EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT/YOUNG CHILDREN PRIORITY ONE
NEWSLETTER
AVA ADAMS, DISTRICT CHAIR
NEW ENGLAND AND BERMUDA DISTRICT February
2017
Good
Morning fellow Kiwanians!
Fact: Sensitive
interactions with adults do more to promote brain development than any toy CD
or DVD. Preschools should deliver services that enable adults to have rich
interactions with children.(Connecting Neutrons, Concepts and People, Brain
Development and Its Implications;NIEER pamphlet, PEW Foundation)
Fact: The first five
years of life are the most important for learning and developing skills; it is
extremely important that high quality day care be available.("Child
Care" pamphlet; Y.C.P.O. Kiwanis International)
Fact: Early care has a
decisive and long-lasting impact on how people develop, their ability to learn,
and their capacity to regulate their emotions.("Brain Development"
booklet, Y.C.P.O. Kiwanis International)
This month I will focus
on the second area of Y.C.P.O:
CHILD CARE AND
DEVELOPMENT
A human being
learns more in the first six years than during any other time in his or her
life. But children can’t learn in a vacuum. They need people to talk and listen to,
books to admire and enjoy, opportunities to explore, a safe sanctuary and warm hugs
and toys. Children deserve such an environment, but for many, such
opportunities are not available or affordable. Kiwanis clubs can help change
that. In the United States, more than 10 million children under the age of
6 have their only parent or both parents in the labor force. In fact, only
seven percent of families have the “traditional”
structure, with a stay-at-home parent who takes care of the children while
the other parent is the breadwinner. Today, child care is a necessity for
parents and for the businesses that employ them. Unfortunately, there is a
shortage of high quality child-care providers, and no coherent system
exists that solves this problem. Kiwanis clubs can be part of the solution
on the local level.
What can Kiwanians do?
• Get involved and help
support the following programs:
Health programs that
emphasize early identification of health problems. Medical, dental, vision
and mental health services. Parent-involvement programs that help educate
parents about their children’s needs and about good parenting skills, as
well as involve them in everything from playtime to policy making. Parent
training in the recognition of the signs and symptoms of child abuse, neglect,
exploitation, shaken baby syndrome and failure to thrive. Awareness of and
assistance in obtaining social services from local agencies is
crucial because the more support these parents receive, the more time and attention
they can devote to the needs of their children at this critical stage. Awareness
of services for special needs children that meet the needs of children
with mental retardation, health, hearing, speech or language impairments,
visual handicaps, emotional disturbances, learning disabilities and
orthopedic handicaps.
• Support
HEAD START PROGRAMS
The Head Start program
provides grants to local public and private non-profit and for-profit agencies
to provide comprehensive child development services to economically
disadvantaged children and families, with a special focus on helping preschoolers
develop the early reading and math skills they need to be successful in school.
In FY 1995, the Early Head Start program was established to serve children from
birth to three years of age in recognition of the mounting evidence that the
earliest years matter a great deal to children's growth and development.
• Head Start programs
promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of
children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and
other services to enrolled children and families. They engage parents in their
children's learning and help them in making progress toward their educational,
literacy and employment goals. Significant emphasis is placed on the
involvement of parents in the administration of local Head Start programs.
HOW
CAN KIWANIS CLUBS HELP?
• Work
with children
Members can provide
enrichment activities in areas where they visit schools and tell students about particular careers or
hobbies. Explain what it’s like to be a dentist, firefighter, soldier or
secretary, or a stamp collector, gardener or service-club volunteer. Sharing
hobbies is another good way to involve Service Leadership club members. Keep
your presentation simple and brief, and try to make it interesting for very young
children. Centers may conduct regular field trips that make the children aware
of their community and introduce them to different types of activities they
might pursue later in life.
• Purchase
materials and GIVE BOOKS
Another way your
club can support programs is to purchase materials that will improve the
staff’s professional skills or give the children and their parents new
opportunities for development. Special educational materials for the children
might include developmental toys and books for learn-while-you-laugh games and
programs. For the teachers and staff, funds can be spent on valuable resource
materials or training seminars. Each center has information on recommended
materials and probably has a “wish list” of particular
items that would be most useful. Resource materials can be valuable for
parents too. Parents may never have had the courage or desire to frequent
the public or school library. At the Head Start center, your club could
establish a lending library of materials that parents can borrow and
return on a sign-out basis.
• Another project idea:
THE BACKPACK PROGRAM
Promote/support a Backpack Program for children in need. Supply backpacks and
nonperishable food that is distributed to hungry children on Friday for food
during the weekend. In many cases this is the only food the children have all
weekend. The backpacks are returned on Monday and then filled and redistribute
again on Friday. This project is currently going on in many communities across
the U.S. Kiwanis Clubs work with sponsors and the local schools to
identify the children in need.
DISCOUNT
BOOKS WEBSITES
SCHOLASTIC AND KIWANIS PARTNERSHIP
click below to find
information about the various programs offered by Scholastic
including discount book
orders.
www/BetterWorldBooks.com.Make
a difference by buying books from the online bookstore, Better World
Books. This organization donates a portion of every sale to support literacy
initiatives worldwide; helping to raise funds for the March of Dimes and
UNICEF. You can also donate books and they will be recycled into homes where
children need books and raise funds at the same time. get started at www.BeterWorldBooks.com/bookdrive
provide boxes of books
for age groups through high school at discount prices, i.e. books for 1-5yr
olds, books for K4-2nd graders.
•
www.kiwanisone/ycpo.org and read the brochure
entitled “Early Childhood
Development”
If your Club is a nonprofit 501(c)3 you can apply for a
grant from the Molina Foundation
for books to be given to high poverty schools(more than 65%
on the federal meal programs). Register at www.molinafoundation.org
and you will receive a grant application during the year. You must be a 501(c)3
and agree to give books for ownership to children
Make a difference by
buying books from the online bookstore, Better World Books. This
organization donates a portion of every sale to support literacy initiatives
worldwide; helping to raise funds for the March of Dimes and UNICEF. You can
also donate books and they will be recycled into homes where children need
books and raise funds at the same time. get started at www.BeterWorldBooks.com/bookdrive
provide boxes of books
for age groups through high school at discount prices, i.e. books for 1-5yr
olds, books for K4-2nd graders, 3rd-5th grade etc. or for individual grad
levels.
If your Club is a nonprofit 501(c)3 you can apply for a
grant from the Molina Foundation
for books to be given to high poverty schools(more than 65%
on the federal meal programs). Register at www.molinafoundation.org
and you will receive a grant application during the year. You must be a 501(c)3
and agree to give books for ownership to children in high poverty schools or
refurbish libraries with books.
FIRST BOOK
Supplies books for all grant
levels at reduced prices through their grant program. Check it out!
For more information on Early
Childhood Development go to
www.kiwanisone/ycpo and read
the brochure entitled “Early Childhood Development”
Thank you for all that you do
for Kiwanis and your communities!
Sincerely,
Ava Adams, District Chair 2015-16
Early Childhood Development/Y.C.P.O.
Scarborough, Maine
New England and Bermuda District!
email: faithava2008@yahoo.com
Ava Adams, District Chair 2015-16
Early Childhood Development/Y.C.P.O.
Scarborough, Maine
New England and Bermuda District!
email: faithava2008@yahoo.com
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