Showing posts with label CHILDREN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CHILDREN. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

PRIORITES, PRIORITIES

One of the reasons underscoring the need for high quality preschool and early childhood education is that 85% of brain development occurs by age 5. It makes you wonder why we pay less for a professional child care worker, a teacher of young children, than we do for a dog groomer or dog walker.

Monday, March 03, 2008

VIRTUAL MARCH FOR CHILDREN

Advocates who care for young children will conduct a "Virtual March" on Washington on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 urging Congress to provide icreased funding for Head Start and child care.

Child care and Head Start funding has been essentially flat for 7 years. The minimal increase of $148,000,000 for Head Start barely meets inflation and does nothing to pay for quality improvements in the recent bipartisan reauthorization of the Head Start Act.

Partners for the virtual march are: National Association for the Education of Young Children, National Women's Law Center, Child Welfare league of America, Early Childhood and Education Consortium, National Head Start Association, and Voices for America's Children, among others.

You can "join the march" by calling Nita Lowey at 203-225-6506/225-0546, Eliot Engel at 845-735-1000, or Hilary Clinton at 202-224-4451/202-228-0282.

READ TO YOUR BUNNY - Rockland Parent Child

SPRING INTO READING: “READ TO YOUR BUNNY”

March is Early Childhood Literacy Month at The ROCKLAND PARENT-CHILD CENTER

On March 1st, the Rockland Parent-Child Center, with the support of a grant from the Target Foundation, will be launching their “Spring Into Reading” early childhood literacy project, heralding a month long series of special events and activities designed to promote literacy among the toddlers and pre-schoolers who participate in their “Parents and Toddlers Together” program, as well as children and families from their local community. The following programs will be held during the month of March at the Rockland Parent-Child Center, located at 137 First Avenue in Nyack.

Toddler Literary Lunch Bunch
Storytime, food and refreshments -- Wednesdays in March, 11:30am to 12noon
March 5 “Mice & Beans”*
March 12 “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”*
March 26th “Click, Clack, Moo”*

Spring Into Reading Saturdays
“Read To Your Bunny”* themed stories, arts & crafts, refreshments & give-aways!
March 1, 10:30am to 12noon
March 29, 10:30am to 12noon
*”Read To Your Bunny” By Rosemary Wells. Published By Scholastic Books, 1999.
*”Mice & Beans” By Pam Munoz Ryan, Scholastic Books, 2001
* “If You Give a Mouse A Cookie” By Laura Joffe Numeroff, Laura Geringer Books, 1985
* “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” By Doreen Cronin, Simon & Schuster, 2000

Molly Gibeau-Griffin, Executive Director, said: “Literacy for toddlers is about promoting a child’s self-esteem and helping parents learn about and engage in reading readiness activities. Pre-verbal children cannot express to you how much they take in. It is critical that parents speak and read as much as they can to their youngsters. At RPCC, we believe that children’s earliest experiences with learning set the stage for learning through life. Our Parents and Toddlers Together program has been an integral part of the fabric of our community for over twenty years. Hundreds of families with toddlers have come through our doors seeking advice, support, and guidance in raising their children. We are so happy to be a part of that process for so many young children and their parents and we are grateful to Target for giving us the support we need to help make it all happen.”

“At Target, we are making a real difference every day through our grant-making program,” said Laysha Ward, vice president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Rockland Parent-Child Center as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

The Rockland Parent-Child Center, located at 137 First Avenue in Nyack, is a family support center that offers a broad range of family support services, including infant/toddler playgroups, parent support groups, educational workshops and support for incarcerated parents. Housed in a cozy Victorian home on a tree-lined street, the Rockland Parent-Child Center has been providing a safe and welcoming gathering place for families from all walks of life for over 20 years.

For information, contact Wanda Octaviano, Director of Programs at 845-358-2702 or e-mail Wanda@rocklandparentchild.org.