreation’s classes start as early as age 2.
• Las Madres playgroups offers memberships at $85 annually.
• San José Public Library events for kids include storytimes, play groups, art activities. Library members also get free access to Ready4K, a service that texts early learning strategies once a week. The library also has 70 recorded story times on YouTube.
• The Santa Clara City Library offers storytimes, including bilingual and “Stay and Play” options. They also offer a Dial-a-Story service in English and Spanish and early literacy kits that you can check out and use while at the library.

Solano County

• First 5 Solano County operates a family center in Vallejo which offers parenting classes, developmental assessments, car seat fittings and drop-in play groups and offers Triple P positive parenting classes.
• Solano Family and Children’s Services offers child care referrals and trainings for providers.
• The Solano County Library offers storytimes for three different age groups under 5 and events like Coloring Book Week and Read to a Dog. They also offer thematic online literacy kits for young children and operate Reading at the Barbershop, which places books at barbershops around the county.
• Explore programs from the Greater Vallejo Recreation District.
• Nine family resource centers are located throughout the county, offering a myriad of services and supports.

Sonoma County

• Explore offerings from First 5 Sonoma County.
• 4Cs of Sonoma County offers child care referrals and training and support of child care providers.
• The Early Learning Institute offers multiple playgroups including one for children with special needs.
• Children’s Museum of Sonoma County offers Family Access Programs with reduced membership rates as low as $18 a year.
• Community Action Partnership offers parenting classes and support groups in English and Spanish, including the Pasitos and Primeros program. They also operate FUERZA, a parent and youth support center.
• Corazón Healdsburg runs a bilingual family resource center, offering case management services and classes for a variety of age groups.
• Rohnert Park’s Community Services Department runs a preschool program for kids ages 3–5 and offers a variety of youth classes.
• River to Coast Children’s Services serves Western Sonoma County. They offer services ranging from child care referral, trainings for providers and a weekly kindergym playgroup in Forestville.
• The City of Santa Rosa Parks offers a variety classes for kids which cost money — but you can apply for scholarships.
• Sonoma County Library offers storytimes geared for different age groups at branches throughout the county.

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