Open Invitation To All Center Directors
Join
your colleagues for the Third Annual
TOUR
OF QUALITY CENTERS
Thursday, September 26th
9:00
am - Noon
Check this blog in upcoming weeks for the schedule, maps and more details.
To register for the Tour, contact Nancy Johnson at njohnson@thinksmall.org
There is no charge
for this event.
The Third Annual Tour of Quality Centers includes three very
different programs that demonstrate the power of excellent teaching staff, programming,
environment, family and community connections and leadership. All three centers
have achieved high quality 4 Star Parent Aware Ratings.
Baby Space pioneered innovative
space design for babies’ and toddlers’ exploration and learning and supports “development
from the baby’s point of view.”
Little Voyageurs
Montessori
takes children on a creative, prepared journey of discovery through hands on
learning with the wider world in view.
Hallie Q. Brown Child
Early Learning Center strengthens children’s development through the power of culture
and family-community connection and gives children the skills and tools for
kindergarten and beyond.
Check this blog in upcoming weeks for more details.
To register for this
tour opportunity contact Nancy Johnson at njohnson@thinksmall.org
The Early
Childhood Directors Group meets monthly
from September – July
second Thursday of the month
10:00 am – noon at Think Small
2021 Hennepin Ave. E., Suite 250, Mpls,
55413
Monthly networking meetings are FREE.
Quarterly 2 hour in-service trainings are $22
To register and pre-pay for trainings contact
or 651-233-2260
Your Stories Needed By Sept 10th
Here's your chance to have your story in a book while you advocate for quality child care. Please write what “you see” when you see high-quality early learning in action and send it to the
MinneMinds Coalition to: lmanix@tunheim.com by September 10th.
Your story is a story you already know well, the
story of how high-quality early learning can transform individuals, classrooms,
even entire communities. Your stories will be used to help MinneMinds build
greater public and legislative support for investment in early
learning.
The stories can come in many forms, whether a page
or a paragraph in length on any early learning skills. They will be worked into
a “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”- themed book.
MinneMinds will also share your stories
with The
Strong Start for Children campaign to be included in a compilation of
early childhood programs’ stories from across the country and presented in a
“Brown Bear, Brown Bear”- themed book for Members of Congress.
The Strong Start for Children campaign is a united effort of national, state and
local organizations to pursue quality early learning settings for all children,
particularly low-income children who stand to gain the most from quality
preschool and child care programs.
Too many
children today do not have access to quality child care or pre-k programs. As
part of his FY 2014 budget submitted to Congress, President Obama proposed a
comprehensive early learning initiative which includes:
* High Quality Preschool for Every Child
* Early Head Start/Child Care Partnerships
* Expanding Home Visiting
The President
also proposes to:
* Increase the Child
Care and Development Block Grant
Please send your stories (and photos,
if possible) to MinneMinds lmanix@tunheim.com by September 10th.
National Survey Finds Support for Early Education and Care
A
new national survey released by the First Five Years Fund has found public,
bipartisan support for public investments in early learning. [Full Article]
Seasonal Influenza Prevention and Control:
Strategies for Head Start and Child Care Programs Webinar
Strategies for Head Start and Child Care Programs Webinar
Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013
2 – 3:30 p.m. EDT
2 – 3:30 p.m. EDT
Register Online Now! Participation is free. Select the link to register for the webinar: https://citrix.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1020418.
After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the webinar on Aug. 22.
And How Are the Children?
Children have been hit especially hard by the economic recession. A new report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics looks at how children and families are doing today, amid the financial recovery.
Children continue to face challenging circumstances. Twenty-two percent of all children ages 0 to 17 lived in poverty in 2011, effectively equal to the prior year, but up from about 16 percent in 2001. More children than ever lived in single-parent homes last year – 24 percent with only their mothers and 4 percent with only their fathers. Forty-six percent of families in 2011 lived in inadequate or unaffordable housing, with 149,000 children nationwide homeless at once last year.
The report finds evidence of a major demographic shift. By 2050, it projects that Hispanic, Asian and multi-racial children will comprise half the population between the ages of 0 and 17.
Birth Trends of American Women
American women are waiting longer to have children and they are having fewer kids.
In 1976, more women had three children than two. In 2010, far more women had two children than three.
In 1976, 3% of unmarried women had children. By 2010, the percentage jumped to 21%.
In 2000, 42% of college-educated women between the ages of 25 and 34 had children. By 2010, 76% of this same group of women, now ages 35 to 44, had become mothers.
Of the women who gave birth in 2010, 55% had jobs: 34% worked full time, 14% worked part time, and 7% were looking for work.
