Free Preschool (GSRP)
The Great Start Readiness Program is designed to ensure children are prepared to thrive when they enter kindergarten
GSRP is Michigan's state-funded preschool program for 4-year-olds. The program uses developmentally appropriate practices in a play-based curriculum with the goal of preparing children to successfully enter kindergarten. The program is free to families who meet certain income guidelines. Children must be 4 on or before September 1 of the school year in which they are enrolling. The GSRP application for the 2023-24 school year is available below.
If you are interested in preschool for the current school year (February - April 2023), please call Shannon Baker, Help Me Grow Care Coordinator, at (810) 455-4009 or email Shannon Baker.
Benefits of a high-quality preschool program
Research on preschool programs and specific research on GSRP indicates that children participating in a high-quality preschool program show significant positive developmental differences when compared to children from the same backgrounds who did not attend a high-quality preschool program. High-quality GSRP programs prepare children to be successful in kindergarten and throughout life.
What children learn
GSRP addresses key areas that a child needs to be ready for kindergarten. Teachers focus on social/emotional readiness along with academics through a play-based curriculum using developmentally appropriate practices.
Programs use either the HighScope or Creative Curriculum where teachers and children are active partners in the learning process. Children participate in experiences that build on their interests.
- Children follow a daily routine, learn to take turns, cooperate, and share.
- Children learn foundational literacy skills such as knowledge of the alphabet, rhyming, and concepts of print.
- Children learn foundational mathematics skills such as one-to-one correspondence, patterning, and number sense.
- Children develop problem-solving and self-help skills.